UF bat house collapses, thousands left homeless

[Cheryl Jones]

Thousands of bats left homeless when the internal structure of the University of Florida Bat House collapsed over the weekend may be seeking new homes over a 10-mile radius, UF officials said.

The roosting fins inside the bottom of the structure on Museum Road across from Lake Alice collapsed Sunday, said Ken Glover, UF’s coordinator for pest management services.

Glover blamed the collapse on the sheer number of bats — about 200,000 — and the weight of their urine, which soaked into the wood.

Read on....
http://news.ufl.edu/2009/08/17/uf-bat-house-collapse/

[wendy]

update on the article

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

[Phil Winkler]

Hey, Wendy, that link took me to Charlie bit my finger, again.

However, searching at youtube for "UF Bat House" has several great videos of it, but nothing I could find on the collapse. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY1qmUpQv6s

[wendy]

http://www.gainesville.com/article/2009 ... /909021007

there is the correct link

[Bill Putnam]

Maybe they can get some federal stimulus money to re-build. Isn't there an $8,000 grant for first-time home buyers? The bats should be eligible....

[Ralph E. Powers]

They all can come up here to live in my folks' garage if they like.

[graveleye]

oh not me. As much as I love bats, I do NOT want them in my house.
Squirrels either.