Story Archive

Robins Might Be Better

“It seems like prior years we were harassed by mosquitos,” homeowner Steve Pate said. He had a solution to the problem in his Chandler, Ariz., neighborhood: a bat house. “The primary function of those bats would be eating mosquitos,” Pate said. “It’s all natural.” A year and half after the bat house was erected, though, Pate received a letter from his Homeowner’s Association saying the bat residence was a nuisance and had to be removed within two weeks. Pate said he was surprised by the letter, because of the length of time it had been there and the positive feedback from his neighbors. He did, though, admit he hadn’t asked permission — because he didn’t see any rules saying he had to. “I didn’t think I really needed to because it’s like a birdhouse, a habitat,” he said. Pate said the HOA told him there were concerns over rabies, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are only one to three reported cases of rabies per year, and 2,002 cases of West Nile virus last year. (MS/KPHO Phoenix) ...To get rid of the bats, get some snakes. To get rid of the snakes, get some ferrets....