I’m talking about those flying mammals that seem to evoke a love ’em or hate ’em response in us. It may not surprise you guys to know that I fall squarely into the “love ’em” group. Sure, they do look a tad scary and they may not have the kind of face that makes you want to kiss them on the nose (like my sweet labrador, Trixie, has), but they are truly unusual and cool animals.
Some interesting facts about bats:
- They are the only mammal capable of true, sustained flight.
- Bats ‘see’ in the dark using a special skill called echolocation. Bats make noises and wait for the sound waves to bounce back off objects (an echo), if it doesn’t bounce back then they can safely fly forward. They can tell the distance of various objects by how quickly the sound waves bounce back to them. (source: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/animals/bat.html)
- There are 1,100 species of bats worldwide, with 40 species in the United States alone. (source: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/arizona/stories-in-arizona/top-10-bat-facts/)
- They are an evolutionary success story: About one-fifth of all living mammal species are of the order Chiroptera (“hand-wing”), found on every continent but Antarctica. (source: http://discovermagazine.com/2016/oct/20-things-you-didnt-know-about–bats) I found this to be almost unbelievable! 20% of all living mammal species?!? Blows my mind!
- Bats have been around a long time, since the age of dinosaurs. (source: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/php/gotpests/othercritters/factsheets/bats-wv.pdf)
There is a bunch more to learn about bats by clicking on the source links above.
Maybe the best thing about bats from the human’s perspective, is their feeding habits. They devour mosquitos. A single bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitos in an hour. (source: http://www.batrescue.org/batfacts/batfacts.html)
Like a lot of people, we have our fair share of mosquitos around here. As a gardener, I spend a good deal of time outside, slathered in chemical repellent. I rather like the idea of having bats around. Not only to reduce the mosquito population, but also because they are just cool. That crazy flight pattern and the whole mystique surrounding them. Love it!
Cool image from pixnio.com
We do, in fact, have bats around the place; I’ve seen them a number of times over the years, but not consistently. In order to get them to hang out at our place, the man and I have long wanted to install a bat house on the property. We’ve looked at premade ones online and also at plans for building one. Then, I found a great tutorial from Serena Appiah of the blog, Thrift Diving. I found her DIY blog earlier this year and I just love her. She makes anything seem doable by the average joe or jane who is willing to watch, listen, and learn.
She has put together an excellent video on how to build a bat house, showing each step, along with a materials list. If this is your kind of thing, you will certainly appreciate her video. You can find it here. Building a bat house is the first step to getting them to stick around. Be aware that it may take them up to a year to find the house you’ve built for them. Don’t give up too soon!
As for us, thanks to Serena’s video, we are one step closer to having our very own bat house.
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