Bat House in backyard - pros/cons

[Anonymous]

Use science and get mosquito squad

Or you can end up like this

[Anonymous]

Get some praying mantis - they devour Mosquitos.

[Anonymous]

Cool video. Bet those folks don't get a lot of mosquito bites.

[Anonymous]

OP, I grew up in a rural area and we had tons of bats (no bat house, but we lived in a forest with a large bat population). I vividly remember swimming at night and the bats would swoop down over the pool to catch insects. Very neat. We got bats in the house occasionally, too. We never had any scares with bites, and I don't know a single person from my county that ever had an issue, either. No rabies cases in bats this year in my hometown, either, but 19 in raccoons(!).

I say go for it. Mosquito Squad is poison (permethrin). Not sure why some PPs are advocating that you dump toxic chemicals on your property as a better alternative to having natural, shy, beneficial little mammals helping with the insects instead. That's just really sad -- the downsides to having a bat box are a thousand times lower than killing off our bees, toxifying water supplies, and messing with chemicals with impacts we don't fully understand.

[Anonymous]

The bat haters won't have long to be bat free and bug full when the white nose syndrome virus wipes out the bat population... very sad... Wiki summary is pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nose_syndrome Details here: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/publications/fact_sheets/pdfs/WNS_Factsheet_2012.pdf

I bet people would be far more upset if instead of 6 million dead bats in the last 5 years...it was 6 million dead dogs or cats...

[Anonymous]

I just bought a cabin that has a bat box and there are bat droppings down the exterior wall under the bat box and on the ground. Can my children play safely in the yard?

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I grew up in a rural area and we had tons of bats (no bat house, but we lived in a forest with a large bat population). I vividly remember swimming at night and the bats would swoop down over the pool to catch insects. Very neat. We got bats in the house occasionally, too. We never had any scares with bites, and I don't know a single person from my county that ever had an issue, either. No rabies cases in bats this year in my hometown, either, but 19 in raccoons(!).

I say go for it. Mosquito Squad is poison (permethrin). Not sure why some PPs are advocating that you dump toxic chemicals on your property as a better alternative to having natural, shy, beneficial little mammals helping with the insects instead. That's just really sad -- the downsides to having a bat box are a thousand times lower than killing off our bees, toxifying water supplies, and messing with chemicals with impacts we don't fully understand.

+1

[Anonymous]

I say live and let them be. They aren't going to want to live in a stupid bat house. You people are ridiculous and know nothing about nature. Are these the same people who cut trees down? Yikes. What a bunch of idiots.

[Anonymous]

Pros: free Halloween decor
Cons: Rabies

[Anonymous]

This is so stupid. If a kid gets even saliva on him from a bat and the bat can't be captured, the protocol is a full series of rabies shots.

[Anonymous]

What a bunch of alarmists with too much time on your hands. If you worry so much, get yourself some professional help and some meds, quick. I am serious. You are going to send yourself to an early grave with so much worry about nothing. Its absurd.

[Anonymous]

Chiii- KahKah
Shiii - Shcabob
Chiii - Caaaagoooo

You are out!

[Anonymous]

How does Batman's mom say to get him in for supper?

dinner dinner dinner dinner, dinner dinner dinner dinner, Batman!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bats do not all have rabies. You are more likely to have a rabid racoon in your neighborhood. My dh and kids just built a bat house this morning. We live in Arlington. All of our neighbors are excited to have the bats. Placement of the house should be that the droppings fall in an area away from your vegatable garden. I would vote for having one.

I live in Arlington, and I would definitely not be excited about this.

I live in Arlington and would prefer bats to the number of mosquitoes we have this year. I am a little scared of bats, but I could learn to love them. Seem less troublesome than the three bee keepers we have. (I know bees are good, but my yard is covered in them)