More bats will be hanging around Fair Haven Heights, and that’s a good thing for bats and humans alike — not so much for the mosquitoes.
The good bat news has come about because a dozen supporters and friends of the New Haven Land Trust (NHLT) have erected the area’s first bat box in the Quinnipiac Meadows Eugene R. Fargeorge Nature Preserve, which NHLT tends.
The bat box is at the end of a recently hacked-out trail on the 35-acre tidal wetlands precinct, which looked as fresh and green (I assume) as the first day of creation.
The entryway is usually gated against vehicles; your body slides through on the left.
It’s just off the main gravel entry trail, which pops up on Quinnipiac Avenue, approximately after houses numbered 1004 or 1006. You access it on foot only, although there’s room for parking for one car or two at the most.
Click on the video at the top of the story to walk the trail as the Independent sought to interview a bat (who, like some public figures, proved elusive, unavailable for comment — allegedly because they were “sleeping”).
New Haven Land Trust Photo
NHLT volunteer David Budries (pictured with NHLT Executive Director Justin Elicker and others in background) built the box, donated it to the NHLT and supervised the installation one recent day.
Olivia Pearman, a Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies student interning this summer with NHLT, reported that Fair Haven’s bat box is not the city’s first. There are already four in East Rock Park, including one near the Orange Street Bridge that spans the Mill River.
Pearman, who was among the crew installing the box, provided photographs and the following report, excerpted below:
“The bat box is only about 2.5 feet by 1.5 feet by six inches deep. The house is painted dark green and has its own shingled roof; these features help it absorb more heat.
“Inside are four chambers lined with material that allows the bats to grab on and move around.
“We intend this box to boost bat populations, which are being devastated by white-nose syndrome, across the eastern United States, and to spark conversations about bat conservation.
“The box is located about 15 above the ground on an old, disused telephone pole between the Meadow Walk trail and the gravel entrance road.”
Although it goes contrary to our [maybe horror movie-inspired instincts], bats perform terrific services for us. They every evening eat gazillions of mosquitoes and other bugs; they pollinate certain plants; some species have chemicals in their systems that intrigue scientists and hold the potential for human life-enhancing drugs.
Oh, and bat guano, although the subject of glee among adolescents for generations, is also a superb fertilizer.
Read more about bats’ contributions to life in Fair Haven and beyond right here.
The entrance to the short trail is as yet unmarked.
The new trail and bat box as reward at the end makes for a quietly exciting new little feature for this under-appreciated environmental gem in our midst.
Visiting hours: any time you want.