What was once a convenience for truckers may soon become a haven for bats.

Hundreds of bats over the past year have made a home under the Hicks Haul Bridge, intended as a temporary structure to give trucks access to a gravel mine near Lake Forest, CA, in Orange County. However, when the time for the demolition drew near, area environmentalists discovered the colony.

The bats, which eat tons of bugs – literally – have set up a maternity roost under the structure over Santiago Canyon Road east of Irvine Lake. Tearing it down could mean death for hundreds of young bats, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported recently.

Area environmentalists and other residents concerned about the bats called Third District Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell, whose district includes the bridge, asking for help to delay or entirely stop the demolition.

“Several constituents have contacted me with their concerns over the bats and their offspring as well as the bridge's potential as a trail connector (for area footpaths),” Campbell said in a statement.

Bat colonies like the one in Lake Forest have become a kind of eco-tourist destination, with Web sites for bat lovers pointing to large colonies.

According to the Web site KidZone, the largest urban bat colony in the United States – with a million and a half bats – is under the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, TX. The bats there are the same species found in Lake Forest.

Meanwhile, efforts in Orange County to save the bats have borne fruit, Stephanie Remington, a biologist who has given tours of the colony for the Nature Conservancy, told Land Line.

“Supervisor Bill Campbell is working to get the bridge included within the county's trail system,” she said, “ and the county is considering this option.”