Going to bat ... for bats

I'm not sure which piece of news was more upsetting last week.

That Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkalis was having season-ending surgery.

Or that the little brown bats in the region are at risk.

Having to choose ... I'd say the bats.

Youk will come back from his thumb surgery. He'll be back at first base. Back at bat.

Researchers say, however, there's a good chance the bats may be wiped out -- totally gone from the species line-up -- within 20 years.

I'm distressed because I love bats -- love the fact that they, like dragonflies, are voracious mosquito eaters.

Any enemy of the mosquito is a friend of mine.

The little brown bat can eat its body weight in mosquitoes over the course of an evening. That's many fewer mosquitoes that might be looking to bite me. And that's many fewer mosquitoes that be carrying Eastern Equine Encephalitis or some other unknown plague.

I'm a big fan of mosquito control. I've purchased dragonfly nymphs over the years and planted them in ponds where I work and at home in an effort to cull the mosquito population.

Apparently the little brown bats have a deadly disease -- a fungus called Geomyces destructans.

Researchers believe the fungus irritates the bats and they wake up during their winter hibernation, expending precious body fat in the process. The bats then leave the caves and mines only to die because there's no food -- no mosquitoes -- during the winter.

Unfortunately, we humans may be to blame for wiping out a species that is so helpful to us.

The fungus was probably introduced into the bat population by humans, who are immune to it, visiting caves.

According to a recent Boston Globe article, authorities have closed an enormous number of the nation’s caves and mines to tourists and “cavers”, who explore the crevices and tunnels deep in the earth.

Everywhere in the Northeast people report seeing fewer bats taking flight at dusk from their usual haunts.

I used to have bats fly from the small barn on our property where we keep lawn equipment and other stuff. Haven't seen any bats in a while.

I just love watching their aerial maneuvering as they'd eat the evening away.

I have to say. I miss Youk. I miss the bats more.