Bats for the Willow Water Hole

The Willow Water Hole is a series of retention ponds and acres of greenspace that offer Houstonians relief from flooding concerns and recreational opportunities. The Willow Water contains many bayous that provide many resources for much wildlife. One of the members of this wildlife is mosquitoes, which can carry multiple diseases and spread them easily. The Willow Water Hole is currently constructing Levitt Pavilion to hold outdoor concerts, however, mosquitoes pose a threat to many present and future guests of the Willow Water Hole. The Willow Water Hole is looking for an efficient way of mosquito control. Furthermore, the bat species is very underrepresented in their endangerment status and are often misinterpreted in their way of life and their uses; most people have a negative and incorrect interpretation of bats. Bats eat half their weight in mosquitoes every night; bats can act as a very productive source of mosquito control for the Willow Water Hole and only about 0.05% of all

My plan for the project was to construct the bat houses coat the houses to their appropriate shade dig holes for the posts and bat houses  drill the bat houses on the posts place the posts in the holes reinforce the posts with cement and dirt The bat houses will draw the attention of bats and provide them shelter from predators. The bat houses will be mounted on a post to ensure safety for the bats, and the Willow Water Hole has many water sources and plants that provide the bats with many resources.

My team and I constructed and coated the bat houses in October, and after receiving the final supplies, my team and I met again on December 23, 2017 to actually dig the holes and place the posts at the Willow Water Hole. Luckily, we had very good weather to work in and had help from the Willow Water Hole staff to supply the tools and cement. It was a very productive day and everyone felt accomplished once we finished. 

To make sure the posts were secure, we had to dig 3 ft. holes. This was probably the most vigorous activity of the day, but we still had fun. Pictures:

I decided to drill the bat houses on the posts before we set the posts in. With adult supervision, we finished drilling the bat houses pretty quickly. Pictures:

In order to cement the posts, we poured the cement in the hole, then water, then stirred while someone held the post in place. We had to repeat this until we ran out of cement. Cementing the posts did take a while to do and took many people to do but was very fun. Pictures: