white-nose syndrome

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks is asking people in southeastern Montana to reach out if they notice bat roosts on their properties and would like to participate in bat monitoring.

Unlike on the East Coast where many bats spend the winter in caves, bats in Montana hibernate in scattered populations, which makes them — and diseases — harder to track.

Montana wildlife officials have detected a fungus that causes a deadly bat disease in at least six counties.

A fungus that has killed millions of bats in the eastern and central parts of the U.S. is now spreading across the West. Biologists recently detected it…