Organic Mosquito Control - Bats!

Here's an idea I LOVE - attracting bats to your property so they'll take care of your mosquito problem (and because watching them is fun). I recently purchased this bat-house from the Organization for Bat Conservation. They say it holds up to 100 bats and it was mine for $45 (part of which goes toward conservation efforts).

Bat Lovers are United

Researching the buying of this bathouse resulted in so much more than a lovely tree ornament; it unveiled a whole world of bat conservation. The Michigan-based Organization for Bat Conservation has a terrific website that holds a wealth of great info, including how to arrange an in-person program for school kids - too bad it's only available in Michigan (not to mention only for kids). The site has a bat-house-owner forum, too, where I found tales of owners counting the bats return to the house in early morning, using their binoculars to identify the species, and more wildlife excitement. Now I'm historically such a lousy birder that I've experienced only failure at identifying birds, but there are so few bat species in my area, I have a fighting a chance.

Another amazing site is produced by Bat Conservation International, based in Austin, TX. On their site you can join their Adopt a Bat program and receive an "endearing letter from your bat." Okay, that's not my favorite part, but how about learning about their backward-facing knees and locking claws make hanging upside down easy? And then there's the Latin American bat that eats only blood, the legendary vampire. So legendary, in fact, that the Wikipedia entry for vampires is about the legends, not the actual animal. Hey, bat conservation people, how about amending the entry?

Best of all, I learn that a small insect-eating bat can eat up to 2,000 mosquito-size insects in one night - GO TEAM!

Wondering where you'd hang your bat-house?
The Organization for Bat Conservation site has lots of advice about that.

And do they work? I once heard a wildlife gardening expert say that it may take a while for the bats to discover the house, but once they find it, it works well.

Photo credit (lower.) If you have comments about this article, send 'em along.

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Little Lost Bat by Markle and Marks

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Boo, the Little Brown Bat by Pifer

Bats at the Beach by Lies