Next to the ballpark, a bat cage

March 24, 1998
Web posted at: 9:04 p.m. EST (0204 GMT)

By Environmental News Network staff

Bats -- the furry, flying kind -- are big fans of the New York Mets baseball team spring training digs in St. Lucie County, Florida

Although the Mets and their human fans are always appreciative of added support, the peculiar odor and general unsanitary nature of the stadium has interfered with the joy of watching a game.

As a result, St. Lucie County, with the help of University of Florida wildlife specialist Ken Gioeli, built the bats their very own home right next to all the action.

The bat house opened Monday.

When the furry fans took up residence at the Mets' ballpark several years ago, no one complained at first, according to stadium superintendent Albie Scoggins. But over the years the clean-up crew has gotten tired of ridding the stands of bat droppings.

The bat droppings, or guano, also presented an odor and sanitation problem, and finally the local health department stepped onto the scene.

"Health inspectors said the bats would have to go or they would close the stadium," Gioeli said. "You can imagine that bat droppings falling into drinks or hot dogs would not be desirable."

The county embarked on the construction of a bat house modeled after the one on the University of Florida campus, consulting Gioeli and Bill Kern, a wildlife specialist with the university's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences who monitors the university bat house.

The Mets' bat house is about a quarter the size of the house at the university which, with more than 60,000 bats, houses the largest colony living in a structure made especially for bats.

And as with the University of Florida bat house, which stood empty in its early years, bat experts are not sure the Mets bats will relocate to their new home right away.

To get the stadium ready for spring training, the bats had to be excluded before the bat house was ready. Screening was put up at night while the bats were gone to keep them from going back into the rafters when they returned.

Local officials also are building another bat house nearby at a shopping center, making the community more-than-usually bat friendly, Gioeli said. Bats make good neighbors, he said, because they dine on night-flying insects and provide natural pest control.

Bat houses also provide opportunities for community wildlife education and even tourism, Gioeli said, noting the nightly pilgrimage visitors make to the campus bat house to watch the bats fly.

Copyright 1998, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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• University of Florida, St. Lucie's bat house

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