The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) is monitoring the largest roost of Southeastern myotis bats in an underground stormwater system in Wake County. And they might be at risk of contracting a deadly fungus. 

The organization posted Thursday on Facebook a first look at the winter roost of bats hanging out underneath a manhole cover. This roost was first discovered by a city stormwater maintenance crew in the fall of 2024. 

The number of bats that live in stormwater systems fluctuates throughout the year, from a low of about 125 during the winter to roughly 1,000 during maternity season in late spring. 

In September, NCWRC biologists placed radio transmitters on males and females in this roost to find other roost locations in the area. They found that the females did not move to another location. 

However, they did radio-track one male to another smaller colony of Southeastern myotis bats in Wake County. 

In this smaller colony, tricolored bats use it during different times of the year. NCWRC found that these tricolored bats tested positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), which is the fungus responsible for white-nose syndrome.

It’s unclear if the male bat contracted the disease at all throughout his back-and-forth between colonies. WRAL has reached out to the NCWRC for comment and are waiting to hear back. 

White-nose syndrome is a emergent fungal disease that has killed more than 5.7 million bats across the country since its discovery in 2006.

The NCWRC said that while populations of several bat species in the U.S. have declined mostly due to human contribution (pesticides, persecution and disturbances of hibernation and maternity colonies), white-nose syndrome is one of the leading killers of bats. 

According to the NCWRC website, as of early 2020, the disease has been found in 34 states and seven Canadian provinces. 

NCWRC found that overall bat populations in N.C. are drastically declining. Little brown and northern long-eared bats have declined 93%, tricolored 83% and Indiana bats 73 percent—all within the past decade. 

Four species found in North Carolina are federally threatened or endangered and 10 are listed as “Species of Greatest Conservation Need.” All 17 species of bats in North Carolina are classified as nongame with no seasons for hunting or trapping.

For more information about bat populations in the state, and what the NCWRC is doing about white-nose syndrome, head to their website.Â