Our friend the bat can vanquish 1,000 mosquitos per hour: Here's how to attract them to your yard
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 8:30am
I don’t know about you, but the one thing I hate about Spring and Summer are the return of the dastardly mosquito. I’ll be having a perfectly lovely time out in my garden or with my family around the grill, and later when I’m getting ready for bed I’ll find a thousand itchy bites all over my legs and arms.
So, you can buy some tiki torches, you can spray yourself down with bug spray, but these methods don’t work 100 percent of the time, they’re expensive and some people may be concerned with the chemicals found in the products.
Want another option? How about something that will destroy the population? I’m not talking about bug bombs, I’m talking about our great helpful friend, the bat.
Did you know that one little brown bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitos an hour? Pretty impressive right?
Unfortunately, our little bat friends are very vulnerable to extinction because of habitat loss and the fact that a bat mother will generally only give birth to one baby bat (called pups, awe!) per year.
Bats are basically small cats. They clean themselves constantly when they’re not eating or sleeping, and they do a great job at it.
Have I sold you yet? Great! Here’s three ways to attract bats to your neck of the woods.
1. Offer a water source. This is great not only for bats, but for birds and honeybees as well!
2. Build or purchase a bat box! Habitat loss is a major reason bat populations are dying and mosquito populations are thriving. You can find plans from Bat Conservation International here if you’d like to build one yourself! Make sure to place the location high on a pole or on the side of a building. Avoid trees which could invite predators to come and have a bat snack. Bats also prefer a nice warm home, so you can also place your bat house facing south in order to give them some nice sunshine during the day.
3. Fragrant and night blooming plants attract nocturnal insects which attracts bats. Evening primrose (which is a great lawn alternative, by the way), honeysuckle, dahlia, and marigolds are all great options that will be sure to bring bats to your yard and start knocking down those mosquito populations.
Just remember to keep your new friends out of harms way from both humans and pets. Some bats can still carry diseases like all wild animals and while they may be cute you should always view at a respectful distance.
To learn more about our friend the bat, visit Bat Conservation International.
