To fight mosquitoes, he's boosting bats

Scout builds homes for bugs' natural predators

CARVER - When Liam Kelly witnessed pesticide spraying over his hometown of Carver to combat Eastern Equine Encephalitis and the West Nile virus last year, you could say he went a little batty.

"I thought, this is ridiculous," said Kelly, 16.

"We need another humane alternative because the spraying wasn't working and the mosquito population was booming. At the same time I heard bats weren't doing so well because their habitat was at stake with all the new development and construction in Carver. So I talked with my parents and we brainstormed ideas for what we could do," he said.

Before Kelly knew it, he found himself on a bat house-building campaign, building and branding his own bat houses. Kelly, a freshman at Sacred Heart High School in Kingston, is a member of Carver's Boy Scout Troop 48. He is pursuing his Eagle Scout badge, the highest honor a Scout can achieve.

In order to earn his badge, he must take on a community service project, and when it came to deciding what type of project to do, "The Benefits of Bats" was a no-brainer.

"One bat eats up to 3,000 mosquitoes a night. That's pretty impressive natural mosquito population control," Kelly said.

Building bat houses is a "win-win" situation, he said: "You'll give bats a home so they won't end up going into your house, and you'll have fewer mosquitoes."

His bat house campaign is also a win-win for the community. Every time someone buys a $25 bat house, Kelly donates a second bat house to the town. He is working with the Carver Conservation Commission to decide where the bat houses will go.

Sarah Hewins, conservation agent, said Kelly's campaign has helped change the public's misconception that bats are scary and dangerous, and is shedding light on how beneficial they are to mosquito control.

"There are also types of bats that are endangered, and conserving a species and raising awareness that we must protect our ecosystems is a good thing," Hewins said.

"It's a tremendous thing he's doing, showing us ways we can control pests like mosquitoes that are more dangerous than bats without using something that kills all insects.

"The bottom line is if you attract bats you will have fewer mosquitoes," she said.

Kelly researched and learned most of his information about bats by watching Norwell native Jeff Corwin's nature show and the Animal Planet cable station.

"Recently, I was at Myles Standish State Forest and noticed how bad the mosquitoes are there and the mosquito population keeps rising. I hope to put boxes around the forest, schools in town, and the library and playground," Kelly said.

Liam's mother, Connie Kelly, said she is proud of her son's project.

"The triple-E scare seems to heighten each year. I'll never forget when a newscaster was at the library playground doing a story after a Middleborough boy died from triple-E two years ago. That hit too close to home for Liam and our family," Connie Kelly said.

Kelly said after he becomes an Eagle Scout, he will continue his "Benefits of Bats" campaign.

"I plan on doing this for a long time. Whatever it takes."

For more information, contact Liam Kelly at 36 Leonard St., Carver, 02330 or e-mail pkelly@usa.com.