7 Benefits of Bat Houses
Bats?! Why on earth would I want to put a bat house on my property and attract these flying mammals to my home? I’m no lunatic. I’ve seen Dracula. I got no interest in attracting blood sucking bats to my home! You’ve got to be crazy…
At Big Bat Box, we’ve heard it all before. Bats are scary. Bats are aggressive. Bats will suck your blood! None of these are true. At all. Whatsoever. In fact, the only bats that drink or lap up blood can be found in a few select areas of Central and South America (Source).
All the bats in the United States? They tend to eat bugs, mosquitoes, and fruits. No bloods. No humans. Still, why would you want these creatures around all the time? Well, there’s a few good reasons.
7 Benefits of Bat Houses
One of the main reasons individuals install bat houses is to deal with mosquitoes. However, there are a plethora of other reasons why bats are beneficial. Here are seven of our favorite:
Bats can eat up to 1,200 insects per hour (Source). Many bats can eat nearly 70% of their body weight in insects each night. That means your insect problem goes away once the bats start arriving. And there’s more…
Once insects start hearing bats flying, they instantly start leaving the area(Source). Bugs want absolutely nothing to do with bats. If you’re sick of bugs flying around your property and ruining your outdoor leisure time, then a bat house is what you need.
Sure, mosquitoes are insects and all, but this needs repeating. Bats may be the best form of natural mosquito control available. Many homeowners who had issues with mosquitoes on their properties have completed solved them by installing bat houses.
Once a bat house is colonized, the mosquito problem tends to vanish - as the 200+ bats tend to eat every single mosquito in the area. Many find bug bites are no longer an issue after the bat house is installed.
Just look at one of our happy Big Bat Box customers:
"Your bat house came highly recommended from my brother in law. We last counted 70 bats...talk about bug control. We went from constantly needing bug spray to needing absolutely nothing - ever. Thanks for making and selling these!" - Dave, Colorado
Bats are the original nighttime pollinators. While the bees handle the day shift, bats can actively help your garden grow in the evening. See, bats are nocturnal animals. They do the majority of their work during the evening.
The bats sweep through your garden eating up insects and nectar as they please. Then they leave pollen on your plants. Pollen and plants go hand-in-hand. Next thing you know, your garden is the talk of the town.
Bats also distribute seeds after eating fruits and nectar. As the seeds are in their poop and the flying mammals often poop while in the air, the seeds end up in new areas. This helps spread plants to large, open areas that were once devoid of plant life.
Surprisingly, bat poop is quite popular and important. Flying rodent poop, also known as guano, is an impressive source of fertilizer. With the absolute ideal ratio of nutrients for plant growth, many use guarno in their gardens as often as possible.
There’s also an ideal mix of bacteria and fungus in Guarno, which helps keep soil healthy and ideal for plant growth.
As bats play a huge role in our ecosystems, many have become bat conservationists. Save the bats is a movement for many nature enthusiasts, as the animals often get an unfair shake as violent creatures in the media.
By installing a bat house, you give these animals a safe place to live and procreate. With all the natural habitats being destroyed today, this is incredibly important for the animals.
Lastly, bats are just cute, friendly animals once you really get to know them. These aren’t blood-sucking Dracula-like animals that many want you to think they are. No! Bats are friendly animals who just want to eat some insects.
The Benefits of Bat Houses: Do You Need One?
There are many benefits of bat houses. For most people, the insect and mosquito control plays a huge role in why they install one. If you’re looking to get rid of your mosquito issues, then a bat house should be your first option.
