Many years ago, when development started in the lower keys the mosquito population was a terrible problem and someone got the idea that maybe they could be controlled with bats imported from central Florida. (A single bat can eat as many as 1000 mosquito's a day.) At any rate, in 1929 a gentleman by the name of Perky decided to build this tower to entice bats to survive and multiply and resolve at least some of the problems with the mosquito population.
Perky Bat Tower
This tower is about 40 or 50 feet tall and quite intricate with roosts for the bats behind louvers that allow them to come and go with the roosts inside protected by the shake shingles on the exterior of the tower.
Entrance Louvers
This last view is from the bottom of the tower which shows the strange spacing of the interior boards that allows roosting areas through out the structure. The problem was that either the bats all died or moved on to better climates and the structure is still obviously standing to this day. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hows that for an interesting tidbit about the Florida Keys?
Perky Bat Tower
This tower is about 40 or 50 feet tall and quite intricate with roosts for the bats behind louvers that allow them to come and go with the roosts inside protected by the shake shingles on the exterior of the tower.
Entrance Louvers
This last view is from the bottom of the tower which shows the strange spacing of the interior boards that allows roosting areas through out the structure. The problem was that either the bats all died or moved on to better climates and the structure is still obviously standing to this day. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hows that for an interesting tidbit about the Florida Keys?
