Indiana Bats Return After 14 Years

Raleigh News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jun 28, 2026 · 1m

Biologists in North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest made a thrilling discovery: a hidden colony of endangered Indiana bats, last seen in the state fourteen years ago, nestled in a dead hemlock tree. After three days of grueling hikes through rugged terrain, the team found the bats roosting under loose bark—perfect shelter for these elusive creatures. With populations slashed by half and threatened by pesticides and white-nose syndrome, this find is a major conservation win. The tree, doomed by the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid, now serves as a secret nursery for a rare species, proving…