About twelve of us headed to Curie High School Feb. 23rd for the Annual Friends of the Chicago River Student Congress. Evan brought his Eagle Scout project bat boxes to show and tell during our workshop presentation given alongside Sharon Peterson of Incrediblebats.com. Sharon brought two Egyptian Fruit Bats and two African Straw Bats to wow us with. Amazing creatures... She discussed the most common bat myths - "bats are blind", "bats are diseased", etc. and talked about how vital they are as keystone species to the balance of our ecosystems. Among their many roles, they spread seeds to maintain plant biodiversity and manage insects to keep pest populations in check. After a brief discussion about the white-nosed fungus which has been decimating populations in the U.S. :( she brought the bats out, fed them and allowed us to get some nice photos (click here for full album)!
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