Bats considered for mosquito problem

WASHINGTON, Mo. -- Just call him the Bat Man.

When local woodworker Matt Soete heard officials in this historic Missouri River town were considering pesticides to control mosquitoes along the new Rotary Riverfront Trail, he went to the park board and suggested a more natural form of control: Bats.

"You won't hear them, most people won't see them and they don't require any pay," he said.

Park board members liked the idea at a meeting last week. They plan to talk to the city administrator about the natural form of pest control.

"Why not try it? What do we have to lose?" member Judy Lamb asked.

Soete volunteered to build the bat houses -- he estimated six plywood houses mounted atop metal poles would do the trick. He has already contacted others about donating materials and labor. As many as 200 bats can fit into one house.

A bat can eat up to 5,000 mosquitoes, moths and other bugs in a single night, Soete said.

If not bats, the city has allocated $29,500 to pay for mosquito control this year, probably through pesticides.

"I want to do as many things as I can to convince the city to use as little pesticide as possible," Soete told the board. "I am concerned about the long-term use of pesticides."

The hardest part, Soete said, might be convincing people that the bats are themselves harmless.

Many people see bats as rabies-carrying flying rodents. In fact, Soete said bats are no more likely to be rabid than other mammals, and transmission of the disease from bats to humans is quite rare.