After one and a half years of planning, the bat barn and bat house cameras to show the daily lives of UF's bats online are up and running.
The project cost about $15,000 to $20,000 to plan, run the electrical and network wiring from the pump house nearby and fix the camera when it gets too dirty from the bats' daily mess, said Beverly Sensbach, associate director of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
The bats' guano covers the protective case the camera is held in, which is the No. 1 issue with the camera system, she said.
The money came from museum grants, investments, gift shops, paid exhibits and traveling exhibits, she said.
"We hope it is going to be useful for scientists but also for the general public," she said.
The cameras, positioned in and around the bat house and bat barn, will stream the more than 300,000 bats' daily activities online at all times.
The bats originally lived in the attic of Johnson Hall on the UF campus until the hall burnt down in 1987, Sensbach said.
The wandering mammals made their home in the eaves of the tennis and track stadiums.
In an effort to get the stinky bats away from the center of campus, the university built the bat house in 1991. When that one collapsed in 2009, another was built next to the older structure.
"I hope this [web]site will clear up the bad reputation bats have," Sensbach said. "We want people to learn about bats and appreciate their role in Florida's ecology."
The bat house and bat barn can be seen streaming live 24/7 because of the Florida Museum of Natural History's grants, donations and investments.
