News

Park at Flat Rock gets bat boxes

By Bill Moss, Published: March 6, 2017

FLAT ROCK — The popular Park at Flat Rock may soon have more visits from those tiny flying mammals.

The bat boxes have been erected at the park. Based on specifications provided by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), the bat boxes were built as a volunteer project by students from A-B Tech’s Construction Management/Sustainability Technologies Departments, under the direction of Eric Hurley and David Fortner. After a visit to the park, Katherine Caldwell, NCWRC wildlife diversity program biologist, and Joey Weber, NCWRC wildlife diversity technician, selected the most appropriate locations for the boxes.
According to Caldwell, bats are an important part of a healthy, balanced, well-functioning ecosystem. Not only do they help control the mosquito population, but they also control crop and forest pests and are found to save the agricultural industry about $1 billion annually.
Bats are currently faced with white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease that does not affect humans but that has caused the death of millions of bats. In providing roosting places for bats, we are helping in their conservation.
NCWRC has recently installed bat boxes on three of its game lands to increase roosting habitat availability. Henderson County has also placed bat boxes in county parks and on the campus of Blue Ridge Community College. The Village of Flat Rock is pleased to be part of this effort in helping sustain the bat population.
For more information about the bat boxes, please contact Judy Boleman, village administrator, at 828.697.8100 or email at administrator@villageofflatrock.org.