Can you say something positive about what bats do for the garden?
One thing gardeners learn quickly is that cute, furry creatures such as rabbits, mice and deer are a garden's worst nightmare. It's the creepy creatures such as snakes, frogs, toads, lizards, certain species of beetles and, yes, even bats that are desirable in the garden.
The presence of bats on your property is a sign of a well-balanced ecosystem and, as a gardener, (though not necessarily as a homeowner) you should be thrilled that they've given your property their stamp of approval.
Unfortunately, bats have a bad reputation and that’s a shame since it really isn't warranted. They don't make a practice of flying into people's hair nor do they go out of their way to bite humans or in any way to harass us. The harassment tends to be the other way around and the biggest threat to the survival of bats is, not surprisingly, human interference.
So why do gardeners like having bats around? Because they eat all sorts of insects that would otherwise be eating our plants and they eat a lot of them. When they’re actively feeding, they can consume an insect every three seconds and among the insects they’re known to eat are mosquitoes.
It's hard not to like, or at least to tolerate, any creature that eats mosquitoes.
The best thing about bats is they're nocturnal and don't usually start appearing until dusk when most of us have left our gardens for the day, so encounters are generally limited to watching them ricocheting around the sky as they hunt for bugs in the fading light.
Although bats are good for the garden, they can be an annoying problem if they decide to nest in your home’s walls, attics, chimneys or outbuildings where they can make a stinky mess but, thankfully, that’s more of a home maintenance problem than a gardening problem.
Despite their bad reputation, bats rarely bite humans and when they do, it's usually because they're defending themselves. Leave them alone and they will leave you alone. However, keep in mind that, although rare, bats are susceptible to rabies, so if you see one behaving strangely don't approach it and, if you do somehow manage to get bitten, seek medical attention.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
Originally published in the Creston Valley Advance on May 24, 2010.
