Who needs mosquito repellant when you have your own bats?

“The more people know about bats
the more they’ll care about them.”

Sitting out tonight, while watering, I noticed a few mosquitoes and moths flying about in the half light. I hadn’t realized so much that bats could see the same insects as I, yet, here they were, swooping and darting around the big sky over the meadow. The mosquitoes are attracted to me and the bats zoom in and pluck them from the air.  Stay away!  I saw one moth get it right before my eyes. Pretty cool….

8pm in the the meadow

I turned my head to follow the bats’ flight and soon figured that to watch them, you need to hold your head still otherwise, you’ll tire your neck muscles looking this way and that. Just hold still and enjoy the ones that fly in and out of range.

“One bat, the size of your pinky finger, will eat 600 to 1,000 mosquitoes in one night,” says Burleigh Lockwood, a bat expert. “So if you don’t like mosquitoes, you better like bats.”

Early night sky

I walked with the Magster over to the bench on the other side of the garden where you can see the most sky and still with enough light to see, watched for awhile the little brown bats.  I assume they’re the furry cute ones, but will look them up to see which ones might be native in my area.

5 common bats in Madera County
Fringed myotis bat, Myotis thysanodes
Greater western mastiff bat, Eumops perotis californicus
Long-eared myotis bat, Myotis evotis
Long-legged myotis bat, Myotis volans
Pacific western big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii townsendii

Bats at night, …yeah, I drew them in,…that’s what they looked like, tho.

Bat Conservation International
Bats are among the most gentle, beneficial, and necessary animals on earth.
Learn all about them here.

Have kids?
We tell our kids to watch for the first bat they see, then we’ll light up the fire pit.Also here is a neat online puzzle for kids


11 comments

  1. Town Mouse -

    Oh, very cool! I think I saw a few at my house as well, but it’s rare. How wonderful you have so many!

    • Sue Langley -

      Thanks, Brian,…we do have a bat house up in a tree, but so far no bats there. They must live in the trees.

      Thanks, Town Mouse, it was so cool to watch them…they really zoom around. How did you like my drawing? 🙂

  2. Sue Langley -

    Thanks, Brian,…we do have a bat house up in a tree, but so far no bats there. They must live in the trees.

    Thanks, Town Mouse, it was so cool to watch them…they really zoom around. How did you like my drawing? 🙂

  3. Kate -

    Hi Sue!
    It’s good to see you blogging! Bat watching is a hobby of mine too. So nice to be out on a Summer evening and see these misunderstood little friends. So, I have to ask. Were Kahlo’s brows your inspiration for your fine bat technique?

    • Sue Langley -

      Katie, it’s sorrowful to not have the energy to blog a bit each week… How’d you know about the brows?!

  4. Kate -

    Hi Sue!
    It’s good to see you blogging! Bat watching is a hobby of mine too. So nice to be out on a Summer evening and see these misunderstood little friends. So, I have to ask. Were Kahlo’s brows your inspiration for your fine bat technique?

    • Sue Langley -

      Katie, it’s sorrowful to not have the energy to blog a bit each week… How’d you know about the brows?!

  5. Hope Light -

    Hi Sue,

    I just attended a bat seminar. The leader mentioned to use a pole for the bat house instead of a tree for your bat house. The bats prefer sun, not shade from tree branches.

    Hope Light

    • Sue Langley -

      Thanks for the great info, Hope,…we ended up attaching the house above the roses on the south side of the house. The guano hopefully will fertilize the soil there!

Comments are closed.