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The Best Little Bathouse in Texas
Submitted by Dave on Sat, 11/17/2007 - 6:42am.
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1914. Dr. Charles Campbell and a "municipal bat-roost" in San Antonio, Texas ("for one of man's best friends"), his idea for mosquito control at a time when malaria was a major public health problem in the U.S. Disguised as a favorite bat habitat — a church steeple, complete with cross — the roost was fitted with a trapdoor and stilts to facilitate the harvesting of guano by the wagonload for use as fertilizer. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.
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Awesome . . .
Submitted by GypsyLor on Wed, 08/13/2008 - 8:15pm.
When I lived in a very rural area a few years ago, we had a lot of parties and people were always amazed because we didn't have any mosquitoes . . . . every evening we'd sit on the deck and watch the bats . . . . it was very cool.
How did he get up there?
Submitted by Tim Fuhrman on Tue, 11/20/2007 - 3:32am.
Somone said erelyer, how did he get up there? It's true, how did he get up there maybe, he's a bat and flew up there?
Where's The Ladder?
Submitted by IDLERACER on Tue, 11/20/2007 - 1:06am.
Am I the only one who is curious to know how he got up there?
[My guess: With a ladder. - Dave]
Bat-hyphens
Submitted by robcat2075 on Mon, 11/19/2007 - 9:33pm.
So, does one properly hyphenate "bat roost" or not? They seem to go both ways there.
The Good Doctor
Submitted by Denny on Sat, 11/17/2007 - 8:38pm.
Looks a bit like Teddy Roosevelt, eh? The "rotundness" and all that.
Denny Gill
Chugiak, Alaska
I didn't realise the scale of the construction...
Submitted by Yataran on Sat, 11/17/2007 - 11:16am.
...until I saw the man standing there. I thought that it was something quite small, with a shape that imitated a church steeple.
Interesting shot!
Go Organic!
Submitted by Curvilinear on Sat, 11/17/2007 - 9:50am.
It's amusing that so many people think of natural and organic solutions as new and modern. I guess most folks don't think about what life was like before DDT and other chemicals. It's a great photo.
Wonderment
Submitted by Mike Mahaffie on Sat, 11/17/2007 - 8:29am.
I'm so glad the good Doctor chose to pose on his Bat Roost. Otherwise we'd not get a true sense of the size of that thing. You don't really see timbers that size much anymore!
[The supports are poured concrete. - Dave]
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