We have a little, urban backyard here at my house. We love being able to play and cook outside almost year round. The weather is so mild though, that the mosquitoes never quite go away, even in winter. In fact, it seems to me they've been busy multiplying their population these past few years.
I don't want to have to spray my family every time we play outside. Also, our home doesn't have screens on the doors or windows (this is common in our area) because usually there aren't many mosquitoes.
Am I crazy for considering a bat house?
"Because one bat can devour 600 mosquitoes or other insects in just one hour, installing a Bat Conservatory nearby can protect you and your family from insect bites and greatly reduce the need for environmentally hazardous mosquito repellents."
Food for thought, indeed.
5 comments:
This is a great idea. I just read a book called "The permaculture home garden' which said you are indeed a blessed gardener to have a bat inhabiting your little eco-system. For the same reason's, lizards, frogs, chickens and birds are all helpful friends in the suburban back yard... great blog.
What a fun idea... in addition to being really helpful with pests, bat watching sounds like a really great summer evening activity!
A couple of years ago, my son gave me a bat house for Mother's Day. It was my favorite gift that year! We mounted it on our deck. Unhappily, I never could get bats to move in, I guess I didn't get the color/temperature right, but we're moving in a couple of weeks and I'll be taking it with me and tinkering with the exterior color to try to make it bat-friendly. Bats are really cool and cute, and we've loved watching our neighborhood bats swooping around in the evenings.
pamela,
thanks for mentioning that about having the bats move in. my husband and i have been having an interesting debate about if you can purchase starter bats or "if you build it they will come."
it seems like it could be worth a try - a fun challenge!
mgg
i don't have any data or particular reason for thinking that a bat house is a good idea. but we've always had bats at our house (in VT and NY) and i think they're fab! since there is now a declining population in the northeast, due to some kind of bat disease (not infectious to humans) we really notice an increase in the insect populations. bats are great bug control! i would consider screens tho, we have had bats get into the house before...
abbs
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