Plant society to hear about bats, their abodes
10/21/04

Bats and their abodes will be the topic Thursday (Oct. 28) at the pre-Halloween meeting of the Louisiana Native Plant Society. The meeting is at 7 p.m. in the LSUS Science Lecture Auditorium. The program is free and open to the public.

Following a short business meeting, Gary Hanson, director of the LSUS Red River Watershed Management Institute, and Amanda Crnkovic, of the LSUS Biology Department, will discuss the massive “Bat Condos” project recently completed by the Institute.

“I can't think of a better idea than to have a presentation on bats at Halloween,” said Sandra Gilleland, a society member and the meeting’s organizer. “They're not just scary little things. Bats play a very important part in nature. They pollinate flowers and eat tons of bugs, including mosquitoes that can carry the West Nile virus.”

Gilleland said there will also be discussion of flowers that bloom at night, including Moon Vine and Daturas. “Daturas – or Angel’s Trumpet – come in purple, white, yellow and pink,” she commented, “and they smell wonderful!”

Hanson and David Williamson, a local environmental scientist, conceptualized the unusual artificial bat habitat about three years ago. They worked with Crnkovic, LSUS faculty and students, AEP SWEPCO personnel and other volunteers to make the “Bat Cave” a reality this summer.

The cave, constructed with huge used tires from SWEPCO earth-moving equipment, forms natural sections – or “condos” – in which bats can take up residence. Located on LSUS property across the levee from the university’s Southeast Shreveport campus, the Bat Condos project, which also served as a large-tire recycling project for SWEPCO, has gained national recognition.

The team will review the history of the project, discuss the beneficial aspects of local bats and show how the Louisiana Native Plant Society can play a part in the future development of the project.

For information, contact Gilleland at 318-797-5360 or sgillela@lsus.edu.