Tippy Dam Hosts 20,000 Bats Immune to White Nose Syndrome

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bats hibernating inside Tippy Dam ( photo by David Kenyon/Michigan Department of Natural Resources))

from a feature byInterlochen Public Radio

In the 1990s, Allenn Kurta, biology professor at Eastern Michigan University, heard that there were hundreds of bats living in Tippy Dam on the Manistee River (near Brethren, MI). He went to check it out, expecting to find about 50 bats. Instead he found over 20,000 healthy little brown bats.

More importantly, these bats have not contracted the fungal white-nose syndrome which has devastated bat populations in the Upper Peninsula. The fungus is not a problem for bats in warmer weather. However, when they hibernate in cold weather, the fungus awakens the bats, and they fly out looking for insects to eat. When they find no food, they die.

Kurta found that the fungus was present at Tippy Dam, but the bats were not being affected. Tippy Dam is now home to the largest population of hibernating bats in Michigan.

Kurta said, "There is something going in in that dam that is allowing them to survive the infection," Kurta said. "So it's an important natural resource, and it does a world of good for farmers and everybody else by eating insect pests and things that transmit diseases."

However, the sale of Tippy Dam and several others on the Manistee River is pending. Consumers Energy will divest itself of the outdated and expensive-to-maintain structures. One possible purchaser, Consumers Hydro, has stated that it will continue to operate the dams "in accordance with the same species protections Consumers Energy has undertaken. We further understand the importance of bat research underway at the Tippy Dam, and we look forward to learning more about how we can support these efforts."

Romoval of the dams is still not out of the question. Local residents prefer keeping the dams due to the recreational opportunities found at the dam ponds.

And, as yet, no one has unlocked the secret of why the Tippy Dam bats are immune to the fungus. Learning this key piece of information could save the little brown bat.

See Interlochen Public Radio


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