Why would you want to plant a garden for bats?
Well we have an answer: bats are very beneficial creatures to have around your house. In Michigan, all nine of our species of bats are insectivores. That means they eat bugs! Not only do they eat moths, but they also consume mosquitos and beetles. Insects, like moths and beetles, can be big nuisances for our gardens; Japanese Beetles anyone? Likewise, mosquitos are constant problem for humans across the globe, as their itchy bites are not only annoying, but can also transmit a host of diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and West Nile virus.
Now that you know why you want bats in your yard, let’s talk about how to get them there! The first step is to provide them with food. Bats are the primary predators of nighttime flying insects. In order to attract these insects, you can plant native flowers, such as; evening primrose, purple coneflowers, milkweeds (beneficial for Monarch butterflies as well), Goldenrod, Butterfly bush, and more. In addition to native species, a good option for attracting insects that bats like to eat (the nighttime pollinators such as moths and beetles) is to plant night flowering or night blooming plants such as evening primrose, which is both native and night blooming. For a more detailed list, with options for readers outside of the Midwest, you can download our Free Guide to Bat Gardening through this link.
The second step is to provide a source of water. For larger locations you could install a pond; however, for locations where a pond is not possible, even a birdbath would be sufficient. If you take the birdbath option, be sure to change the water regularly.
The next step in welcoming bats to your backyard is to provide them with shelter. A great option is to build a bat house. Free instructions for building the optimal bat house for your furry flying friends can be found through this link. In the wild, bats often roost in dead trees; a bat house simulates this environment while providing additional safety for bats by being high off the ground and difficult to enter for wildlife other than bats. In addition to bat houses, other roosting sites could be constructed with walls, fences, hedges and perennial vines.
The final step to creating a bat friendly garden is to practice sustainable gardening. In order to attract bats, you need bugs for them to eat, thus it is important to avoid pesticides or insecticides on you garden as well as elsewhere in your yard. Additionally, limiting the use of fossil fuels in your gardening practices is important. Limiting the amount of lawn mowing and usage of fossil fuel powered tools reduces the amount of carbon emissions from your yard. Using hand tools to do your gardening may be a bit more work, but it saves you the money you would have spent of fossil fuels and lowers your carbon footprint. For more ways to practice sustainable gardening check out our Free Guide to Bat Gardening through the link earlier in this post.
Now that you have the tools to build a bat garden, you can help in the conservation of this critical species in your own back yard!
Kennedy Phillips is a student of Oakland University and an intern with the Organization for Bat Conservation.
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