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NewsDepth Petting Zoo: Bats Make a Stink in Sacramento

( Corky Quirk / Bat Rescuer ) "These are the local bats. These are the Mexican Freetail bats."
CORKY QUIRK IS THE FOUNDER OF NORCAL BATS.
SHE RESCUES THE ANIMALS AND EDUCATES PEOPLE ABOUT THEM.
( Corky Quirk / Bat Rescuer ) "Well they live in the crevices. So they like to be in between really tight places that are maybe an inch wide. And with the settling that goes on, a lot of times older buildings will have gaps that will show up."
( Corky Quirk / Bat Rescuer ) "They are so abundant through old town and downtown."
( Man on street ) "So, I've seen them, yes."
( Man on street ) "Oh, I have seen bats."
( Boy on street ) "They're cool."
THE NUMBER OF BATS MAKING SACRAMENTO THEIR HOME IS NOT KNOWN, BUT QUIRK ASSURES US IT IS A VERY LARGE NUMBER.
( Corky Quirk / Bat Rescuer ) "There's a quarter million just under the Yolo causeway."
THE BATS LOVE THE MOSQUITOES IN THE AREA'S RICH FARMLAND.
EVERY NIGHT, JUST AFTER SUNSET, YOU CAN SEE THEM IN MASSIVE NUMBERS FLYING OUT FROM UNDER THE CAUSEWAY TO EAT UP.
( Corky Quirk / Bat Rescuer ) "We want the bats because they are our number one natural insect control."
...BUT LATELY, THEY HAVE BEEN EMITTING AN UNPLEASANT ODOR NEAR SOME OF THE OLD BUILDINGS IN DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO, MANY OF WHICH ARE UNDERGOING RENOVATION.
THE SMELL IS UNMISTAKABLY NOT HUMAN IN NATURE.
( Corky Quirk / Bat Rescuer ) "And you can smell it real bad."
( Corky Quirk / Bat Rescuer ) "A lot of it's their guano and their urine."
IN ADDITION, QUIRK SAYS THE MALES ARE EMITTING A SMELL THAT ATTRACTS FEMALE BATS.
( Corky Quirk / Bat Rescuer ) "In the fall when the males are starting to think about the females for the winter, it gets even a little stronger. So right now we might be noticing some of that in addition to their normal odors."