Photo Claire Sunquist ©
World’s largest Bat House gets an annex.
In August 2009, 100 bats were killed and tens of thousands were left homeless after the collapse of the roosting fins inside the lower level of the University of Florida’s bat house. Officials moved quickly to repair and remodel the inside of the broken house and drew up plans to build a new, safer building beside the old structure.
By March 2010 authorities added a “Bat Barn” next to the original Bat House, and a few bats had already moved in. The new Bat Barn is expected to be able to hold some 400,000 bats in addition to the 250,000 bats housed in the original bat house.
The original bat house was built in 1991 to house bats that were causing problems by roosting in campus athletic facilities. Today, UF’s bats are estimated to consume nearly a ton of insects per night, making them popular neighbors on campus.
You can see video of the bats exiting the bat house here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UAEuNCP4GA
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