Bats In My Citrus Trees

[Alan H]

One of my most favorite things to do when backpacking, is to sit out with Joan by the lake and watch the bats come out around sunset and swoop around, catching insects.

[tulloch]

Great about the bats. You can get information from Bat Conservation International - http://www.batcon.org/
You could have insect eaters, fish eaters, pollenaters or fruit eaters. I know that Soaro cactus are pollenated by bats. BCI has done a lot of research and they have a lot of information. It is significant that they hang out in the open in trees rather than rolled in big leaves, under bark, in caves or houses. Would love to hear more. They all help us.

[Bugbear]

Oh, I don't think they're roosting and landing in the citrus. It sounds more like they are flying around the area, and swooping bugs in the tops of the trees. They might be roosting in the palm tree fronds, though.

Over in Phoenix proper, there is a large drainage tunnel that is a nesting roost for the Mexican freetail bat, and I understand there is a very large number of bats that roost there. There's also a large number of bat watchers that roost near by to see the bats swarm out at twilight.

[Bigkahuna]

If you have a BB-Gun, it's great fun to shoot it off and watch the bats try to catch the BB. I guess their echo location picks it up as a flying bug.

[BoldHighlander]

Great about the bats. You can get information from Bat Conservation International - http://www.batcon.org/
You could have insect eaters, fish eaters, pollenaters or fruit eaters. I know that Soaro cactus are pollenated by bats. BCI has done a lot of research and they have a lot of information. It is significant that they hang out in the open in trees rather than rolled in big leaves, under bark, in caves or houses. Would love to hear more. They all help us.

Cool site, thanks.

[BoldHighlander]

Over in Phoenix proper, there is a large drainage tunnel that is a nesting roost for the Mexican freetail bat, and I understand there is a very large number of bats that roost there. There's also a large number of bat watchers that roost near by to see the bats swarm out at twilight.

I have in-laws in Austin TX, and if I ever make it back that way again I want to visit the Congress Avenue Bridge and see the bats fly out of there in the evening.



from the web link:
"The Congress Avenue Bridge spans Town Lake in downtown Austin and is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food."

Also from the website they say that during migrations to Mexico and back, the bats may reach an altitude of 10,000 feet and velocities of 60 miles per hour!!!

[Bugbear]

Ya, when I was a kid, I got to see the bat swarms at Carlsbad Caverns; it's pretty neat.

Glad they're enjoying my yard. I do walk around the property on and off all night, partly watering plants and pulling weeds, but I don't usually get too close to that line of trees back there.

On the other hand, my neighbor has a few mulberry trees that hang over on my property. I've put a garden out at the edge of those trees, and when I walk around up under them at night, it wakes up some of the birds that live up there. I can hear them get startled and figet around from time to time.

[ali8780]

And here I thought you were looking for condolences. I'll offer mine anyway! I hate bats, and bugs. Love snakes though, go figure!

[dfmacliam]

Bat houses and purple Martin houses are probably the best things to set up to combat the bug problems

[Smayniac]

Scooby's school installed a bat house in their outdoor classroom; it's named in honor of the recently retired science teacher. We love to sit on the deck at my dad's house on the river and watch the bats.
BTW Ali, the thing the rest of us love about the bats is that they eat those pesky bugs.
Bob