> DHSH balancing Western State Hospital renovations with preservation of resident bats
DHSH balancing Western State Hospital renovations with preservation of resident bats
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Description
For more than 150 years Western State Hospital, just south of Tacoma, has cared for the state's most vulnerable psychiatric patients.
A clinical setting, that unbeknown to many, also served as a natural habitat for a small, flying, federally protected species of animal. A symbiotic relationship that can reveal beautiful, if not unexpected pairings.
“Bats are living in the rooftops of people’s homes, in their trees all over Washington,” said Michelle Tirhi, a wildlife biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“They’re trying to provide habitat and maintain habitat for animals and allow animals to co-exist but they’re also trying to run a hospital that has patients in it,” Tirhi said.