White Nose Syndrome: 1.9 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Funds Used to Treat White Nose Syndrome in Bats

White nose syndrome is important to Congress. Evidently, white nose syndrome, a syndrome found in bats is worth $1.9 million taxpayer dollars. What do you think of that? At a time where everyone is scrounging to get by, companies are failing, and jobs are being lost - Congress approves $1.9 million in funding to treat white-nose syndrome in bats.

I would understand it better if white-nose syndrome was something that plagued humans, and was a health emergency. We can't even get H1N1 "swine flu" straightened out, and now we are worried about bats?

Of course, making sure that bats stay healthy is important to each and every one of us. Bats eat insects that kill our crops, and they eat a large portion of the mosquito population. These two facts mean three things for the human race: we have better crops, we aren't as annoyed with mosquitoes as we would be if no bats ate them, and there's a decrease in West Nile Virus.

What exactly is white-nose syndrome? According to Gather.com, white nose syndrome is a fungus that grows on the nose of bats. The fungus irritates the bats, interrupting their hibernation process. This in turn makes many bats too weak to hunt the amount of insects it takes to make them stay alive. Across the Northeast, bats are being wiped out by white-nose syndrome.

At first, I wasn't too fond of $1.9 million taxpayer dollars being shelled out to eradicate a fungus on the end of a bat's nose. Perhaps it's because I see hundreds of people each and every day in my very own city that go to bed hungry, can't get adequate healthcare, etc. I always tend to believe that it's better for us to spend our tax dollars at home on ways that benefit society.

Eradicating white-nose syndrome will benefit our society. Although bats can be scary and creepy, they play a crucial role in the eco-system. Can you imagine trying to camp during the summer with an infestation of mosquitoes plaguing your tent? At that point, you'd wish there was a bat or two around to munch on pesky bugs.

Those who support the quest to eradicate white-nose syndrome should contact their local representative to push for increased funding. Wouldn't you rather our tax dollars go to something such as the eradication of white-nose syndrome over some other cause, such as bailing out irresponsible business executives?

Sources:

Gather.com http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977883395&grpId=3659174697244816