Hygieostatic Bat Roost in Comfort, Texas
It's Halloween season, and when we think of all the scary things that go bump in the night, bats might be one of the spookiest. But these harmless flying mammals aren't harbingers of darkness and evil. No vampires here! Bats are beneficial creatures with a special connection to Comfort, Texas, that dates back over 100 years. We're talking about the Hygieostatic Bat Roost, and you can see it for yourself on your next visit to our historic town.
If you didn't know, bats eat bugs and are the most significant predators of night-flying insects. In the early 1900s, outbreaks of malaria – a mosquito-borne disease – were a serious concern. In an era before pesticides, people had to develop other ways to control the mosquito population. That's where bats come in. Since a single adult bat can eat 1,000 mosquitoes in one night, these furry fliers were harnessed for their natural ability as insectivores. As part of an anti-malaria campaign, Texas health officials designed and constructed Hygieostatic Bat Roosts, one of them in Comfort, roughly a mile and a half east of town on the south side of FM 473. The structure, still standing today, is a 30-feet-high tower and resembles a church steeple on stilts, with pyramid-shaped shingles. One dormer serves as a bat entrance, while the others are ornamental.
Understanding the vital role bats play in our ecosystem, builders of the bat roost sought to welcome bats and provide a home to colonies of these beneficial creatures. In turn, the community benefitted from having an active roost of bats, too often vilified by superstition and myths. Sixteen of these roosts were built across the United States, but the one in Comfort is said to be the only one that remains today. In 1983, the Hygieostatic Bat Roost was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Although you can see it from the road, the roost is now behind a closed gate, However, kindly ask any resident if you can take a closer look, and they would be glad to let you in.
