WASHINGTON — The little brown bat is expected to become the official mammal of The District. The D.C. Council passed a bill last month designating the brown bat as the official mammal of D.C., and it's now under mayoral review.
Now, you're probably asking yourself: Why a bat? Good question, and for the answer we have to travel all the way back to January, which feels like 900 years ago.
That's when a group of about a dozen Girl Scouts from troops 44046, 44047, and 44051 on Capitol Hill worked to convince lawmakers to consider the designation following a research project. The idea was first pitched to Councilmember Charles Allen, who introduced the bill in 2019.
"I'm here to tell you that bats are cool," said Lydia Adcock during a January 27 council meeting.
Mary O'Brien, during the same meeting, noted that bats help control D.C.'s pest population.
“Bats enjoy eating moths, mosquitoes, root worms, beetles, and flies,” O’Brien said, addressing the council in a unicorn headband. “And they can eat up to 1,200 insects an hour. Imagine how much worse D.C. summers would be if we didn’t have bats to eat our mosquitoes.”
The council was clearly convinced.
Now, several months later, even though it feels like a lifetime, the bill is set to be ratified.
The little brown bat would join a list official D.C. symbols that includes the official bird (the Wood Thrush), the official dinosaur (the Capitalsaurus), and the official rock (the Potomac bluestone).