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What are these structures?

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What are they? I see them on the Riverfront Trail and in Millvale.


orionz06
2011-08-30 13:52:48

gnat highrises?


bee condos?


looks like the wooden structure at the bottom has places where convenient educational PSA posters could be posted.


I need to ride the trails more.


ejwme
2011-08-30 14:10:01

if there is a pipe coming up the middle they are probably just chimneys for something nasty to get it over peoples level of air consumption


imakwik1
2011-08-30 14:12:41

Looks like there is thought for posters, but there is no other tell tale signs of it being anything.


There does not appear to be anything burning in them either.


orionz06
2011-08-30 14:34:21

it's..so..beautiful


erok
2011-08-30 14:46:21

Thats where you're supposed to go when you need to pass gas.


Mark is correct about the chimney and people's air consumption.


roadkillen
2011-08-30 15:31:13

It is Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi's model "Home of the Future"


In order to reduce your bullshit "carbon footprint" — once the banksters get done stealing everyone's homes and throw is out in the streets, these will be provided by FEMA as a solution to the housing problem.


Current homes will be bull-dozed where 10 to 20 of these units can be installed in the place of each existing home.


This model shown is the "family of four" model, and will only cost the new home-owner $250,000 with a government subsidized and guaranteed loan to all the people who've had their homes foreclosed on (including those who did not have a mortgage with said bank).


adam
2011-08-30 17:10:33

Oh boy.


bradq
2011-08-30 17:14:41

I dont know about anyone else but im picking up just a little bit of hostility in this thread...


Might just be me


dbacklover
2011-08-30 17:30:28

Perhaps they're a device planted by alien forces to sow the seeds of discontent and drive us apart just when we need to stand unified as one sentient species against the invading alien hoards. Like the Spanish and the Incan in-fighting, except with more inter-stellar death rays and less corn and chocolate.


ejwme
2011-08-30 17:56:19

That is an amaizing hypothesis, ejwme. Perhaps they've placed moles amongst us, even as we speak.


The very thought makes me shiver...I should put on a coatl.


reddan
2011-08-30 18:00:10

A line from one of Carlos Casteneda's reather silly books that impressed me:


"When you walk down a busy city street, you don't really believe everyone you see is a human being, do you?"


Substitute "flock of cycles" for "busy city street" and we might really have something here.


mick
2011-08-30 18:09:27

If we've really become overrun by moles, we need to mount sonic chasers to Nick's tall-bike, to keep them from undermining our bike trails and taking over Flock.


But if instead they're voles, we may just all have to do several Alley Cats until they're hunted from our midst. (Sorry Pierce!).


ejwme
2011-08-30 18:17:36

Clearly, it is a eludium pu36 explosive space modulator.


ajbooth
2011-08-30 18:29:17

I have just been told it is a bat house, contrary to popular belief.


orionz06
2011-08-30 18:37:23

I for one welcome our future dark overlords.... only if they bring Corn and Chocolate, sinec i am now convinced that the lack of corn and Chocolate was the true cause of the bad things in the world.


besides chicks dig corn and chocolate.


dbacklover
2011-08-30 18:46:35

yea a bat house...that's what Skynet wants you to believe


greasefoot
2011-08-30 18:46:48

It would be pretty awesome if those are bat houses: they look about the right height and design. (bat house + community bulletin board?)


All the clouds of gnats should be quaking in their little gnat boots. And hopefully some bats will have new homes that don't have the nose fungus in them yet.


I hope it really is a bat house!!!


[edit] Here's a bat house project some friends of mine did in Urbana.


pseudacris
2011-08-30 18:47:05

now that people have caught on to chemtrails from planes, THEY had to look to other means to disperse their chemicals.

looks like their new tactic is hiding in plane sight.


...or an eludium space modulator, thank you ajbooth.


alnilam
2011-08-30 18:54:12

oh nos... they've figured out how to mount tiny eludium pu36 space modulators onto bats - hide your corn! hide your chocolate!


ejwme
2011-08-30 18:56:49

Corn and Chocolate, sinec i am now convinced that the lack of corn and Chocolate was the true cause of the bad things in the world.


You guys keep neglecting coca leaves and potatoes.


mick
2011-08-30 19:02:40



from the chocolate swirl blog. probably loaded with corn syrup.


pseudacris
2011-08-30 19:10:49

Good point Mick, we should hide those too. Voles will definitely destroy the potatos, and the bats may steal them to make batteries to run their eludium pu36 space modulators. Perhaps if we sacrifice some coca leaves to distract the bats we can safely escape.


edited to add - pseudachris, you are brilliant. Of course cupcakes are the answer. We're saved. To the bakery!


ejwme
2011-08-30 19:15:27

Alien invasion, oh my stars and garters.


"All your bats are belong to us."


reddan
2011-08-30 19:22:34

looks like a bat house to me.


looks like the thread figured that out.


caitlin
2011-08-30 19:34:13

Is the Batman production still in town?


Just asking.


mick
2011-08-30 19:38:12

I never thought I'd see a bat house with vinyl siding.


roadkillen
2011-08-30 19:41:50

I always figured they preferred stone, but we do know that a vinyl sided house is significantly cheaper.


orionz06
2011-08-30 19:44:27

Maybe the vinyl siding is creative reuse of Katrina-era FEMA trailers?


pseudacris
2011-08-30 19:57:33

i cant wait to see piles of bat shit at the base of these things - lovely aroma for a sunday ride.


when pursued by rabid geese, at least i'll have another option to throw at them.


sloaps
2011-08-30 20:02:57

isn't bat poo worth a lot of money? Either as a fertilizer or explosive or energy drink additive or something? I thought there were islands of disputed ownership of this stuff in some ocean somewhere that cause a war in the 80's...


I think I've confused about 7 different pieces of trivia there.


ejwme
2011-08-30 20:06:55

yeah, i think that was the subplot in Ace Ventura 2.


sloaps
2011-08-30 20:14:16

"Sub-plot" implies the existence of a "primary plot." I don't think we're talking about the same movie here.


reddan
2011-08-30 20:22:48

"Pittsburgh trails pay for themselves through bat poo sales"


imakwik1
2011-08-30 21:38:29

The vinyl siding is there for the bats. They live between the siding and the structure.


Actually I thought it was a new cell phone tower.


stuinmccandless
2011-08-31 00:43:59

A cell phone tower would normally need wires for power and signal, no? I don't see any in the picture.


If it's an Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator, perhaps the recent earthquake was Mars's first attempt at an Earth-shattering kaboom.


I hope it's a bat-house though. Just imagine: Bruce Wayne's out on the trail, and the bugs are swarming. He ducks into the structure like it was a phone booth, emerging a moment later as Batman, and immediately starts chowing down on those pesky insects.


The recent films do a fine job on Batman's crime-fighting role, but skip right over his important insect control duties. Not to mention valuable bat guano production.


steven
2011-08-31 03:57:04

Sorry to say, it does not appear that Pittsburgh will become the next Nauru (to bad, which is sort of too bad as Nauru has some awesome surfing locations).


The Friends of the Riverfront report that these are Chimney Swift towers, not bat houses.


The good news is, they eat a lot of insects.


swalfoort
2011-08-31 14:01:55

I found this on a website called learningthebirds.com:


If I had a soap box, I’d get on top and urge everyone in earshot to build a Chimney Swift tower. More Chimney Swifts in the world mean fewer mosquitoes, and Chimney Swift towers provide these birds with the nesting sites they need to survive in a world with fewer and fewer chimneys.

The insect-eating Chimney Swift is a beneficial bird something like a swallow but unable to stand, walk, hop, or perch. They spend most of their lives flying or clinging to the sides of things. Hollow things.

Like hollow trees, but since hollow trees are rare these days, chimneys have taken their place. Modern Chimney Swifts have been roosting and nesting in chimneys for hundreds of years, and thus the name. Unfortunately, chimneys aren’t all that common anymore, at least Swift-friendly chimneys are not. The newer models are lined with metal, or capped with grates, which means that Chimney Swifts are running out of places to take their much needed rest.

“Why should we care?” I hear you ask. That’s a good question. Chimney Swifts are unspectacular birds — average-sized, oddly made, and uniformly dark in color — but they do consume insects at a prodigious pace. They do much good and cause little trouble, and anywhere there are twittering Chimney Swifts there are fewer flies and mosquitoes.

Chimney Swifts leave very little imprint on our human world. Because they don't perch, they make no mess to speak of and spend most of their time patrolling the upper altitudes in search of bugs. All they ask of a chimney owner is to refrain from summer fires and keep a clean chimney, actions beneficial to swifts and humans alike.

During migration, the sight of a flock of Chimney Swifts spiraling down into an open chimney is an awesome sight. But in that critical time of year when they breed and raise their young, a pair of Chimney Swifts takes sole possession of a chimney. So for each breeding pair, there needs to be one Chimney-Swift-friendly chimney. And that is the problem.

Since the 1980s, Chimney Swift populations have been declining. New chimney designs and overzealous homeowners have combined forces to make modern houses critter-free, to the detriment of Chimney Swifts. In an effort to boost swift numbers, Texas conservationists Paul and Georgean Kyle have written a practical book called “Chimney Swift Towers” which describes in detail how to construct nesting towers for these beneficial birds.

Such towers need not be large — eight feet of vertical space will serve, and a 14-inch diameter allows the swifts to fly up and down inside. Some towers are freestanding, others attach to other buildings. Some use wood, others use cinder-blocks — all need a degree of insulation and protection from predators — and plans for every contingency are found in the Kyle’s useful book. Some of the most compelling designs involve urban structures like bill-boards and shopping malls, where towers are incorporated into the building design.

Once a tower is built, the hard work is done. “What of the mess?!?” I hear you say. Well, there’s hardly any mess and clean-up happens only once a year when the swifts have gone. One might even say that Chimney Swift towers are the lazy person’s purple martin house, as a tower landlord mostly sits back and listens to the happy sound of swifts as they patrol the upper atmosphere for bugs.

If you have a swift-friendly chimney, close your damper in spring to prevent a nesting swift from wandering into the house, and refrain from using your fireplace until summer is over. And keep your chimney clean — creosote buildup can interfere with successful nesting.

If you’re an architect or a city planner, consider including hollow masonry towers into your next project, for swifts are at home in an urban environment, and wherever there are swifts there are fewer mosquitoes.

To build your own Chimney Swift tower, or to learn more about Chimney Swifts, go to chimneyswifts.org, where you’ll find information, the book “Chimney Swift Towers,” and other worthy books and publications. Making a home for Chimney Swifts will make your own home a nicer place to be.


swalfoort
2011-08-31 14:04:09

they sound like awesome birds (and I normally object to all birds, so that's saying something). So how does one ensure the tenants are chimney swifts, and not wasps? I guess I need to find the book at the library.


ejwme
2011-08-31 14:12:10

I guess that explains why no bats came out when I flashed the bat signal... Oh well.


orionz06
2011-08-31 14:21:13

Ejwme - Never had you picked as a bird hater... that explains all those nervous looking robins down your way.


dbacklover
2011-08-31 15:22:11

"So how does one ensure the tenants are chimney swifts, and not wasps?"


Do they eat wasps too?


humblesage
2011-08-31 17:25:31

humblesage - I eat chicken, but will not live in an occupied chicken coop nor fill my bedroom with chicken dumpling stew... perhaps a silly example, but the first thing that came to mind as to why they may object to a wasp colony occupying their highrises. I also don't know that their preferences are the same, but too much of a good thing in the wrong place is almost always bad.


I hate birds. No. I hate the noises they make. No. I hate the noises they make when I'm trying to sleep. In the spring and summer, when the feathered bastards feel the need to mate and declare territory and do whatever else they must do at top volume from 2AM-5AM every single night, I hate birds. It started in college with a crow that objected to me at me through the window beside my bed, continued through Peace Corps when I had to go and yank the stupid rooster out of the tree it insisted on perching in at 3AM above my tent (they crow ALL NIGHT, not just at dawn), and has progressed to all out war by a flock of insomniac avian monsters that live in my neighbor's trees.


I suppose if I'd ever lived with AC and been able to close windows at night, I'd be indifferent. But I've never had AC, so I hate birds. Except maybe these Chimney Swifts.


ejwme
2011-08-31 18:26:33

I have the same issue with Cicadas or whatever they are. (Those giant noise making bugs.) That and they're really hard to kill.


humblesage
2011-08-31 18:34:54

That strcture is not a bat house, at least not one that any self respecting bat would occupy. BCI (Bat Conservation Internationl) has educational information on bat houses (bats are fairly particular).


icemanbb
2011-08-31 23:51:03

Listen to more really loud music, eventually you just get that "cicada" sound in your ears permanently so you don't notice bugs, birds, etc. Problem solved.


salty
2011-09-01 01:59:13

I guess I buy the idea that there are less hollow trees then there used to be


sgtjonson
2011-09-01 02:37:09

@salty: Last thing I want is that sound in my ears permanently. haha...


humblesage
2011-09-01 03:59:40