Great story about the intersection of engineering and nature conservation

[gellfex]

Turns out if you build a bridge with just the right spacing between the I-beams it becomes perfect habitat for bats.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-batman-and-the-bridge-builder/

[mickeyf]

If you are ever in Austin, you really do have to see the bats leave the bridge at sunset. And if you're ever in the Philippines, there's impressive bats also:



And Australia, but I'm not finding those photos...

[gellfex]

I was thinking about this story more and wondered why they never addressed the environmental effect on the lake of guano from millions of bats falling into it.

[wierdscience]

I was thinking about this story more and wondered why they never addressed the environmental effect on the lake of guano from millions of bats falling into it.

Or the occasional rabid Bat or Histoplasmosis encountered by the boaters underneath the bridge.

[gellfex]

Or the occasional rabid Bat or Histoplasmosis encountered by the boaters underneath the bridge.

Unless there's some sort of guano catching system, you couldn't pay me to paddle under that bridge!

Found a story about the guano, which sounds to me, um, completely bat****. On the one hand they say the guano is not an environmental problem, even what falls in the lake, and on the other they say the bats consume 200 tons of insects a night! That means at least tons of guano a night into the water and unders the bridge, even if they crap some of it in flight and some is water peed or respirated away.

https://www.kut.org/austin/2019-08-07/who-cleans-up-the-bat-guano-under-the-congress-avenue-bridge

[I make chips]

I had one in the house one night which of course made wifey completely freak. I was amazed by this little mouse with wings flapping around the bedroom and unlike a bird, absolutely silently. I watched as it flew up and through the blades of the ceiling fan many times as it spun. And by this time wifey was screaming from under the covers much to my amusement. Eventually it landed and I just picked it up and tossed it outdoors. A pretty cool critter they are.

[wierdscience]

Unless there's some sort of guano catching system, you couldn't pay me to paddle under that bridge!

Found a story about the guano, which sounds to me, um, completely bat****. On the one hand they say the guano is not an environmental problem, even what falls in the lake, and on the other they say the bats consume 200 tons of insects a night! That means at least tons of guano a night into the water and unders the bridge, even if they crap some of it in flight and some is water peed or respirated away.

https://www.kut.org/austin/2019-08-07/who-cleans-up-the-bat-guano-under-the-congress-avenue-bridge

I think they pulled the 200tons number out of their a**.

[gellfex]

I think they pulled the 200tons number out of their a**.

Good catch. They say there's a million and a half bats so that's about a quarter a pound of bugs each per night, which is utterly absurd for a creature that weighs half an ounce.

[lynnl]

Couple of years back I was watching a ML baseball game on TV, and a bat flopped down on the field between the mound and home plate. Neither the Ump or batter or pitcher knew what to do with it. Finally the home team batboy came out and threw a towel over it and carried it away. (...get it? ..."batboy")

A true story. I was disappointed in the announcer missing the irony of the situation.

[J Tiers]

Hmmmmm...... Looks like a person could find dinner there pretty fast, with a net. Bigger bats may taste better, but hey, it is what it is.

[Mcostello]

We had one get in the house a few years ago. All windows and screens shut. No doors open, but there it was. About 12" wing span so not little. Wife is the only one around here fast enough to catch it. It would die of starvation waiting for Me to catch it.

[gellfex]

We had one get in the house a few years ago. All windows and screens shut. No doors open, but there it was. About 12" wing span so not little. Wife is the only one around here fast enough to catch it. It would die of starvation waiting for Me to catch it.

One of my wife's favorite stories from her childhood was that when bats got into the attic they'd send the cat up there. Next morning there'd just be little piles of fur and bones.

[darryl]

In Africa, heading toward some bat caves, and we miss the show. So we camped- of course it's pretty hot still, even at night, and a bat flies through our open window and cruises around a bit before if finally leaves. Yeah, that was interesting-

[Dr. Rob]

Good catch. They say there's a million and a half bats so that's about a quarter a pound of bugs each per night, which is utterly absurd for a creature that weighs half an ounce.

Yes, i’m a 99% listener as well. About the guano, maybe bats don’t excrete while sleeping. Maybe they do it while out flying around, effectively fertilizing?

.

[J Tiers]

Bats crap where they roost, for sure. We had them under the eaves and possibly in the attic. We noticed because the ground under them had bat crap. When we had the bats removed * they went to our next door neighbor. How do we know? The bat crap moved over there.

The bat removal people said that if there have been bats in the attic for a long time (there had not been) there would often be tall piles of bat crap that need to be removed. We did not have that issue.

So, for sure, the area under the bridge will be crapped upon, be that water or the shore, or you in a boat. No question about that. The question is do they crap all day, or do they just crap early when they have eaten all night? I do not know the answer to that.

* To remove the bats, which has to be done before May 15 around here ("nesting season" starts then thru August), the bat removers put in "bat valves". They went around sealing up any ways into the attic, and then they put plastic tubes on the places the bats had been getting in and out. The bats could get out, but could not land on them to get back in. So they were one-way valves for bats. After a few days those were removed and the entrances sealed up.