Ghosts, goblins, witches, bats and other scary things decorate homes for Halloween. However, bats do not belong on the frightening, creepy list. Bats are actually beneficial.
Twenty-two species of these flying mammals live in Nevada. Some live in caves or mines, but others live in trees, old buildings, bridges or culverts. In addition, bat houses can provide shelter for bats around homes.
Bats can weigh from an ounce to approximately 3 pounds. In North America, they are insect predators, and one bat can consume over 600 insects in an hour! Bats can eat half their weight in insects in one night, consuming mosquitoes, small flying insects, moths, spiders, cockroaches and other beetles. A colony of 150 bats can destroy millions of insect pests each summer. Garden pests can hear bats from 100 feet away and will avoid an area where bats fly. In addition to being good insect predators, bats are also good pollinators of many desert plants and some crops.
Bats tend to live in colonies. Their reproduction rate is low among mammals. They bear only one or two offspring each year, but they often live 15 years or more years. They are not blind, but generally navigate using a form of sonar. They rest upside down because this position allows for easy flight. Depending on the species, they will either migrate south or hibernate during the winter.
More than half the American bat species are in severe decline or listed as endangered due to human development and loss of habitat from vandalism of nesting sites, disturbance or closing of caves and careless pesticide use. Bats can be poisoned by eating insects treated with insecticides or insects that have walked on plants treated with fungicides and herbicides. Cyanide leaching ponds used in mining can also harm bats. In addition, wood preservatives may negatively affect them.
Like other mammals, bats can become infected with rabies. However, less than one-half of 1 percent of bats is infected with the disease. When infected, they don't tend to be aggressive and they bite only if they perceive an attack. Never pick up a bat. Keep children and pets away from bats, and call animal control immediately if you find an injured bat or if bats are posing a problem.
You can build bat houses to attract bats to your area. Go to the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Web site, www.unce.unr.edu for the publication, "Bats - Essential Members of the Southern Nevada Community," for more information on building a bat house. Or, visit "Bat Conservation International" at www.batcon.org for more information.
For more information on gardening, contact me, (775) 887-2252 or skellyj@unce.unr.edu, or your local University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office. Check out many useful horticulture publications at www.unce.unr.edu "Ask a Master Gardener" at mastergardeners@unce.unr.edu
n JoAnne Skelly is the Carson City/Storey County Extension educator for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.
