Downtown Bat Houses.

Downtown Bat Houses

Although they may look small from the ground, the two pole-mounted bat houses in a downtown DeLand courtyard are each built to house 1,000 bats. They were erected after a massive colony of bats was found living in the attic of the local newspaper building.

The houses were built by bat experts Tom and Laura Finn, who perfected the design while wrangling bats at Kennedy Space Center.

Although the bats were unwelcome in their previous home, the city still wanted to keep them around, as they are credited with rendering downtown DeLand relatively mosquito-free -- a rarity for lake-riddled Central Florida. Also, the bat houses are proven to make tourists swarm; they congregate at dusk to watch the bat activity.

Downtown Bat Houses

Address:: 104 S. Artisan Alley, DeLand, FL
Directions:: In a courtyard on the east side of Artisan Alley, a half-block south of Hwy 44/W. New York Ave. and a half-block west of US Hwy 92/S. Woodland Blvd.
Hours:: Bats fly at dusk. Local health policies may affect hours and access.

Nearby Offbeat Places

Reptile Discovery Center - Venom Collecting, DeLand, FL - 6 mi.

C. Green's Haunted History House and Museum, Cassadaga, FL - 6 mi.

Town of Spiritualists, Cassadaga, FL - 6 mi.

In the region:

Big Shark of Daytona, Daytona Beach, FL - 23 mi.

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