Table of Contents
Worldwide, not only are bats important insect catchers, but fruit- and nectar-eating bats are critical to the seed dispersal and pollination of rainforest ecosystems. Some species of bat are "keystone" species, and certain plants and trees could not survive without these species' nighttime activities.
Some of the world's most economically valuable crop plants rely on bats for survival. Bananas, avocadoes, dates, figs, peaches, mangoes, carob, cloves, balsa wood, and even tequila need bats to maintain their ancestral stock. This allows more disease resistant strains of crop to be developed with commercial propagation, while still having the ability to go back to the original crop basis if needed.
Forty percent of North America's bat species are endangered. There are a couple ways you can help conserve bats.
- Build bat houses and put them at different heights, facing different ways, to promote a variety of bat species to roost in them. Some bat species prefer closer to the ground (10-15 feet high) while some prefer to be 40 feet in the air. Temperature control is very important, so placing bat houses facing different ways allows them to move to the houses that best suit their requirements.
- If you can't build a house, staple an 18-inch wide piece of tar paper or similar material around the trunk of a tree. Have it tight at the top, and make it flare out about two inches at the bottom. This can provide a roost for at least a couple of bats.
- Try to limit your use of pesticides. Chemicals added into the food chain do not just go away.
- If you find a bat roost, do not disturb it. Bats are needed, and the less they come into contact with humans, the better.
Now, do you want to help by building a bat house (or many) to put onto your property?
Print out the plans to build a bat house (50k) and get to work! If for any reason you cannot view the instructions clearly, email your mailing address to Webmaster and a hardcopy of the plans will be sent to you.