Driving us Batty

Bats are one of the critters which inhabit the area and we frequently see them flying in the park across the street at dusk.

Each bat kills thousands of insects each night. Many of those are mosquitoes. Other natural mosquito predators include dragonflies. According to an article in the Patch: "Bats play an important role in the local ecosystem and can significantly reduce the insect population in your neighborhood. “One bat can eat up to 3,000 mosquitoes in one night, or any insect outside after dark, like moths and crickets,” said Christopher Appelt, a biologist and associate professor at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. “Put 100 bats out there, and they can eat 300,000 insects in one night.”"

On occasion it is my understanding residents of our community have found one roosting in the space between deck supports. Generally, these are invisible to us and we aren't even aware they are in the air space or on the property. One sign is bat dung. I've attended HOA meetings where an owner complained about a bat. They can be relocated or as the professionals prefer to say "excluded." The article states that "Bats in the United States are protected species.....It is against the law...to kill or poison bats when removing them from buildings. Bat exclusion is also prohibited when pups are still nursing and in the roost."

The article provides some interesting statistics about rabies and also preventative tips.

The article uses some interesting language, including the article title. The Patch apparently feels the need for sensationalism to get us to read their articles, and stick around long enough to click on those ads.

While bats are generally beneficial and invisible, the article quoted a "Senior Bat Technician" as saying: “The Midwest is just unbelievably infested with bats.....I’d say 80 percent of neighborhoods are infested with bats, and people don’t even know about it.”

My opinion is it would be more realistic to state that the area is unbelievably infested with mosquitoes. But a Senior Bat Technician has got to eat.

The Chicago Patch posted one of the better articles I've seen and I've included a link here.

http://patch.com/illinois - article on bats June 10, 2016