Most of you probably clicked on this article just to be sure you read the title correctly and your eyes were not playing tricks on you. Well, thanks for clicking and yes, today we are going to find out to turn our yards into a bat-hive.
“Why on earth would I want bats in my yard?! They are scary, blood-sucking, disease-carrying…..” Okay, I just had to interrupt that train of thought, because, well, simply because it is wrong on so many levels. Forget the vampire movies, ghost stories, myths, and superstitions. Indeed, these winged creatures are relatively harmless to humans and their presence in your yard would be a great asset. Why?
Five Excellent Reasons to Attract Bats to Your Yard
- They love to gobble up insects: Moths, beetles, flies, and the true blood-sucking, disease-carrying parasites, mosquitoes. In all fairness, not all bats are insect-eaters. Some species are herbivorous and eat fruits.
- If you got bats, you don’t need artificial fertilizers. Bat droppings are full of nutrients that make plants grow. So, if your yard is positively swarming with bats, then your gardens would thrive. These creatures are excellent for your garden’s environment!
- Bats are great at pollination. They help in pollinating a large number of different flower species, as well as common fruit trees and plants.
- They provide awesome acrobatic displays. Remember that early scene from the much popular and quite controversial movie: ‘Batman vs Superman‘, where a colony of bats lifts up one of the titular characters from the ground in a spectacular display of awesomeness? Now, you might not get that exact level of grandiosity in your backyard, but you sure would enjoy the sight of bats flitting around your yard during sunset.
- Recent studies have shown that the bat population has drastically declined due to various reasons, chief among them being habitat loss and the use of pesticides. By making your yard a safe and comfortable place for bats to roost, you are contributing your own quota in saving them from extinction.
Four Ways to Attract Bats to Your Backyard
So, if the insect-eating benefits haven’t sold you, then the visual aesthetics or the eco-friendly benefits did the trick. Me, once I found out that they ate mosquitoes, all I could think about was how to get myself some of these critters. Now that we all want bats roosting in our yards. How do we go about it?
Tip One: Have a visible and clean source of water
Like all animals, bats need water. So if you have a natural water source on or beside your property, like a lake or a pond, all the better. If you don’t, then installing a birdbath or a fountain should suffice. One gardener shared a video to explain about the nocturnal visitors who frequent her hummingbird feeders and drink nectar when they get thirsty.
Tip Two: Make your garden work for you
While roughly 30% of bats eat fruits, the remaining 70% love insects. Insects themselves love pale-colored flowers and plants with pleasant smells. So, if you want to attract your own personal bug patrol squad, populate your garden with marigold, dahlia, thyme, raspberry, chives, and lemon balm. You can use night-blooming plants like moonflower, evening primrose, nicotiana, and water lily to attract nocturnal insects such as moths.
Tip Three: Build a bat house
This one’s pretty important. Bats need to roost and a house just for them provides the perfect roosting site if done right. The bat house should be made of wood. It should have rough surfaces, edges, or grooves. Also, you should use the roughest side for the interior, as bats need a rough surface to hang onto. You should mount the house on a pole at least 15 feet from the ground. Then you should place it in a position where it can receive at least 6 hours of sunlight daily. Bats love the warmth. So painting the exterior of the house black would help to trap heat. This also helps keep the house warm.
Tip Four: Leave dead trees and install some lights
Trees also serve as a favorite roosting spot for bats. So if there is a dead tree in your yard not posing a danger to you, don’t cut it down. You could also try installing mercury vapor lights to attract insects which in turn attracts bats.
A quick word of advice: When it comes to bats, the watchword is patience. If there are still no winged visitors even after implementing all these ideas, then don’t be discouraged. Experts advise that it might take several months to two years to attract their attention, so please do not give up hope. And when they do visit, avoid spraying pesticides as the chemicals are injurious to their health.