"Starry, starry... mole?"

The star-nosed mole, Condylura cristata, is the only member of the genus Condylura and can be found in the wet lowlands of eastern Canada and in the north-eastern states of the USA, typically near to lakes, rivers and streams. The mole is small, with adults being no longer than 20cm and weighing up to a maximum of 55g; and are are instantly identifiable by the tentacle appendages protruding from their nose.

The 22 fleshy tentacles of the star-nosed mole give the species its name and are believed by some scientists to be able to detect the electrical currents emanating from their prey. However, many scientists doubt this as there is little empirical evidence to support this idea.

Unlike other species of mole, which are able to see (albeit with only limited success), star-nosed moles are completely blind. Therefore, they rely exclusively on their nose tentacles in order to detect food, such as worms, insects and crustaceans; and to navigate their way around dark tunnels and other environments. As such, their tentacles are extremely sensitive to touch stimuli and odorants and possess around 25, 000 Eimer's organs per cubic centimetre. This is much higher than in any other species of mole and their tentacles' star-shaped arrangement appears to be an adaptation that allows them to keep soil from entering their nose and to eat very small prey quickly. In fact, they are able to eat prey extremely quickly and are the fastest foragers in the animal world, taking on average of 227 milliseconds to decide whether an item is edible and to consume it. This decision making and response ability is so fast that it is at the limits of the speed of neuronal conduction!

Like other species of mole, the star-nosed mole digs shallow tunnels through the earth when foraging, which helps them to evade their predators, which include owls and hawks and to find many subterranean species of prey, such as worms. Their tunnels can be as long as 270 metres and often exit underwater, with the mole being a surprisingly good swimmer; being able to forage along the beds of rivers, lakes and streams. Interesting, star-nosed moles are also able to smell underwater, which they accomplish by breathing bubbles of air onto objects that they are interested in and then by inhaling these bubbles to carry the scents back through their nose.

Little else is known about the shy species of mole, except that it shows no preference to day, night or twilight activity (which is unusual) and remains active throughout the winter. It is also believe that star-nosed moles live in colonies, as many are frequently seen fairly close together.

Fatal white-nose syndrome spreads through the USA

White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease that has killed more than 5.5 million bats in Northern America, with the infection being fatal  in almost every case. The disease was first recorded in New York in 2006 and despite the extensive efforts to control the disease since then, it has spread through 20 states in the USA and 4 Canadian provinces.

White-nose syndrome, caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, is characterised by a white growth on a bats nose, ears, wings and tail. Other symptoms include weight loss and abnormal behaviour, such as diurnal activity.

The disease is caused by a common European fungus that oddly, doesn't kill bats in Europe. This has led scientists to believe that the fungus has either changed somehow in America, which gives it its fatal effects or that bats in Europe have a local immunity to the fungus that is not found in American populations, which protects them from the disease. It is hoped that if European bats have immunity to the fungus, it can lead to the formation of a vaccine for their cousins in America, helping to reduce the fatal effects of white-nose syndrome.

The main problem with the fungus is that it prefers to grow in dark, damp climates such as those found in caves. Obviously then, it easily spreads to any bats that are living in an infected cave and the fungus can wipe out entire colonies at a time. Catching the disease is particularly likely over winter when the bats are hibernating and sadly, many die in their sleep without even knowing that they were ever infected.

Recent studies in America have found that at least half of their bat species are at critical risk from the disease and face being wiped out. This is of great concern to the USA since resident bat populations are great controllers of pests and keep the populations of crop-damaging insects down, saving the US agriculture industry an estimated US$3.7 billion a year!

Thus, efforts to eradicate or mitigate the effects of the disease are underway and the US government plans to puts procedures in place in airports and in logistics companies that will hopefully slow or stop the spread of the disease, buying scientists more time to deal with it.