Bats and Raptors Patrol World Cup Stadium

Sadly, the bats will likely sleep through most of the day games.

This is pretty cool, so Siouxsie thought she would share it.  The AFP reports —

A South African World Cup stadium [Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium] has turned to birds of prey to chase out rogue pigeons and rats in an anti-pest strategy that favours raptors above the pitch instead of poisons.

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The strategy was designed as a harmonious system: the wild raptors hunt and chase away feral pigeons, eliminating the notoriously slovenly birds’ nests and droppings which attract rats.

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Bat boxes were also erected in trees and under the outer stadium roof for indigenous bats — which can eat 132 mosquitos an hour — drawn by insects attracted by the stadium’s lights and its lake setting.

Sounds like a great plan to combat pests.  Plus, bats or falcons would have made a much cooler mascot for the World Cup.

Rawr. What were they thinking? Is this a liger?

Bonus Video:  At the time this video was made, Nelson Mandela was in jail.  Now, the 2010 World Cup stadium in South Africa bears his name.  You can tell just how much time has passed by looking at how young the performers are in the video (and by seeing who in the video is no longer alive).

~ by siouxsielaw on June 1, 2010.