Friday, September 7, 2012

The Perky Bat Tower

The Perky Bat Tower was built in 1929 by Richter Clyde Perky, a fish lodge owner, to control the mosquito problem in the Lower Keys. The tower was built from plans purchased from a Charles Campbell of Texas, an early pioneer of bat studies. The Hygiostatic Bat Roost, as Campbell called it, was intended to be a roost for bats that would eat the mosquitoes which spread illness and disease. A great idea except for one small problem… the bats would not live in their man-made home.
Today the pesky insects are controlled by the Mosquito Patrol board while the Perky Bat Tower stands as another monument to the Florida keys strange and quirky history.

The Sugarloaf Key Bat Tower is an historic site in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located a mile northwest of U.S. 1 on Lower Sugarloaf Key at mile marker 17. On May 13, 1982, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The mosquitoes still bite me though!

Anonymous said...

Mousguitoes still eat me alive!

Anonymous said...

Dear Robert,

I am your friend.

Sincerely Ernest R. Chase Jr.

Unknown said...

I love this post! Thank you for reminding us to always be thankful.
Work at Robert Greene Books Corp.

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Las Cruces Stone Contractors said...

Great read thannkyou