Members of Girl Scout Troop 77262 pose with the Grosse Pointe Woods City Council and the bat houses that the scouts created for the city.
By: K. Michelle Moran | Grosse Pointe Times | Published June 16, 2026
GROSSE POINTE WOODS — Most bats in Michigan have bodies no bigger than a thumb and their weight can be measured in standard paperclips, but their appetite for insects — they can eat 600 to 1,000 flying insects per night, according to the Huron-Clinton Metroparks website — makes them worthy of superhero status.
Recognizing their value, scouts from Girl Scout Troop 77262 built multiple bat houses — complete with their logo and troop number — and donated them to Grosse Pointe Woods so that the city could provide a more friendly environment to these creatures. The scouts explained the benefits of bats and why they chose this project when they presented their gift to city officials during a June 1 Woods City Council meeting.
Evelyn Daniels, 9, a fourth grader at Mason Elementary in Grosse Pointe Woods, said that the scouts worked on the bat houses to earn their Bronze Award, “the highest award a junior Girl Scout cand earn” and one that involves community service.
All nine of the bat species in Michigan eat insects exclusively. Nursing female bats can eat thousands of bugs in a single night, the scouts said — great news for anyone who’s ever fought off mosquitoes while trying to enjoy the outdoors.
In addition, because bats eat so many insects, farmers don’t need to use as much pesticide to protect their crops.
As the scouts explained, bats in a place like Grosse Pointe Woods would typically either live in a chimney or attic, or in dead or damaged trees under the bark or inside a hollow trunk. Humans don’t want to have bats in their homes and trees in poor condition are usually cut down, which limits housing options for bats.
Bat houses should be suspended 12 to 20 feet above the ground, away from tree branches or predators, and since bat houses hung on trees are rarely successful, they should be placed elsewhere, such as on an unused utility pole or a building. They should also face south or east so they get a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight a day to keep the pups warm, the scouts said.
“Bat houses are a good idea because it can give them a more livable habitat,” said Sophia Roybal, 10, a fourth grader at Mason.
The scouts researched bats and construction of bat houses as part of this endeavor.
This project improves the community “because it reduces mosquitoes,” said Elizabeth Martin, 9, a fourth grader at Mason Elementary.
Ceci Maryniak, 11, a Parcells Middle School fifth grader, said the scouts discovered “that bats are very helpful to our ecosystem in Grosse Pointe Woods.”
“I learned that bats really do help us in our community and we don’t realize how much they help us,” said Martha Faner, 11, a fifth grader at Pierce Middle School in Grosse Pointe Park.
Harper Starkey, 11, a fifth grader at Parcells, said they learned about bats during a scout camping trip last summer.
“I enjoyed how we worked together,” said Pyper-Rose Kirkland, 10, a fifth grader at Parcells. “We learned a bunch of things about bats.”
Teamwork was something other scouts appreciated as well, such as Zoe Swift, 10, a Mason fourth grader who also liked staining the wood.
“I enjoyed that we all had a chance to work on the project and we all got to help out and work as a team,” said Josephine English, 11, a Parcells fifth grader.
While making a motion to authorize the scouts to install the bat houses on city property, City Councilman Michael Koester called this a “wonderful Girl Scout project.” His motion included offering city resources to the scouts if they needed any help with the installation. It passed unanimously.
“I’m very glad to see the Girl Scouts taking on this task,” Mayor Arthur Bryant said after the meeting. “Not everybody is aware of the importance of bats to our community and how they help control the insect population.”
Bryant said all the bat houses will be installed this summer at Ghesquiere Park.