Gregg Trusty/LSUS News

‘Holy Toledo, Batman, is This Cave for Us?’

Sorry, Robin, this cave is for real bats. Constructed with used tires from SWEPCO’s huge earthmoving equipment, the bat cave is only the second of its kind built in the United States. A project of the LSUS Red River Watershed Management Institute completed in late summer, the cave contains a plethora of “bat condos” formed by wire mesh hung on the inside of each tire. Gary Hanson (left) checks the positioning at the heart of the cave of “Big Bertha,” the largest of the tires with a 42-inch “footprint” (tread width), 100 inches in overall diameter and 45 inches in its interior opening, as Amanda Crnkovic, an instructor of biology, goes for a shovelful of dirt to toss under the tire for stability. At the controls of the excavator is SWEPCO equipment operator William Huggens, while Jack Walker checks alignment from atop the huge tires and Mac Soules works with a shovel from below to stabilize the tires. All three men are employees at SWEPCO’s Pirkey generating plant. Hanson is an assistant professor of environmental science, director of the LSUS Red River Watershed Management Institute and professor designate of the Don & Earlene Coleman Red River Watershed Management Professorship.

(Click here for an article and another photograph on the "luxury bat condos.")