Community Corner

White-Nose Discovery Changes Hike Plans at Liberty Park

The recent discovery of the disease will change the path of next week's hike

Every guided hike has teachable moments, but this one is a little different.

On Saturday, Feb. 25  “Top of the South Ledges” hike at 2 p.m. in Liberty Park, will not take visitors to an undeveloped part of the park as previously advertised.

Instead, Naturalist Sarah Matheny and city of Twinsburg naturalist Stanley Stine, both of whom are leading the program, are altering the route because of the recent discovery of white-nose syndrome in the bats living in the park’s caves and ledges.
       
Though the date, time and location remain the same, the hike will instead lead participants through a meadow and into the woods on a city-maintained trail in search of local wildlife. Matheny said the white-nose discovery and program change allows learning to begin even before the start of the hike.

For more information, call 330-865-8065.

The fungus responsible for white-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed more than 5 million bats in eastern North America since it was first detected during the winter of 2006-07. WNS was discovered last month in Liberty Park.

People cannot contract WNS because it requires much cooler body temperatures, but humans can spread it from contaminated sites to new areas on their clothing, footwear and outdoor gear.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Twinsburg