RSS
|
Mobile
|
Daily Emails
|
We Twitter
| Make us your home page
Everybody poops -- including bats.
To be sure, all you have to do is take in the sights, sounds -- and yes, smells -- of Kyle Field.
Officials at Texas A&M University say they are doing what they can to clean up after the little stinkers -- officially, Mexican free-tailed bats.
But it's not all that bat, er, bad. The bats serve a useful purpose, and many fans at Saturday's blowout loss to Oklahoma said they didn't really mind sharing their favorite game-day hangout.
Alan Cannon, an associate athletics director, said stadium crews do their best to fill cracks to keep bats out of certain areas, but it's a big job.
The bats have even caught the attention of Athletics Director Bill Byrne, who addressed the messy situation in his blog last month.
"These bats help us by eating a lot of bugs around the stadium, but unfortunately, what goes in also comes out," Byrne said. Kyle Field has been inhabited by the official flying mammal of Texas for several years, he said.
Crews spend hours each week power-washing the stadium and the Zone Plaza for bat residue, Byrne said, but it's a never-ending chore. The university has even tried deodorizer, he said.
The bat infestation is concentrated mostly in the stadium's upper decks. Cannon said safety is the university's biggest concern, and officials are doing everything they can to ensure a positive game day experience.
Cannon said they're constantly watching to make sure bat guano can't get in vendors' food and have taken steps to protect unsuspecting fans from droppings.
Announcements are made during games, and there are signs to remind fans not to touch bats on the ground, he said.
Barbara French, a biologist with Bat Conservation International in Austin, has visited Kyle Field with university officials several times in search of a solution.
Because of the stadium's size, she said, sealing it off from the flying bug-eaters could take many years, but that would really be the best option.
"This is a big job," she said. "That is a huge stadium."
Associate Athletics Director Kevin Hurley said the university spends several thousand dollars a year preparing for home football games, and cleaning up the bat mess is just part of the job.
"We're in some form of cleaning mode, pre- or post-game, all during football season," he said.
It's not hard, he said, to figure out where the bats are.
"Bat guano has a very ammonia smell to it," he said. "Obviously, if there is a large population of bats, you're going to smell it at some point in time."
Joe Labada of Van Vleck said he can recognize the smell but doesn't mind the bats "squeaking up a storm." After attending Aggie games for 15 years, the 1978 graduate said he's gotten used to seeing the "little rascals hiding up there."
Other fans said they've noticed the bats, but have never seen a mess.
"I've been to a few night games, and you can see them flying around," said Charles Bellomy, who said he had been watching the Aggies at Kyle Field for 21 years.
Susan Kwasniak, a spokeswoman for Bat Conservation International, said the creatures help cotton producers avoid about $750,000 a year in crop losses. The bats eat crop-destroying insects, she said, which means farmers can use less pesticide.
"That is probably the Mexican free-tailed bat's greatest value to mankind and the environment," she said.
Jennifer Thomas, 33, of Fort Worth, said she can remember seeing the bats fly around Kyle Field when she was a child. Thomas said she hears them at some of the games, despite the roar of the fans.
"You can smell it a little bit," she said, though it's never bothered her. "We've been coming here so long we're used to it."
