To combat the spread of malarial mosquitoes in Texas in the early 1900s , bacteriologist and fledermaus appreciator Dr. Charles Campbell of San Antonio built this monolithic bat sign ( which was one of several ) . This roost was on stilts so that the bats ’ nitrogen - rich guano could be collected as it plopped to the ground .
After experimenting unsuccessfully with bat houses in 1907 , Campbell finally corralled a colony of at-bat into a household outdoors of San Antonio , Texas . His methods to head the bat into this first mansion were fairly comedic . AsBats Conservation International explicate :
Intent on filling his Modern bat tower with an armada of malaria - eradicating bats , Campbell rick his tending to a hunting lodge about 500 yards aside . Bats direct possession of the lodge during the summer when duck season was off and hunters did n’t use it . Although previous experiments had failed to stimulate chiropteran to leave their roost for good and take up residence in his first bat tug , Campbell was ready to try something else . He speculate that since bats locate their food through a highly developed sense of hearing , certain types of sounds might prove unsympathetic enough to induce them to move and not return . note that bat haunt church and belfry with no apparent aversion to pipe organ or bells , he further surmise that governance banding music might provide the right measure of disagreeableness to tender bat ears . Since the home he had provided “ in which all the conveniences any picayune bat tenderness could perchance desire ” was only a few hundred thou away , he felt confident that the evicted squash racket would appreciatively move in . With the aid of an enthusiastic friend , Campbell began audition hundreds of records , subside on one they were sure would do the job .
get at four in the morning , the bats of the hunt lodge were serenade with the “ Cascade of Roses ” waltz as play by the Mexico City Police Band . Cornets , clarinet , piccolos , trombones , drums and cymbals created a cacophony of sound that greeted the bat on their 5:00 a.m. riposte . Campbell reported that the astonished bats circled the building again and again before giving up and disappearing into the dawn . The concert was resume the next morning , but the bats , likely know what was good for them , never put in an appearance . Campbell repeat the musical production act at a nearby abandoned ranch theatre occupied by bats . This time he force back the bat out with “ the first fortissimo ” an 60 minutes and a half before their usual emergence fourth dimension .
you may read . Campbell ’s bat houses hereandsee further photograph of these curious roost at this link .
[ Bat Conservation InternationalandShorpyviaNeatorama ]
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