Bats

Bats are nature's very own built-in insecticide, patrolling for food between the hours from dusk and dawn - prime mosquito time! In fact, one bat can eat 600 mosquito-sized insects every hour. Many insects are thought to avoid bat-populated areas, keeping a hundred feet outside of bat sonar range.

We are fortunate enough to have 40 of the 1,000 species of bats within the U.S. and Canada. North American bats eat moths, flies and beetles, gnats, termites, flying ants and best of all mosquitoes. One small brown bat can eat one-third of its body weight in insects each night.

Even though bats are unprejudiced about the bugs they consume, if your property is overwhelmed with mosquitoes, they will most definitely be on the menu.

The most effective way to attract bats to your property is with a bat house ($20 to $100). Bat houses are commonly tall, single-chamber houses capable of housing 50 bats, or larger multi-chamber designs that can attract colonies of 200 or more bats.

Bat houses are simple to build or assemble and can be mounted on a building or a tree.

• A bat house should be hung at least 10-15 feet from the ground.
• Shelter bat houses from the wind and power lines.
• Bats like warmth, so place the house on the sunny side of a tree or building.
• Add tar paper or dark shingles to retain heat.
• Never paint a bat house as chemicals are toxic to bats.
• Bat houses hung near water will be quickly inhabited.

Click the links above for some leading online suppliers of mosquito control and bat houses!