Attracting Mosquito-Eating Bats in the Southeast

Bats are not often on most people's top ten list of friendly and desired garden companions. However, bats are one of the most useful creatures to attract to your yard as they consume vast quantities of insects, especially mosquitoes. This trait is especially important in the Southeast as the climate, especially on the coast, is a haven for large mosquito populations. Here in coastal Georgia, mosquitoes are invasive from June to September. Mosquitoes carry a number of diseases including West Nile Virus and Dengue Fever, an outbreak of which is currently growing in Florida.

There are a number of bats indigenous to the Southeast, including the Southeastern bat (Myotis austroriparius), Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), Evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis), Mexican Free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) and the Eastern pipistrelle (Pipistrellus subflavus). These bats can consume up to 1,200 mosquitoes per hour and forage throughout the night.

To attract bats to your yard, it is best to locate bat houses in various spots, including full sun areas, shaded areas, and dappled light areas as different species of bats prefer different environments. All bat houses should be at least 10 feet off the ground, attached to tree trunks or poles. There are many places online that have plans for building simple bat houses yourself or you can buy ready-made ones or kits at most home improvement stores. A bat house looks similar to a bird house but it has no bottom and it does have an interior perch to allow the bat to enter and hang upside down.

In the southeast, the bat house should be painted white to keep it cool during the summer. Use a non-toxic latex-based paint and paint only the outside of the box. Check the boxes frequently for signs of inhabitation. The most visible one will be bat droppings (called guano) underneath the bat house. If a bat house is showing no signs of inhabitation after six months, relocate the box. There may be something in the immediate area that is causing the bats to shun the box.

As well as strategically-placed bat houses, you will also need a bird bath or other source of water near to the houses. Just like birds, bats need water and are more likely to nest near a water source. Another way to ensure you have the perfect bat environment is to plant night-blooming fragrant plants like moonflowers, evening primrose and white sand verbena. These plants attract moths which are one of the bats' favorite foods.

Bats are one of the best organic mosquito killers and can help you avoid spraying chemicals or using other invasive means of mosquito control. Invite some of them to your backyard!

Sources:

How to Put Up a Bat House