Bats! Just the word sends chills down people’s spines. These amazing little critters have gotten a bad rap over the years. people, associate diseases like rabies with them, and nothing could be further from the truth. These flying mammals are one of the most helpful creatures gracing the night sky and given the opportunity, they can change your summer from buggy to pleasant in the blink of an eye.
Little Brown Bats
Little Brown Bats are a variety of mouse-eared bats indigenous to New York. They are in fact found throughout much of the Eastern United States and Canada. These small bats are only about 3-4 inches long but have wingspans from 8-11 inches wide, although they only weigh about 0.19-0.44 oz. These little guys are actually quite cute, like flying mice.
Helpful Little Critters
Believe it or not, bats are incredibly helpful animals. If your yard is anything like our yard in the summer, standing outside for more than a few minutes without repellent is impossible, you get eaten alive. That is where these little superheroes come in. They are experts at annihilating mosquitoes. One Little Brown Bat can eat anywhere from 600-1000 mosquitoes an hour.
How to Introduce Bats to Your Yards
In 2015, we had one of the worst mosquito seasons on record. Our yard was horrible. I felt like I was literally drinking repellent. We decided that we need to do something to rid ourselves of these tiny demons once and for all. When we announced that we were going to chemically treat our lawn, our youngest child lost his mind (Thank you Wild Kratts!). He insisted that we build a bat house, citing all of the positive traits of bats in pretty much one breath. Of course, we couldn’t ignore his pleas or his logic, so we obtain the instruction and materials to buy a bat house.
Buy or Build a Bat House
Although bats sometimes live in areas naturally, the easiest way to entice bats to take up residence in your yard is by installing a bat house. We built ours as a family project, but you can easily purchase one online.
There are Several Options:
Buy a Complete Bat House– There are several places you can purchase bat houses online such as Walmart, or Amazon.
Buy a Bat House Construction Kit– These kits have pre-cut pieces that you put together yourself. This is a great project to do with smaller kids. These can be purchased at The Home Depot.
Build your own Bat House– Here are the instructions that we used to build our own bat house. My kids had a blast building their own bat house (with our help, of course!) I loved watching their excitement when they realized that some bats had moved in.
What you need to know:
There are several factors that you need to take heed of when preparing to install a bat house.
- Make sure to install the bat house in full sunlight.
- To protect the bats from predators, make sure the bat house is at least 15 feet off the ground.
- There should be a water source nearby -such as a pond, birdbath or something they can drink from.
Once we installed a bat house, it wasn’t long before we had our first residence of what we jokingly named our bat house, Hotel Transylvania. Our little flying friends were quick to start taking care of all of those irritating bloodsucking pests. In no time, we could easily enjoy our outdoor patio without being devoured. We still wear repellent but it is more a precaution more than a necessity.
Busting Bat Myths
Bats are blind. Next time you call someone blind as a bat, you might want to think twice. Bats are not blind, although their eyesight isn’t what you would call 20/20, they can see. However, they have extra senses, echolocation or biosonar, that allow them to hunt with amazing accuracy.
Bats carry rabies. It is sad that bats have received such a bad reputation for being vile rabies-carrying vermin. They are in fact one of the least likely creatures to carry rabies. While there have been bats that have tested positive for rabies, the likelihood of a bat carrying rabies is less than 5%. Whereas other mammals such as raccoons, foxes, or other animals are far more likely to carry rabies than bats.
Bats are not important to the environment. Bats are more important to the environment than people realize. These small mammals are pollinators, they spread seeds and nuts and also provide a natural pesticide. They help the environment in numerous ways.
Bat suck people’s blood. Dracula has a lot to answer for (heavy sigh). While, yes, vampire bats do drink blood and it has been recorded that people have been occasionally bitten, they prefer cattle. These bats are not native to North America. Bats native to North America are not blood drinkers.
Friends not Foes
There is no need to fear allowing bats to take up residence in your yard. They will help you control the vast mosquito population and make your summer that much nicer than having to fend off those annoying little bugs. Also, it is pretty neat to watch the bats fly around at dusk. They are quite acrobatic and entertaining to watch.