How to attract bats to your yard; build a bat-house
Why would you want to encourage bats, you ask? Well, besides being fascinating creatures in their own right, bats fill many vital ecosystems functions, both for the Earth and for us. Additionally, building a bat house will provide an interesting project for the dark-hours of winter.
Bats eat insects! A small bat can eat a thousand mosquito sized insects a night. Think of the difference on your patio or in your yard! “Microbats don’t just eat insects; they eat them with uncanny efficiency. In one night, a single little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) may eat 60 medium-sized moths or 1,000 mosquito-sized flies. Bats also suppress pests without insecticides, of course, which often kill beneficial insects like bees, ladybugs and dragonflies.
In recent years, bats have been much reduced due to white-nose syndrome. So “. . . while most people can’t do much about disease or deforestation, there are ways we can help bats hang on. Adding a few habitat features can turn a farm or yard into a bat oasis, with resources to boost resilience and help more babies survive. Even in fall and winter, as some bats hibernate, we can prepare refuge for the survivors to use in spring. And since all this saves time and energy for bats, they can focus on important tasks like catching insects — and taking care of their adorable babies.
In every respect, it’s obvious that each of us wants to encourage bats! Details on bats and where to get house-building information are included in the article, as well as some grand pictures. If you build one and later hang it, you’ll feel good on three basses: personal satisfaction, environmental good and knowing that you’ve helped a genetic sort of half brother.
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