Bats: Natural Pest Control

Enjoying the great outdoors is as much a part of summer as lemonade, ice cream and fireflies. But it's not without its hazards, particularly the kinds that fly and bite.  Some biting insects, particularly mosquitoes can be more than a mere nuisance as they can carry disease.

The truth is that most people would not miss mosquitoes if they suddenly vanished. But some animals surely would. Namely those for whom mosquitoes are on the menu. That's when the bright idea usually strikes me.  

I need a bat house.

Surely, if I build it they will come. And is there any better mosquito control? Well, no and no. Some of the 10 species of bats we commonly see in Maryland can eat their own weight in flying insects every night. As mosquitoes often top the list of desired food items, bats are pretty good at controlling these little nasties. But simply building a bat house is no guarantee that our flying mammal friends will find us.       

Bats, while often misunderstood and possibly suffering from a public relations problem, are actually important and very helpful creatures in our communities as well as in agriculture. While all of the bat species found in Maryland dine on insects exclusively and are far from the blood sucking beasts of our nightmares, in other parts of the world bats also eat fruit and are major pollinators of crops.   

Closer to home, bats help agriculture by eating the insects that farmers would otherwise have to spray toxins to control. According to the University of Maryland cooperative extension, big brown bats, which are common in Maryland and typically number about 150 individuals per colony, can eat 33 million root worms each summer. They also eat stick bugs, various types of beetles, leaf hoppers, cut worm, corn ear worm moths, to name a few. Many of these insects pose real threats to local farm crops and, therefore, our food source.   

My desire to attract bats tends more toward the little brown bat, also a common species in Maryland. A single individual of this species, according to the Maryland Cooperative Extension, can eat 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour and I've often wondered why I don't see them around my house.

I see them at a friend's house a few streets over and in many other areas around the neighborhood, but not around my house. Heavens knows there is plenty for them to feed on as evidenced by the calamine covered spots on my legs and the pink streaks on my bed linens. Most of my neighbors and I keep our porch lights on at night as we have no street lights. Insects are drawn to the lights but where are the bats that should be drawn to the insects?

Join us next week as we learn about bats, one of nature's best mosquito controllers and how to attract them.