Yikes, Batman! Bathouses for Sale!

Recently the City began an innovative collaboration project between Columbia Junior High and the Fife Parks and Public Works Departments. It is a project that will provide one solution to the mosquito problem.

Columbia Junior High students from Mr. Beddes' wood shop and construction class recently completed the construction of small bat houses (see photos), based on plans developed by a bat conservation organization. Bat houses are increasingly used as a method to control mosquito and insect problems associated with surface water ponds and wetland areas. Visitors to Snake Lake Park in Tacoma are familiar with the bathouses along its trails. A single little brown bat can catch 1,200 mosquitoes-sized insects in just one hour. Further, health departments support the strategy of using bats as a way to control mosquitoes and reduce the spread of West Nile virus.

Fife Parks Director Michael Lafreniere approached the high school about this project idea and the students enthusiastically took on the project. Fife Public Works will be installing bathouses in key locations in some of the city's surface water retention ponds and city parks. Finally, Public Works will now make these available to Fife residents for $10 per bat house. You can contact 922-9315 for more details.

You can learn more about bats and bathouses at www.batcon.org, and more information regarding the West Nile Virus is available at http://www.tpchd.org/eh/wnv.