Wisconsin DNR builds $20,000 bat houses

Hopes are bats will move from
I-90 bridge to “bat condos” in spring

The people building a new I-90 bridge at Dresbach have gone a little batty.

When they discovered that thousands of bats live beneath the existing bridge during warm weather, they decided to build new shelters for the animals to stay in after the old bridge comes down. Of course, those bats might choose to roost under the new bridge when it’s finished.

But Heather Kaarakka with the Wisconsin DNR thinks the bats will eventually move into the $20,000 “bat condos” built close to the water on French Island.

Why should humans care what happens to bats?  Kaarakka says bats help keep the environment in balance and are useful in feeding on mosquitoes.