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Thank you,

Lynne Hart

Executive Coordinator

Bats Vital to Pest Control and Food Production

Threatened by Disease

  

Bats play a very important role in food production right here in Limestone County. 

  

An article featured in the June 9th edition of the News Courier stated that bats in Limestone, Jackson, Lawrence, and Marshall Counties are being affected by a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome.

  

Link to News Courier Article

  

Learn more:  Watch Video of the Month in the right column.

  

No matter how you feel about bats, this should be of concern because bats play a very important role in pest control, which is of great benefit to agriculture.  There is plenty of farming taking place in Limestone County, so it does affect us.

  

There are 16 species of bats in Alabama and every one is an insect-eating machine!  According to the Alabama Bat Working Group, a small colony of 150 bats can eat up to 33 million crop pests in a single summer.  They also eat mosquitoes and other insects that "bug" us right in our back yards.  One bat can eat 36,000 insects each month!

 

If a bat flies close to you, it is only because it is trying to capture insects that may be flying near you.  They have no interest in anything but filling their bellies with bugs and going back to their "homes".  They don't want to get in your hair, and they won't suck your blood!  Please do not harm them. 

  

 Seeking Volunteers to Water

Community Gardens

John Cotten watering gardens

We are pleased to announce that KALB will be working closely with the Truancy Intervention Program (TIP).  Through this program, we will have young adults and parents tending the community gardens once per week.

  

KALB continues to seek volunteers willing to adopt the gardens for one week over the summer to be sure they are properly watered.

  

Volunteers would agree to give the gardens a deep watering 2-3 times through the week.

  

KALB has made the task easy by providing several hoses and two sprinklers.  The sprinklers can be set up and turned on while other areas are watered using spray nozzles.  Volunteers may also set up the sprinklers and leave, then return and move the sprinklers to other locations.  That way volunteers won't have to stay at the gardens for long periods of time.

If you are interested in adopting the task of watering the gardens for one week (or more) over the summer, you may sign up through the following link.  KALB staff will be available to answer any questions and to give you the information you needs to obtain the equipment.

SIGN UP

  

All produce grown at the community garden will be donated to Limestone County Churches Involved Food Pantry (LCCI).  These vegetables will feed hungry families right here in Limestone County.

 

When deciding to begin recycling, someone may be afraid it will take a great deal of time and effort.  This can discourage people from even starting the process.  Here are a few things you should know:

• It is not necessary to remove labels from cans and bottles.
• Caps should be left on bottles.  They are recyclable, too!
• A quick rinse is all that's needed before recycling cans and bottles.
• Plastic windows do not have to be removed from envelopes.
• Paper clips and rubber bands can be left on office paper.
• Newspapers can be recycled with all of the inserts.  No need to separate.
• Electronics are accepted during business hours Monday through Friday.
• Cooking fats and oils can be recycled and we provide a collection bottle.
• Used motor oil can be recycled!

• The following items SHOULD NEVER be taken to the Recycling Center: Household hazardous waste (cleaning products, chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, etc), medical waste including insulin needles and dialysis tubing, drugs of any kind, paint of any kind, Styrofoam, tires, clothes, mattresses, wood, yard debris or household trash.

  

PRE-REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

  

"A Race to Protect the Environment"

  

Native plants are those that live in an area of the world without human intervention.  These are plants that have inhabited a certain area for thousands of years.  They developed a tolerance for the area's climate and get along with other plants and insects that live there.

Kudzu overtaking other native plants.  Picture from National Parks Service NPS.org.

 

Non-native plants are those that were brought in from other areas of the country or the world.  This could have been intentional (decorative plants for landscaping) or unintentional (accidentally carried to another area on boots, clothing, or other means).  These plants often are not used to our soil, heat, and water conditions and are easily injured by local insects.  They are harder to grow and keep healthy and often do not support the wildlife in the area.

 

Non-native plants can become invasive.  That means it takes over and kills native plants.

 

One example is Kudzu which was brought to the United States from Asia as an ornamental plant and for erosion control.  We all know what happens to anything that gets in the way of Kudzu.  It takes over anything that can't run away! 

 

Here is a link to an article discussing some of Alabama's worst invasive plants.

 

 

  The Nature Conservancy:  Alabama's Worst Invasives