Once upon a time one would have been accused of having bats in the belfry for even suggesting that a backyard garden could benefit from a few resident bats. In fact, once the gardener realized what a huge appetite bats have for pests such as cucumber beetles and mosquitoes he quickly discarded the old blood-sucking mystique of the vampire bat and started building houses to attract him. Amazingly, a single bat can eat his weight in mosquitoes in one night. That’s 1200 mosquitoes or, if compared to humans, 60 large pizzas!

1.5 million bats live in a colony under a bridge in Austin, Texas. That’s why I find it unbelievable how tricky it is to coax a single family of bats to inhabit a bat house. Sometimes people wait years for a bat family to come calling; other times only a month.

Being so prized by the gardener has not helped prevent the bat from becoming an endangered species. Nearly 40% of all bats are either endangered or threatened. People destroy them because they believe myths about bats flying into the hair or that they attack humans or they frequently carry rabies. None of those myths are true. Destruction of habitat is the worst problem facing the bat. They prefer to roost in dying, upright trees under loose bark or in cavities. When we clean out our islands and woods near the house we are destroying their native habitats.

Bats, just like other wildlife and feral cats and dogs, can get rabies. It’s estimated that only 1% of bats carry the rabies virus. Unlike the other animals, rabid bats DO NOT go mad and attack. If you come across a bat on the ground or one that can easily be caught — that is the bat you want to avoid. It is most likely injured or sick.

The Best Bat House

Color of the bat house is important because the darker the color the more it absorbs heat from the sun. Choose black for houses located in the north where mid-summer reaches no more than 85° F. Use colors such as browns, greens and grays on houses located in climates that get no more than 95°. Lighter shades should be used in warmer climates and white should be used when summer highest temperatures exceed 100°.

Face the bat house East. This way the house heats up early in the morning and is shaded during the hottest part of the afternoon.

Bat houses are constructed with slots inside. Try not to buy houses with more than 4 chambers. Hang the house on a pole or on the side of a building as opposed to mounting it on a tree. Try to place it 15 to 20 feet up though you can get away with 10 feet. The best location for a bat house is near the edge of the woods, along a stream or at the border of a lake or pond.

Here are some fun facts about bats:

The blood vessels in their heads are constructed similar to those in our legs so bats are able to hang upside down without the blood rushing to the head.

They are the noisiest animals in the world though we can’t hear them. Their squeaks are so high-pitched that scientists must use special equipment to capture them chattering.

The old saying, “blind as a bat” is false. Bats are not blind but many species do use sonar at night to find insects. In fact the sonar can be so accurate fishing bats can detect a minnow’s fin as fine as a human’s hair protruding only slightly on a pond’s surface.

Bats hibernate in winter.

The common brown bat of North America can live up to 32 years.

Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly.

The smallest mammal in the world is the bumblebee bat of Thailand that weighs less than a coin.

Bat In the Belfry?

On the rare occasion that a bat should become confused and fly into your home you should not panic. Believe me, the bat is doing enough panic for the both of you!

Don’t run around crazy like the people being chased by the squirrel on the movie “Christmas Vacation” with Chevy Chase. ...very funny movie...

Instead, think of the bat as an airplane. Airplanes seek the widest areas to fly. Stay out of his flight path which is the middle of the room. Open a window or door, draw up a chair and sit next to a wall. You can simply watch him fly out. In the worst case scenario a bat will lite on the wall. This occasion is so rare it should be celebrated. If this should happen, before you pop the cork on the champagne, take a coffee can and place it over the bat, slip a piece of paper between the bat and the wall to release him and let him go!