# How effective are bats?



## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

It is said they eat thousands of mosquitoes in an hour, so yes, they are effective. We have them flying up and down our valley all evening in the spring and summer months. I have bat houses on my barn which is maybe 750 feet from the house. Whether or not they all use it or not, I'm not sure. Likewise I have 4 1/2 acres fenced and love seeing them flittering about.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

I think bats are definitely effective at keeping the number of mosquitoes down, so I'm always glad to see them, but whether it makes a significant difference in the number of mosquitoes that land on me is a bit harder to say. I'm sure they help, but on a good night we'll have a dozen or more bats, and how many millions or billions of mosquitoes? And the bats are generally flying around the yard, anywhere from ankle high to 20 or so feet up, darting, swooping, catching, devouring, generally doing there thing, but then we'll go sit on the porch for a little bit and the mosquitoes seem to come racing out from the bushes. So I guess I'm saying that I think they help, just not sure how appreciable it is. I think bat houses are good, but would guess that whether they use one or not is at least partially dependent on what is available naturally to them in the area because they may already have plenty of tree hollows and like that. But they're easy enough to make, so I'd give it a shot. They want to be 10+ feet above the ground with sunlight hitting them most of the day. Don't know where you are, but I'm in MI, and our bats just started coming back within the past two years I guess, after having none for several years due to white nose virus.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

We had a bat house for years and never got one bat. Our son built a big
bat house and only got one bat...he named him “Bruce”  ...he eventually 
donated the house to his church.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

Two Knots said:


> he eventually donated the house to his church.


Good for him, and that's a great place for it because there have been bats in the belfry's for as long as I can remember.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

DexterII said:


> Good for him, and that's a great place for it because there have been bats in the belfry's for as long as I can remember.


hahaha!


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## RanK2 (Feb 19, 2020)

I live in a rural residential area and have little problem with mosquitoes (except the tiny 'no see ems' in the grass that get your ankles), and every night there is a bat flying circles around my yard light. 

In a city of about 100K 30 miles away I get bit by the bigger ones. Seems to work for me.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

> but whether it makes a significant difference in the number of mosquitoes that land on me is a bit harder to say


I keep Jungle Juice in my glove compartment. On jobsites when the mosquitoes and other bugs get ornery, we just put a dab on the brim of our hat and it seems to work well. It IS pure DEET, so beware.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

We use Deep Woods Off, which is something like 25% DEET, and it is very effective as well. For sitting on the front porch we use a fan.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Whether you will get more bats with more housing is largely determined by the food source available. Animals in nature seem to have an almost uncanny way of determining that which we humans don't have a clue in most instances.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

I have a couple of fly catchers that seem to love my wire fence, mowed lawn on all sides. By doubling up, bats at night and birds during the day it would seem to be a good idea. 

My flycatchers seem to love the fence to provide a vantage point where they can watch for anything that moves. They sometimes hit the ground while other times take the insects right out of the air.

I don't have swallows here but have seen them at work and they also eat a lot.

So do some local research and install everything you can to bring in the bug eating friends.

Bud


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

We don't seem to have many swallows, and when they do come it seems like only for a few weeks, so don't know if it's because we're in a migratory path or maybe not enough nesting places for their satisfaction. We had them a week or so ago though and they certainly do keep busy chasing mosquitoes. Another one that we have started seeing more off the past few years is dragon flies, which supposedly eat a lot of mosquitoes too, but I haven't looked yet to see what we might do to enhance the environment for them.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Not a pro, but see a lot of dragon flies when fishing and they stay busy. I even see them stalking around me as I attract a host of insects, mostly those pesty deer flies.

But at the insect against insect level there are others, ladybugs and preying mantis are two. Each will have an environment they prefer so some research is needed.

Bud


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

We use Avon -skin so soft...the mosquitos don’t like it and it’s very effective.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

UF had bat houses near a lake. People would go evenings to see them emerge from the bat houses. A few scouts would come out then huge swarms of hundreds of thousands. It was quite a sight. There were so many visitors that there was designated parking.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Bats can carry diseases that can affect you. I'm not sure that I would want to increase those flying above me.


"Bats are often important hosts for emerging infectious disease agents with significant impact on human health including rabies, ebola, Marburg, hendra, nipah, and SARS viruses. Opportunities for transmission to humans are particularly prominent in countries like Bangladesh, where people live in close association with bats."


https://medicalxpress.com/news/2010-07-discovery-hepatitis-c-related-virus-outbreaks.html


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100701183526.htm

I think they're still wondering about the Coronavirus and bats.
I can remember my mother, an RN who had worked at the Air Base @ Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, cautioning me as I stared up at the bats in India when I was a child.


Just search bats and disease.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Two Knots said:


> We had a bat house for years and never got one bat. Our son built a big
> bat house and only got one bat...he named him “Bruce”  ...he eventually
> donated the house to his church.


How'd he know it was a Bruce; maybe it was a Brenda . . . . :devil3:

Been a long week . . . .


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Startingover said:


> UF had bat houses near a lake. People would go evenings to see them emerge from the bat houses. A few scouts would come out then huge swarms of hundreds of thousands. It was quite a sight. There were so many visitors that there was designated parking.
> 
> 
> View attachment 606671


Wow, that is cool!


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

DoomsDave said:


> How'd he know it was a Bruce; maybe it was a Brenda . . . . :devil3:
> 
> Been a long week . . . .


You didn’t get it? ‘ Bruce’ Wayne ... ya know Batman. :smile:


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Nik333 said:


> Bats can carry diseases that can affect you. I'm not sure that I would want to increase those flying above me.
> 
> 
> "Bats are often important hosts for emerging infectious disease agents with significant impact on human health including rabies, ebola, Marburg, hendra, nipah, and SARS viruses. Opportunities for transmission to humans are particularly prominent in countries like Bangladesh, where people live in close association with bats."
> ...


Beat me to it!

I concur, and add that the really big problem is places like China where people regularly eat bats, flying foxes or fruit bats. 

But, bats are also vectors of rabies, too. I remember my last trip to the vet's office back in April, and there were signs cautioning people to be careful about bats in their houses, which might bite, and give rabies to, cats and dogs, and people.

There was a little kid in Ohio back in the late 1960s/early 1970s, I still remember his name, Matthew Winkler, and he was 6 when got bitten on the thumb by a rabid bat while he was asleep. What made his case notable was that he developed symptoms of rabies and was treated and recovered. (Sometimes a fight for life really is.) I always read the newspaper clippings people brought in and posted on the school bulletin board. There were some other really lurid tales of the time.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Two Knots said:


> You didn’t get it? ‘ Bruce’ Wayne ... ya know Batman. :smile:


AH! :surprise:

Okay. But what if it was a girl? :biggrin2:


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

@*DoomsDave* - I've heard of Hepatitis & bats, a lot.




The Vet does seem like the right place for you. ;D


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Nik333 said:


> @DoomsDave - I've heard of Hepatitis & bats, a lot.


Okay, makes sense, since they're flying beartraps with mouths full of dirty needles. :biggrin2:


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## u2slow (Feb 9, 2012)

So far I have discovered little brown bats up in my shop rafters, and also hiding behind some warped fascia boards on a carport. These are newcomers - they've moved-in in last few years. I plan to build some houses for them. They are fussy about how/where you locate their houses - so if they don't take up residence, you may have to do some trial and error. 

At dusk, I can typically spot a bat crossing through my field of vision every few seconds on a good night. I can't say how many mosquitos they eat, but the leftover wings/legs of moths and leatherjackets are plentiful :wink: If you find what looks like mouse turds in odd places... they're roosting above.

Rabies is the main disease concern AFAIK. Apparently their infection rate is actually rather low. I'm not going to pet them. Many other animals carry rabies too.

I like the little buggers... and spiders. They can gorge on as many of the other bugs as they want. :biggrin2:


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Just out - https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/202...ts-could-they-also-hold-clues-to-treatments#1


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Around here it's Hanta Virus you have to watch for.

You get it by breathing the dust of the Bat droppings, or the mice droppings , in barns, cabins, and such.


ED


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