With Halloween just days away, a swarm of bats could converge upon Miami Beach to help the city fight the spread of Zika.
Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez has introduced a proposal that would use the winged mammals to eat the infected mosquitoes.
The commission is set to vote on the plan Wednesday.
Gonzalez says the move would be an environmentally friendly alternative to the controversial pesticide naled.
She adds that "bats eat one thousand mosquitoes a day".
"I'm not saying that it's the answer to Zika by any means, but it's a gesture of goodwill to the many people who were so upset about neurotoxins being sprayed in Miami Beach," said Gonzalez.
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The commissioner says after the city began its defense against Zika, many residents approached her and asked if the commission would consider using bats as a defense.
The effort would lure bats to the city by building bat houses in the Zika zone.
"There are not going to be bats flying all over the City of Miami Beach, but we might put a couple bat houses in some parks and some neighborhoods have already come to me and requested them," said Gonzalez.
Miami-Dade County's decision to use naled stirred controversy in Miami Beach.
Protesters rallied in front of City Hall for days.
Even the city's mayor Phillip Levine said he was not comfortable with the use of naled. Commissioner Mike Greico said the aerial assault of mosquitoes could be a threat to everyone.
With the mounting discontent over the use of naled, Gonzalez says she's optimistic and believes the bat proposal will be a popular project.
