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BATS - The Living Pesticide - How to attract them to your garden

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DGBAMA

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Having bats in the right place can be a big help controlling insects, especially since the Hornworm Moth is nocturnal, which is when bats are feeding. Workhorse01 has them, and hopefully can share some good info on bat-houses and how/where to place them. I will be researching and adding info here as I learn more about them also.
 

BigBonner

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I have seen the video of Workhorse's bats .

If you see it you will be wanting one .
 

Boboro

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I have 4 bat housees and never had a bat in them. They are made right and in the right place I dont know whats wrong.
 

Chicken

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i could just see it now,

a HORNWORM moth comes into the bacca patch area.

then you trained, attack bat comes out of the bathouse. and with its massive radar, swoops right on the hornworm moth. and all you see the next day, is some bug gut's lightlly splased on one of your leaves,

the rement's, of what happened when that bat's talons make contact with the soft flesh of the moth.

for hornworm moth's, i believe the bat house would definatlly, be very benificial.
i may have to think about building me one, this winter, when i move back to my property.

allthough i seen workhorses bathouse, and heard the many bats that it had in it, and sen the big pile of bat poop. it had at the base.

i never really looked at the benifit it may have when it comes to the hornworm moth.

i trully didnt know why he constrcted the thing when i first seen it . '' other than gathering the poop. off the ground, and using it for fertilizer,''

theres a interstate overpass in my area, where many bats live, i go there to collect all the bat poo i need, '' but a bathouse for killing the moth, is something to look in,''
 

DGBAMA

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My instinct based on "bat caves" would be that they would want a stable temperature similiar to underground, however they appear to prefer "hothouses" 90-100 degrees. I never would have thought to put a house where it got a lot of direct sunlight.

apparently bigger is better too, larger houses get occupied faster.


http://www.batcon.org/pdfs/bathouses/attractingbats.pdf
 

workhorse_01

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Not to mention the bats time their pregnancy by when we have the garden in full swing. The horn worm moth is full of protein , which is perfect for nursing mother bats. The type I have are Mexican free tail bats and they have been a blessing to us. Next one I build will be 4' x4' x 4' tall just the house part. Mounted on four phone polls. Boboro what are yours mounted on ? How high to the bottom? And how much sun? What color is the box?
 

workhorse_01

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Make sure theres no less than 12' from the very bottom to the ground. Bats glide when taking off and need at least 12' to get the motor running. I've never put one on the side of a building. I have however built three on phone poles in the wide open and all three are full of bats. Boboro, I think you wouldn't like the smell that will be coming from that box if you do get them to inhabit it. They will also pee all down the side of the building, and it stinks.
 

workhorse_01

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With that last comment I'd like to ask a question.... Is it better to be the first bat back in the box in the morning, and deal with the heat in there all day, or Is it better to be the last bat in the box and deal with getting pee'd on all day, but stay cool in the yellow rain?
 

deluxestogie

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The two brief videos in this Smithsonian article show how bats take off and fly.

Amazing High Speed X-Ray Videos Reveal How Bats Take Flight (July 5, 2013)

58467.jpg


Bob
 

workhorse_01

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Mex. Freetails cant take off from the ground. Last year the middle fell out of my box. There were bats hopping everywhere. The chickens were running around with them in their mouths, and me and my wife running around picking them up and putting them in boxes. most hopped to trees where they climbed up high then dropped off and flew around until I got the box repaired. When building a bathouse make sure to use galv. screws. The box is in the elements and regular screws will rust and when you load it with 4000 - 5000 bats it gets heavy. Thanks DS for the great post! It's amazing to me how they even fly.
 
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