Homes built to house 2,000 "homeless" bats
Bridge demolition forces bats to move
Copyright 2010 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 07/12/2010
MATLACHA, Fla. - A Southwest Florida county is building two houses for thousands of bats that would be homeless after a bridge is demolished.
About 2,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats live under the Matlacha Bridge in Lee County.
The bridge is scheduled to be torn down and replaced in the coming months.
State wildlife regulations require the county to find someplace else for the bats to live.
Experts say the bats contribute to mosquito control because they eat 3,000 insects a day.
The county is building two bat houses near the construction site. The structures will be able to accommodate up to 4,000 bats.
County commissioner Frank Mann says he thinks the $26,500 price tag for the bat houses is too high.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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