The Dakota Scout

The Dakota Scout

SCOUTING REPORT | Bat onslaught, reptile expo, fall fitness, low-propensity voters

A weekly digest of interesting local, state, national and even international developments

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Jonathan Ellis
Sep 20, 2025
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When Aberdeen Animal Control Officer John Weaver sat down for an interview at the end of August to discuss the city’s bat problem, Weaver had already consulted Redfield resident who’d been bitten a winged-rat earlier in the day.

“I have had way more bat calls than I have ever had before this year,” Weaver told The Aberdeen Insider. “If I had one or two bat calls a year or a summer, that would be about average. But this year, there is just a constant onslaught.”

SCOUTING REPORT | S.D. working hard, Constitution quiz, burning parliament, honoring MIAs

Jonathan Ellis
·
Sep 13
SCOUTING REPORT | S.D. working hard, Constitution quiz, burning parliament, honoring MIAs

A lot of South Dakotans take pride in our reputation as a hard-working state. Indeed, it’s a regional characteristic. Midwesterners have a work ethic that was highly prized across the country, particularly in the post-World War II defense industry that took root on the West Coast.

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