Bats!

[Pearl]

There are always a lot of bats in my area, but I'm noticing a larger type this year! Hubby and I sit out at night a lot, love watching the bats. Usually "regular" size and small ones. Last two weeks we are seeing larger bats, about the size of a dove. I need to do some homework on them, first time seeing these! As much as I enjoy them I haven't done much research on them, guess I will start!!

 

[Patchouli]

I’ll be on the lookout for them over this way. We have small bats. Maybe they’re migrating? Do bats migrate?

 

[viking]

Fruit bats are generally larger, a couple of times I almost grabbed them while picking apples, definitely gives you a wakeup call. I have a shed that I store plywood and other things in that is also a nursery for bats, I've seen baby bats nursing on their moms while being wrapped up by their moms wings, I'm grateful to have bats around as they eat tons of bad insects.

 

[Pearl]

I’ll be on the lookout for them over this way. We have small bats. Maybe they’re migrating? Do bats migrate?

I'm going to take a little time today and find out!!

 

[Weedygarden]

Bats are good for insect control.

 

[Cascadian]

I’ll be on the lookout for them over this way. We have small bats. Maybe they’re migrating? Do bats migrate?

Yes, from Wuhan.

 

[Wingnut]

Bats DO migrate... some of the bats in Carlsbad Caverns are Brazilian Free-Tailed Bats, or so I was told by a ranger. They migrate as far as Brazil during the northern winter, which is a pretty good distance. Macking bugs the whole way, I reckon, which is why I have no problem with bats. Yeah, they look funky, and they get a bad rap in old horror films, but they're actually good to have around. It's the rabid ones which spook folks, and those are usually in distress on the ground during the latter stages of that disease, which is why ya NEVER pick one up...

When I worked graveyard at WallyWorld in Benson, bats from nearby Kartchner Caverns would feast on the bugs under the lights in the parking lot... I suppose it was worth the flight of a few miles to have the WallyWorld bug buffet spread, lol. I'd always stop and check 'em out on my way to and from the car, they were pretty good-sized bats. When my friends and I used to go climbing in Kalifornia, we'd occasionally disturb some roosting bat behind a granite flake or wherever... thing would start squeaking as if to say, "SHADDAP OUT THERE, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!!!"

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Bats are essential in Florida to help control the mosquito population.
I’ve noticed them out at dusk zooming around.
History tidbit: The first settlers in the Florida Keys were so besieged by skeeters that one man came up with a plan to bring thousands of bats down, and even built a bat tower for them to live in.
The Bat Tower still stands today, and tourists who venture off the beaten path can visit it.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

I just checked. The Bat Tower, built in 1929 and on the register of historical landmarks, was blown down by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
It was located on Sugarloaf Key.

 

[Weedygarden]

I just checked. The Bat Tower, built in 1929 and on the register of historical landmarks, was blown down by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
It was located on Sugarloaf Key.

It could be rebuilt!

 

[viking]

Back in the 1960's I hiked up to a lake in the north Cascades, just east of Concrete, Washington, the first night I was there the mosquitoes were biting me like crazy, the next evening bats showed up and seemed to clear the whole area, they are a valuable asset to humans and animals.

 

[Pearl]

Well, there are A LOT of different bats native to my area! Homework done(for now)!

 

[Magus]

I noticed nobody mentioned they carry rabies like luggage.
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/exposure/animals/bats.html