[Texascavers] bat houses
If you are in the Houston area there are 2 bat houses in Terry Hershey Park north of Memorial Drive. These are large free standing houses about 6 feet square (wild guess) mounted on poles. I have not been able to get any info on who built them but both are occupied. The design looks to be well thought out and is obviously attractive to bats
RE: [Texascavers] bat houses
Wayne, I have also seen these bat houses while riding my bicycle on the walking trail and wondered by whom and why they were erected there. They are quite large but I didn't inspect them closely and will make it a point to do so. Fritz From: Wayne Hutchinson [mailto:m4w8...@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 5:07 PM To: Texas cavers list Subject: [Texascavers] bat houses If you are in the Houston area there are 2 bat houses in Terry Hershey Park north of Memorial Drive. These are large free standing houses about 6 feet square (wild guess) mounted on poles. I have not been able to get any info on who built them but both are occupied. The design looks to be well thought out and is obviously attractive to bats
[Texascavers] bat houses - personal opinions
I think I read somewhere that WNS has been found in man-made structures. Is that right ? In my opinion, it would be better to build a permanent concrete structure near cave entrances to encourage bats to repopulate there, one that would be safe for the bats. The beetles and cave crickets could be moved to join them. And it would be easier to collect the guano. After all, bat guano poisons caves and cave water, and makes caving less fun. And what evidence do we have that bats have been using caves before man scared them away from their natural habitats ? Bats are perfectly happy living in the crevices of bridges and trees. Right ? Many people put their animals in outdoor structures.Why not do the same for bats. I bet Mr. Bamberger would agree. http://www.bambergerranch.org/news/images/chirop.jpg Of course, my idea is not new. http://www.batworld.org/wild_sanctuary/wild_sanctuary.html What is new is I am proposing cavers build permanent bat houses near cave entrances to give the bats an easy choice of places to spend the day sleeping.( They could return to the cave when we are not caving if they really wanted ). Why do bats need access to Honeycreek Cave, for example, when Bracken Bat Cave is so close ? I take the side that certain caves should have gates to keep out the bats. Or at least certain passages should be blocked to keep out bats. Kartchner Caverns for example, Sonora, Midnight Cave, Lake Cave ( Slaughter Canyon ), caves with sensitive troglobitic aquatic life. In return, other caves could be set up to be only for bat use, like the Fredricksburg Bat Tunnel, etc. Of course, caves with known species that require bat guano, would be exempt from this. But I don't know which caves that would be. Couldn't these creatures be collected and moved to a bat sanctuary where humans are not allowed? David Locklear caver in Fort Bend County - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] Bat houses.
I just had a telephone conversation with Mike McMahon with the precinct in which Terry Hershey Trail Park is located and he said that there are indeed two bat houses on the trail. They are both close together north of Memorial Dr. and south of I-10. He said that they are about three years old and were built to BCI specifications but have not been occupied by bats as they had hoped. They introduced Mexican free-tails to them but apparently they did not establish a colony. He speculates that the bats may not like the location because of the large, high electrical power lines adjacent to hike/bike trail. When the weather dries up some, the county plans to erect several bat houses in other areas known to have many bats in the area. He mentioned the area around Story Lake as a future preferred site. We know that they are here so let's hope that if we build it they will come. Your ass reporter for the west end. (oops). - Geezer
