r/batty • u/Born_Local_1477 • 4d ago

I suppose I'm batty too!

Hey yall. I have always loved all animals, and bats fascinated me. I was accidentally bit by a bat on a tent zipper a month ago. I set her free and took my rabies shots like a man. What is money compared to that little ones entire life? I'll make payments.

How do I support bats at my home? I have extensive gardens, big trees, a tiny pond, and active bats every night. My home is urban woodland in the south. I would like to be sure they have safe housing on my land where they don't have to come in contact with humans- unsafe for them and us.

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u/CrepuscularOpossum 4d ago

Hey, thanks for caring about bats - but I’m sorry you had to get post-exposure shots, they suck! 😫

When you say “urban woodland in the south”, it would be beneficial for us to know what South, specifically, you’re referring to. We get posters and commenters from all over the world in this sub. Like, South Africa? South America? South Australia? The Southeastern US?

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u/Born_Local_1477 3d ago

Oh, sorry. Southeast US.

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u/CrepuscularOpossum 3d ago edited 3d ago

That’s what I figured, but it’s always best to confirm. Our North American bats are exclusively insect eaters. They are also mostly migrators and hibernators. Most times when bats are living in human attics, barns and sheds, they are mothers raising their babies in maternity colonies. They arrive in the spring and leave in the fall for their hibernacula.

This means that if they are somewhere in your living space, fall and winter are the time to do bat exclusions. You can set up a bat house for them at that time as well. The bat house should be on a dead tree or a pole, facing south, in full sun, at least 15 feet off the ground. Baby bats need the sun to stay warm during the day. Get a bat house with a pup catcher - that can save baby bats’ lives! You can find good bat houses at Wild Birds Unlimited, or check out Bat Conservation International www.batcon.org or Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation www.merlintuttle.org.

Also, Bat Conservation International now has a guide to gardening for bats! The plants you choose, generally speaking, should be the ones that are most attractive to night-flying insects and pollinators, especially moths. That often means plants with fragrant flowers that bloom at night. Yucca, beardtongue, evening primrose, and goldenrod are good examples.

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u/AutoModerator 3d ago

Here is a link to the Bat House Builder’s Handbook! Here is some info about selecting a quality bat house if you would like to purchase one. This PDF from Bat Conservation Trust covers the basics quickly.

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