Georgia Wild Newsletter is Online
The latest edition of Georgia Wild is online with some pretty cool stuff.
Watch the Falcons, Live!
There are a couple of ways to watch a nest of falcons living at SunTrust Plaza in Atlanta. No, these aren’t the giant hulks who play with the ball that’s all pointy at both ends, these are real live bird-type falcons. Peregrines, to be exact.
The Department of Natural Resources has cameras set up overlooking the nest, courtesy of a grant from:
- TERN
- friends group of DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section
- the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge and
- The Garden Club of Georgia Inc.
Click Here to watch the falcons at GeorgiaWildlife.com
Click Here to watch the falcons at Ustream
Sick Bats in Georgia
State Wildlife Biologist Trina Morris (who obviously needs to buy and ride a motorcycle) spent two years of searching for white-nose syndrome — an infection that is deadly to bats — in Georgia.
After learning that a National Park Service biologist had discovered bats with symptoms of WNS in a Lookout Mountain cave in Dade County, Morris led a survey group into a cave at Cloudland Canyon State Park and found a scene similar to sites ravaged by the disease in the Northeast.
Roughly a third of the 1,600 live bats seen at the entrance of Sittons Cave appeared to be infected.
WNS spreads mainly through bat-to-bat contact. There is no evidence it infects humans or other animals. But spores may be carried cave-to-cave by people on clothing or gear. DNR is working with cavers to raise awareness about limiting trips into caves and following decontamination protocols for disinfecting clothes and gear, all part of the agency’s white-nose response plan.
Click on the newsletter link below for more information on WNS and much more of interest to folks near Lake Allatoona.