Bats used as natural insecticide
Posted: Jul 29, 2006 9:25 amKATIE SCHMITT - Daily Herald
In most places, bats have gotten the reputation as being scary, disease-carrying flying terrors, but one golf course is using them as a natural insecticide.
Gregory Taylor, 15, of Boy Scout Troop 870 in Spanish Fork, built eight bat houses in six months to place on the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course in Orem for his Eagle Scout project.
Bat houses are wooden structures built to encourage bats to live in a certain area by providing the right environment for them.
"We originally wanted to make markers on the golf course to show how far you are from the hole," Taylor said. "But the golf course wanted to know if we would build bat houses instead."
Brian Cloud, head golf course superintendent for Sleepy Ridge Golf Course, said the course is near wetlands and has been known to have a mosquito problem from time to time. He said he hopes that encouraging bats to roost near the course will help cut down on discomfort for the golfers.
According to Bat Conservation International, http://www.batcon.org, the Little Brown Myotis, a common bat found in North America, can eat up to 1,200 insects in just one hour.
Taylor said each bat house will hold up to 1,000 bats.
"It might take a few years for the bats to find the houses," Cloud said. "But I think it will help control the mosquito population much more effectively."
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In most places, bats have gotten the reputation as being scary, disease-carrying flying terrors, but one golf course is using them as a natural insecticide.
Gregory Taylor, 15, of Boy Scout Troop 870 in Spanish Fork, built eight bat houses in six months to place on the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course in Orem for his Eagle Scout project.
Bat houses are wooden structures built to encourage bats to live in a certain area by providing the right environment for them.
"We originally wanted to make markers on the golf course to show how far you are from the hole," Taylor said. "But the golf course wanted to know if we would build bat houses instead."
Brian Cloud, head golf course superintendent for Sleepy Ridge Golf Course, said the course is near wetlands and has been known to have a mosquito problem from time to time. He said he hopes that encouraging bats to roost near the course will help cut down on discomfort for the golfers.
According to Bat Conservation International, http://www.batcon.org, the Little Brown Myotis, a common bat found in North America, can eat up to 1,200 insects in just one hour.
Taylor said each bat house will hold up to 1,000 bats.
"It might take a few years for the bats to find the houses," Cloud said. "But I think it will help control the mosquito population much more effectively."
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