A fuzzy white film is imperiling both animals and vegetation in Northwest Georgia.
The culprits are white-nose syndrome, an incurable fungal infection that can be lethal to bats, and the hemlock woolly adelgid, small insects that can kill infested trees over the course of a decade.
Bats found in a cave on Lookout Mountain have tested positive for WNS. This finding occurred after a biologist and volunteers collected two tricolored bats showing symptoms of WNS from a cave that is part of Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.
White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats in eastern North America in recent years and is named for the white fungus that forms primarily on the muzzle, ears and wings of infected bats.
Though it is usually transmitted from bat to bat, fungal spores that cause WNS can be carried between caves on human clothing or caving gear. To help prevent inadvertent importation of the pathogen, all park caves have been closed to the public since 2009 and will remain closed indefinitely, officials said.