As mosquito season heats up, bringing with it the threat of the West Nile and Zika
viruses, one Long Island town has approved the construction of boxes that function as bat houses in several parks to attract more bats to the area.“Bats can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes per hour,“ Judi Bosworth, North Hempstead supervisor, said. “ Even a pesticide couldn't do that.“ The town started building and hanging of bat houses in its parks in 2007 to curb the use of pesticides. Over the years, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have built some of the houses.
This year, Yianni Biniaris, 16, hopes building, repairing and replacing bat houses will help him attain the rank of Eagle Scout. “Using the bat houses is more of a friendlier way of getting rid of mosquitoes, while saving the bat population,“ Yianni said.
As for drinking blood, the bats on Long Island do not partake. New York state is home to nine bat species- none of them vampire bats, according to Liliana M Davalos, an associate professor at Stony Brook University. Less than one-half of 1% of all bats in North America carry rabies, according to the US's Humane Society . The “strenuous aerobic exercise“ of flying, Davalos said, requires bats to pack on calories. Mosquitoes are not necessarily the most caloric - they are on the lower end of that scale -but bats will eat the ones in their paths anyway , she said.
Aedes albopictus, known as Asian tiger mosquito, is found on Long Island and is capable of transmitting Zika. So far, there have been no reported cases of local transmission of the disease.
Source: TOI
This year, Yianni Biniaris, 16, hopes building, repairing and replacing bat houses will help him attain the rank of Eagle Scout. “Using the bat houses is more of a friendlier way of getting rid of mosquitoes, while saving the bat population,“ Yianni said.
As for drinking blood, the bats on Long Island do not partake. New York state is home to nine bat species- none of them vampire bats, according to Liliana M Davalos, an associate professor at Stony Brook University. Less than one-half of 1% of all bats in North America carry rabies, according to the US's Humane Society . The “strenuous aerobic exercise“ of flying, Davalos said, requires bats to pack on calories. Mosquitoes are not necessarily the most caloric - they are on the lower end of that scale -but bats will eat the ones in their paths anyway , she said.
Aedes albopictus, known as Asian tiger mosquito, is found on Long Island and is capable of transmitting Zika. So far, there have been no reported cases of local transmission of the disease.
Brilliant. This is brilliant. I hope this catches on around the world.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day,. ☺