Post by L Roebuck on May 6, 2006 10:29:49 GMT -5
Building a better bat cave
Park Service constructs a ‘bat condo’ to spare outdoor theater
By Rick Steelhammer
Staff writer
To keep bats from overpopulating Cliffside Amphitheater at the Grandview area of New River Gorge National River, National Park Service biologists have built a “bat condo” to give the insect-eating winged mammals a snug, alternative roosting place.
Cliffside Theater, home stage for Theatre West Virginia’s outdoor productions, draws thousands of visitors annually. This summer, starting in June, the company will present “Honey in the Rock,” “Hatfields and McCoys,” and “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.”
The outdoor theater also has attracted thousands of bats, which theater-goers can see swooping through the night skies above the stage lights, each gulping up to 1,200 mosquitoes an hour.
“Without bats, mosquitoes would probably make watching a show at the amphitheater unbearable,” said Matt Varner, National Park Service biologist. “And I think folks enjoy seeing the bats. Watching them fly provides some of the excitement prior to a show.”
But too many bats have been making the amphitheater a roosting site, as well as a feeding ground. Accumulated bat droppings pose health risks to humans, and bats, like other mammals, can become infected with rabies.
“Light towers and other structures at Grandview have served as both maternity and alternate roosts for at least two of 12 bat species known to occur in the park,” Varner said.
A decision was made to seal the structures at Grandview to keep bats from nesting there, and construct the bat condo nearby, so that the bats could continue their nightly mosquito-control effort above the amphitheater.
In early April, a National Park Service work crew completed work on the wooden bat condo.
“It’s based on a design the Pennsylvania Game Commission used for bat houses in state parks up there,” said Varner. “Inside, there are 86 sheets of plywood separated by three-fourths-inch spacers. The plywood’s been roughed up with drywall screws so the bats can grip it.”
Once settled in their niches, up to 10,000 bats can occupy the structure.
Bats have already begun to occupy the dwelling, and by autumn, several hundred bats are expected to be roosting there. Within three years, the number of roosting bats is expected to number into the thousands.
“Already, enough bats are roosting there that people have been coming out at dusk to watch them fly out of the condo,” said Varner.
“Their emergence at dusk and return to the condo at dawn will create another interesting visitor experience at New River Gorge National River — similar to bird watching,” he said.
To contact Rick Steelhammer, use e-mail or call 348-5169.
wvgazettemail.com
Park Service constructs a ‘bat condo’ to spare outdoor theater
By Rick Steelhammer
Staff writer
To keep bats from overpopulating Cliffside Amphitheater at the Grandview area of New River Gorge National River, National Park Service biologists have built a “bat condo” to give the insect-eating winged mammals a snug, alternative roosting place.
Cliffside Theater, home stage for Theatre West Virginia’s outdoor productions, draws thousands of visitors annually. This summer, starting in June, the company will present “Honey in the Rock,” “Hatfields and McCoys,” and “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.”
The outdoor theater also has attracted thousands of bats, which theater-goers can see swooping through the night skies above the stage lights, each gulping up to 1,200 mosquitoes an hour.
“Without bats, mosquitoes would probably make watching a show at the amphitheater unbearable,” said Matt Varner, National Park Service biologist. “And I think folks enjoy seeing the bats. Watching them fly provides some of the excitement prior to a show.”
But too many bats have been making the amphitheater a roosting site, as well as a feeding ground. Accumulated bat droppings pose health risks to humans, and bats, like other mammals, can become infected with rabies.
“Light towers and other structures at Grandview have served as both maternity and alternate roosts for at least two of 12 bat species known to occur in the park,” Varner said.
A decision was made to seal the structures at Grandview to keep bats from nesting there, and construct the bat condo nearby, so that the bats could continue their nightly mosquito-control effort above the amphitheater.
In early April, a National Park Service work crew completed work on the wooden bat condo.
“It’s based on a design the Pennsylvania Game Commission used for bat houses in state parks up there,” said Varner. “Inside, there are 86 sheets of plywood separated by three-fourths-inch spacers. The plywood’s been roughed up with drywall screws so the bats can grip it.”
Once settled in their niches, up to 10,000 bats can occupy the structure.
Bats have already begun to occupy the dwelling, and by autumn, several hundred bats are expected to be roosting there. Within three years, the number of roosting bats is expected to number into the thousands.
“Already, enough bats are roosting there that people have been coming out at dusk to watch them fly out of the condo,” said Varner.
“Their emergence at dusk and return to the condo at dawn will create another interesting visitor experience at New River Gorge National River — similar to bird watching,” he said.
To contact Rick Steelhammer, use e-mail or call 348-5169.
wvgazettemail.com