U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

Could the same drug used to treat lung cancer in humans be the key to preventing or treating deadly white-nose syndrome in bats? 🦇 Considered one of the deadliest wildlife diseases in North America, white-nose syndrome is caused by the fugus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans(Pd). This fungus often presents itself as white fuzz on the faces of hibernating bats. Over the last 18 years this disease has killed millions of bats across North America. In a recent breakthrough, Bruce Klein, a professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison and PhD candidate Marcos Isidoro-Ayza were the first to study in detail how this fungus gains entry and infects cells. Research like this is valuable not only for the conservation of bats, but because fungal pathogens are a growing problem for many species. Learn more about this exciting research: https://ow.ly/XsX250TUJA2 #UnleashTheScience #BatWeek Photo of a little brown bat with white-nose syndrome by Jonathan Mays, wildlife biologist, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

"I, myself, am strange and unusual." Living underwater and in complete darkness means functioning eyes are not necessary for this Texas blind salamander. But that doesn’t hold them back from being active predators that feast on invertebrates using smell and vibrations in the water. We don't think they can talk to the ghosts in their attic, though. Photo: Ryan Hagerty/USFWS

The USFWS Canine (K9) Program wishes you a happy Howl-O-Ween! Your favorite dynamic duos are back with some killer costumes. It's been a busy year for Federal Wildlife K9s & their Federal Wildlife K9 Officers (FWCO). First & foremost, these are working dogs - not pets, but there's always a little time for fun and family. Their motto is "wherever we go, they go," after all! The USFWS K9 Program was established in California in 2000 as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Today, K9s and Officers are spread across the entire country working hard to keep you and wildlife safe. Photo 1: K9 Braxton and FWCO as the Grinch and Max Photo 2: K9 Beans and FWCO as Lydia and Beetlejuice Photo 3: K9 Ukkie and FWCO enjoying the lake life Photo 4: K9 Gila and FWCO as Lloyd and Harry Photo 5: K9 Teal and FWCO as a duck hunter and loyal retriever Photo 6: K9 Tuhk and FWCO as a farmer and a highland cow Photo 7: K9 Togo and FWCO as Frodo and Gandalf

What better way to start your week than nerding out about fish? 😎🐟 Catch a new podcast episode of Fish of the Week every Monday. We offer a week-by-week tour of interesting American ichthyofauna with guests around the country from all walks of life. Listeners journey across America and beyond learning about fish that are big and small, common and rare, beautiful and downright strange. Diverse guests bring their perspectives about the latest fisheries science and how fish are woven into the fabric of communities and cultures across North America and beyond. The co-hosts bring their own excitement and humor to help listeners walk away from each episode smiling and with practical information and calls to action about how to live with, live from, discovery and enjoy our amazing finned friends. This week: Arizona's Apache Trout. On deck: Head to Hawaii with us to talk about mullet! Listen at FWS.gov or wherever you get your podcasts (just search Fish of the Week! podcast). Sockeye Salmon pair in Alaska. 📷 Katrina Liebich/USFWS #AllTheFish

Preggo endangered salt marsh harvest mouse spotted at Sonoma Creek Enhancement Project! Last month, we collaborated with volunteers and partners at the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge in California to conduct our final annual surveys for the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse at Sonoma Creek Marsh. These surveys aim to assess changes in mammal abundance over time in response to tidal marsh enhancements, including a channel constructed through the central basin of the marsh in 2015. And we came across a pregnant salt marsh harvest mouse! The catch was a positive indicator of the small mammal’s resilience against climate change and could reflect the positive performance of the Sonoma Creek Enhancement Project! Photo by Alondra Ureña/USFWS

So you want to build a bat box? We can help with that. Building bat houses or bat boxes can be one way to help bats, but it’s not always helpful. Protecting and retaining natural roost habitats (old, mature trees and dead trees in early stages of decay), if it's safe to do so, should always be the first choice for providing habitat to bats. There are a wide range of bat boxes available on the internet but make sure you are purchasing or creating one that fits the needs of the bats in your area. 🦇 It should be big enough (bigger than a bird house) 🦇 It should be properly vented 🦇 It should be built with interior materials that are untreated and free of chemical residues 🦇 Always avoid placing the box in areas that are consistently cold, shady, or windy These are only a fraction of things to consider when choosing your bat box. For a full list of Do's and Don'ts as well as how to determine what box is right for you and the bats in your area, check out our How To Build A Bat Box resource: https://ow.ly/s68350TTE7S #BatWeek Photo of a little brown bats courtesy of Troy Gipps/Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife

Have you ever seen a hoary bat burrito? (He's okay by the way!) Recently, our white-nose syndrome coordinator, Bronwyn Hogan, spent a couple nights helping to capture and PIT tag hoary bats at their fall gathering site in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California. This is part of a multi-agency project to monitor their use of certain areas and to investigate other potential impacts on the species. Oh and why the burrito? We wrap bats this way to gently handle them as they're getting weighed. It's brief and safe! Photo of a hoary bat (burrito) being weighed by B. Hogan/USFWS. Photo of a hoary bat being held by J. Szewzcak/Cal State Humbodlt #batweek

Ok spooky content break, here's something cute. The pygmy rabbit is the smallest rabbit species in North America, weighing about a pound or less, and the only one that digs its own burrows in the region. To determine how many live on Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, we conduct surveys each summer using camera traps! The pygmy rabbit is a sentinel species for the sagebrush ecosystem, meaning their presence or absence tells us a lot about how the ecosystem is doing, in general. Photos by Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge/USFWS

Breaking Bird News: For the 8th straight year, a short-tailed albatross pair arrived on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge for nesting season ❤️🪺🤞 If the endangered seabirds, affectionately named George and Geraldine, hatch a chick, it will be their sixth, according to Jon Plissner, supervisory biologist on Midway Atoll. In total, six short-tailed albatross, or makalena in Hawaiian, were seen on the refuge last year, including their chick that fledged. “Short-tailed albatross are spectacular birds and are much larger than the other two species of albatross that nest on Midway Atoll,” said Plissner. “The chicks are much larger as well — and combined with their almost black feathers — really stand out in the sea of Laysan and black-footed albatross chicks.” The vast majority of breeding for short-tailed albatross occurs on remote islands in the western Pacific, including Torishima Island, Japan, which is an active volcano south of Tokyo, and the Senkaku Islands northwest of Taiwan. George and Geraldine were both banded as chicks on Torishima. Millions of short-tailed albatross once used their long wingspans to expertly glide on air currents across the Pacific, from Japan to Alaska and Hawaii; but at the turn of the 20th century, their population was decimated by feather hunters. The seabird was listed by the USFWS as endangered in 2000 and the population is estimated at less than 10,000 today. USFWS photo: Jon Plissner

Welcome to Filosophical Fish Friday. Where we (the feral racoons who run this account) write unhinged love letters to fish. Fish are absolutely astonishing. There are more fish species in the world than there are amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals COMBINED - and more fish species are being discovered every year! Fish like salmon and American eels migrate thousands of miles using smell and the Earth's magnetic field and other abilities that we don't fully understand. Fish use tools, build nests, and can recognize individual human faces. Did you know fish communicate? They produce clicks, hums, farts and other noises to warn off predators and attract mates. Fish are all around us and completely out of sight, so who's to say they can't also get a little philosophical on a fine fall Friday. Despite their undisputed magnificence, freshwater fish need our help. Like us, they depend on clean, abundant, and free flowing water to survive. By working together to protect freshwater habitat, we can ensure a future full of philosophical fish farts.