Members of the University of Florida’s bat commuity were in mourning this week after some 80 of their number were crushed to death in the collapse of their overcrowded residence there.
The bathouse was built in 1991, roughly the same year that the members of this year’s entering freshman class were born, and university officials said the combined weight of the bats and years’ worth of their urine brought the plywood roosts in their popular hangout tumbling down.
The collapse occurred at a particularly inopportune time: move-in week at the campus dormitories. With as many as 100,000 of the winged mammals left flapping about homeless, university officials are concerned that buildings and other crevices around the campus will be invaded.
The university has good reason to accommodate the bats, says Kenneth V. Glover, pest management coordinator. They devour a collective 200 pounds of flying insects each night, reducing the university’s dependency on pesticides.
Fixing the dwelling over the next few weeks will cost approximately $10,000. Memorials to the fallen bats may be sent to the university to pay for construction of a new and larger home. — Marc Beja
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8 Responses to Bat News at the U. of Florida
a1broom - August 19, 2009 at 5:56 pm
A memorial for bats? Good grief!
cwinton - August 20, 2009 at 12:11 am
Having seen what the Mexican free tailed bat population accomplishes for insect control in the Texas hill country (where their roosts number in the millions), UF would be well advised to reconstitute (and enlarge) their bat haven ASAP.
dank48 - August 20, 2009 at 8:34 am
Most nice evenings in summer, from our back porch we can see bats swooping across the pond behind our house, nabbing insects as if their lives depended on it. Well, yes. Their flight is readily distinguishable from the swifts and swallows and other birds. Even in Indiana, they’re cheaper than citronella and lots more fun to watch. The pond has been named a wetland and can’t be dredged, so the bats help keep an incipient swamp and its neighborhood livable. Thanks, bats.
22235928 - August 20, 2009 at 9:11 am
I know the value of the creatures, and I will admit that watching them – from a distance – in the early hours of the evening is sometimes an entertaining event. But, I can’t help it – I hate the little critters and am considering any means necessary to ensure that I never again encounter a rat with wings in my attic.
delonix - August 20, 2009 at 3:12 pm
When I visited the library at the University of Florida last year the staff were so enthusiastic about going to watch the bats at twilight I was surprised. How sad the shelter fell.I think these useful and amazing little creatures are examples of admirable habits — imagine all those hideous flying insects devoured! Gett batty again as soon as possible.
oaachron - August 20, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Delonix is right, it’s surprising how excited the people at UF get about the bats, but once you’ve been there a little while (and seen the bats at twilight), they are just one of those curious parts of the campus and community culture that happen at many schools. But even at UF, everyone’s glad they’re in the bat house and not their own.
wisensale - August 22, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Isn’t the big story here that these bats have not been devasted by the white nose virus that has been devastating the bat population throughout the country and particularly in the Northeast? How is the environment different in Florida compared to Connecticut, for example? Any scientists out there who want a research question to wrestle with?SW
smbailey - August 24, 2009 at 3:17 am
I also love watching the bats in the evening, but it is a different story when one decides that my curtains are a good place for a nap. I was really surprised at how much larger a bat is when it is flying around my bedroom, looking for the open window!