There have long been myths surrounding bats; but in the millennia that the myths have been perpetuated, bats have lived alongside humans aiding in pest control, pollination, and fertilization so flora throughout the world could continue to grow in abundance and good health.
Many of us have heard of the bat myths from an early age: “Bats want to build nests in your hair!” “Bats are aggressive and will attack humans!” “Bats are filthy and plagued with parasites -- AND they cause rabies!”
Scary conjectures, but not inherently true.
Experiments with bats have shown that they don’t like staying in anyone’s hair. Even with long hair wrapped around it, a bat will quickly free itself and fly away. Instead, bats prefer to keep to caves, eaves, outbuildings, trees, and bat houses constructed specifically for them when it comes to finding a place to live and raise their young.
Bats are a shy mammal. Naturally gentle and non-aggressive, a bat might -- when sick or cornered -- bite in self-defense when picked up. This behavior, however, is common among most animals when sick, hurt, or cornered, and is not the case in the vast majority of human-bat encounters.
Bats carry no more parasites than other animals, experts say, and those that bats do have are quite specialized and seldom pose health risks to humans.
While bats can and do get rabies, they are not carriers in the sense that they carry and pass on the disease without succumbing to it themselves. Rabies affects them similarly to humans. Where rabid bats have been found, they die quickly and the disease is rarely spread within the colony. In addition, the rabies that affects bats tends to be the paralyzing form and not the aggressive form that most people are aware of.
The reality is that bats have provided more benefits than harm to humans throughout history. Bats are the major predator of night-flying insects, including mosquitoes which do carry diseases (such as encephalitis and West Nile virus) and pests which destroy crops. A single bat can consume half its weight in insects in an evening of feeding. That can include up to 600 mosquitoes an hour or 2000-plus insects in the hours around dusk and dawn.
The benefit extends past mosquitoes, however. Bats also consume cutworms, cucumber beetles, June bugs, stink bugs, leafhoppers, crickets, moths, and other bugs and insects which wreak havoc on vegetation. Many of these are active at night, so the nocturnal feedings of the bat can help cut down population of these insects in your area.
Bats not only provide pest control, they are also vital for the survival of numerous species of plant life throughout the world. In the tropics, fruit- and nectar-eating bats provide seed dispersal and pollination that is necessary for the rain forests.
In Mexico and America’s desert southwest, numerous flowering species of cacti and a variety of flowers are also dependent on bats for their lifecycles.
In 17th century Peru, the Incas so highly valued bat guano for fertilizer that a death penalty was instated for anyone harming the animals that produced it. It was important enough to American farmers in the 1800s that the government gave free land to anyone discovering guano deposits, so long as the harvest was made available to US citizens. Now, in the 21st century, more and more farmers and gardeners are recognizing the value of guano because of its organic appeal, providing an alternative to chemical products.
Guano serves not only as plant fertilizer, but also as a soil builder, soil cleanser, fungicide, nematocide and compost activator. Bat guano can be safely used for both indoor and outdoor plants. Though guano is available for purchase, you can also harvest guano from special housing used to attract bats to your home and garden.
A bat house is typically built of wood and are placed in sunny areas around the home or garden in order to provide the proper temperatures necessary for maternity colonies. The houses are mounted on poles or on buildings to assure protection from predators and to accommodate the bats’ natural proclivity for living up off the ground.
Natural roosting sites -- trees of all kinds and in all stages of life -- are wonderful for encouraging bats to live in your area, too.
Having such sites available is just part of the process for attracting bats to your location. Other considerations include proper lighting, the availability of water, and plants and flowers that are appealing to bats.
Since bats (and the insects they feed upon) are attracted to lights at night, it will be good to provide lighting around your home. Mercury vapor lights are a good choice, as are low pressure sodium lights. Providing short lighting columns and low level directed lights (with hoods or shields to reduce the area being lit) will also be helpful.
Bats will frequent areas within a quarter mile range of natural water formations such as lakes, ponds, creeks and streams, but having a small pond or ornamental fountain in the backyard will be helpful in attracting them specifically to your location by providing drinking water.
Finally, having night-blooming plants and flowers in your garden and yard will attract the bats as they come to feed on the insects that are also attracted to the flora. Some night-flowering plants to consider would be evening primrose, moonflowers, angel’s trumpets, night phlox, evening stock, four o’clock, night-blooming cereus, several varieties of daylilies which bloom at night, and yucca.
Night fragrant plants such as night gladiolus, August lily, fragrant auqilegia, pinks, and fairy lily also help lure bats to the garden; while climbing hydrangea, sweet autumn clematis, and honeysuckle are fragrant vines which not only attract bats, but also provide beautiful coverage for walls, fences, and trellises. Even the vegetable garden can attract bats to rid it of pests. Basil, mint and oregano are noted for their fragrance, as are silver thyme, “alba” eggplants and white pumpkins.
Given the resources of your yard and garden -- the proper plants, water, lighting, and roosting sites -- bats will be attracted to your home and help you in the fight against insects and pests that would seek to destroy your plants and flowers. Having bats will help cut down and even eliminate the need for pesticides (indeed, pesticides will harm the bats), providing an added health benefit for you, your family, pets, and other wildlife.
