Here are some basic facts for your consideration, see if you can spot the problem.

Of all the mammals on earth, only one can fly.

The various species of this mammal make up about one-quarter of all mammals.

Every time they go hunting, they can eat approximately their own body weight in prey.

They eat insects.

For such a small animal, they have extraordinarily long life spans; if they survive their youth, they live 10-20 years.

They give birth to only one pup per year, and it’s a very well-developed pup at that; their young are so big at birth it would be equivalent to a human giving birth to a 31-pound baby.

And now the bummer. Given their importance to the environment and their slow reproduction, these critters are unfortunately vulnerable to devastation.

The disease is called white-nose syndrome; it gets its name from the white fungus which it produces on the muzzles, wings and ears of the little brown bat and the northern long-eared bat. First discovered affecting a bat colony in a cave in Schoharie County, New York, in 2006, the disease has spread throughout the Northeast, to 23 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces. Once it gets into a hibernating colony, it pretty much wipes it out, with mortality rates north of 90%. Approximately 6 million bats have been killed.

And now the real bummer. It’s spreading fast. Scientists are at a loss. This past winter’s hibernation populations look bad, and next winter’s promise to be terrible. Billions of dollars of pest control have been lost, and populations of insects are expected to skyrocket. And there’s very little you, or anyone, can do.

But here’s a few things. Stay out of caves and mines (many tourist-destination caves have been closed or restricted). If you have bats in your garage or barn, don’t bother them or evict them. Better yet, put up a bat house on a wall or a tree.

Biologists at the state and federal level are looking at possible solutions. But for now the fate of the bats looks pretty grim. It could take numerous decades for nature to run its course and populations to recover.

Hope for the best for the bats. Mind the mosquitos.