- Author: Denise Godbout-Avant
Fascinating Bat Bits
Bats are the only true flying mammal, making up a quarter of the world's mammals. There are 1,100 species of bats, with forty species in the USA. California has twenty-five species, most of which are insectivores.
Bats are one of only three mammals that generally sleep upside down, with sloths and manatees being the other two.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, fruit-eating bats are responsible for dispersing seeds that grow into bananas, avocados and 300 other plant species around the world. Agave plants (which are the source of tequila and mezcal) evolved to supply most of their nectar after dark to attract the nocturnal bats to cross-pollinate their flowers.
Insect eating bats often consume their own weight in insects each night, eating up to a thousand mosquito-size insects in an hour! It is estimated that bats' value to agriculture could exceed $23 million per year.
Bats are excellent fliers with some species flying up to 60-100 mph. They can locate and catch insects in midflight in total darkness, using echolocation, which is the ability to locate objects by reflected sound waves.
Where Do Bats Live?
Usually, males and females with young will roost separately, but in late summer or early autumn, males may join the colony. In the winter when insects become scarce, some bats hibernate, while others may migrate to warmer areas, returning in the spring months.
Bat Myths and Facts
Because of their nocturnal habits, bats are rarely seen, so seem mysterious and are often misunderstood.
Myth - Bats suck people's blood.
Myth - Bats are blind.
Fact - Bats do have small eyes, but they are functional. Megabats, which are larger bats such as fruit bats (found in forests of Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe), search for their food using both sight and smell.
Myth - Bats fly towards and get tangled in people's hair.
Fact - Bats hang upside down from their roosts and tend to drop down and flap their wings before they start to lift off in flight. So, though it may appear the animals are swooping down on you and want to nest in your hair, they're not. In fact, bats don't make nests.
Bats as Pests
Like many mammals, bats can contract rabies. It is rare for a rabid bat to bite a human. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 59,000 humans die from rabies each year, with 99% of these deaths being due to contact with rabid, unvaccinated dogs.
Most bat parasites such as fleas and mites are host specific and cannot survive on other animals. No evidence exists of disease transmission to humans or domestic pets from bat parasites.
Bat droppings, known as guano, can harbor a widespread fungus found in soil, Histoplasma capsulatum, which causes Histoplasmosis in humans. However, most human infections come from birds.
If You Find a Bat. . .
If you find a bat laying on the ground, please leave it alone, especially in the spring or fall, when they may be migrating and are just resting during their long journey. If after an hour or two, the bat has not moved, it is likely sick and should be avoided. If it is in an area where children or pets can access it, you may want to trap it. While wearing leather gloves, carefully put a box over it and slide a piece of cardboard underneath it to trap it. Then contact your local wildlife rescue organization (in Stanislaus County that is the Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center at 1220 Geer Rd., Hughson, 209-883-9414).
Bats in Trouble
One of their most dire threats comes from white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease that has decimated bats in the USA and Canada. Bats that hibernate during the winter do so to ration their energy and survive during a time of year when insects are scarce. The WNS fungus grows on bats' skin which disturbs their hibernation, thus increasing the amount of energy they are using, resulting in dehydration, starvation and often, death. However, a 2015 breakthrough appears promising. A team of researchers treated infected bats infected with a common bacterium on bananas which seems to stop the growth of the fungus. The treated bats were successfully released back to the wild.
How Can You Help Bats
- Learn more about bats, educating friends and family.
- With an iNaturalist app on your smartphone, you can take part in citizen science by observing bats in a park or your own backyard.
- Build a bat house. Bats need places to roost, rest, raise young. UC IPM gives information how to build a backyard bat house: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74150.html. Other bat house links are provided in Resources. Choose a pesticide-free open location with five to seven hours of sunlight. Bats prefer interior temperatures of 80-100ºF during the summer.
- Stay out of caves when directed. Bats need to be undisturbed in caves, particularly in the winter months. If you do visit caves where bats live, clean your shoes before and after to avoid tracking white nose syndrome to another cave.
Where to Go See Bats

- Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area: Not far from Sacramento, this colony resides under the Yolo Causeways, a 3-mile-viaduct on Interstate 80. These are Mexican Free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) who take up residence in the crevices in the concrete bridge. The colony numbers up to a quarter-million bats in size. If you want to see the bats yourself, you can find a place with a good view, but you can also book tours that are specifically designed to get you close enough to see the colony. https://www.yolobasin.org/bats2022/
- Consumnes River Preserve: Near Lodi, several species of bats are found in both the riparian forest and in a bat-friendly bridge built over the Cosumnes River. https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/cosumnes-river/
All About Bats Webinar
Webinar: “All About Bats”
Where: On Zoom
When: Wednesday, October 12, 2022, from 1:00-2:30 p.m
Instructor: Rachael Long, UC ANR Integrated Pest Management for Yolo, Solano and Sacramento Counties
Cost: Free
Register: https://ucanr.edu/all/about/bats
Resources
What Insects Do Bats Eat? https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/index.cfm?tagname=bats
Bats, Allies to Farmers: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=23708&postnum=23708
Bats in the Belfry: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=17395
Fear of Bats and Its Consequences by Merlin Tuttle: https://secemu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Tuttle_et_al_2017.pdf
Bat Myths: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/nature/article/bat-myths-busted
Myth Busters: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bats/myth-busters.htm
Nature Conservancy – Bats: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/animals-we-protect/bats/
Bat Conservation and Management – Bats in Buildings:https://batmanagement.com/blogs/bat-exclusion-control/bats-in-buildings
White nose syndrome: https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/05/27/bananas-to-bats-the-science-behind-the-first-bats-successfully-treated-for-white-nose-syndrome/
All About Bat Houses: https://batmanagement.com/pages/lc-bh-overview
Selecting a Quality Bat House: https://www.merlintuttle.org/selecting-a-quality-bat-house/
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- Author: Heidi Aufdermaur
About 75% of all flowering plants rely on animal pollinators. Most pollinators (about 200,000 species) are beneficial insects such as honey bees, native bees, butterflies, moths, flies and beetles. As the saying goes, if you build it, they will come. So what are some ways in which gardens can be made more attractive for the pollinators of all kinds?
First, know the pollinators. Everyone knows the European honey bee, which was imported 400 years ago and brought to California around 1850. But did you know there are over 4,000 species of native bees in the United States, of which 1600 are found in California?
Approximately 70% of native bees are solitary ground nesters, while 30% are cavity nesters. As well as providing pollinator-friendly plants to your yard, help ground nesting bees make their homes in your garden, by leaving a sunny area mulch-free. For cavity nesting bees, provide artificial nest sites, which are easy to construct or purchase from commercial outlets.
Hummingbirds, with their long beaks and tongues draw nectar from tubular flowers. Pollen is carried on both the beaks and feathers. To attract these fun loving birds to your garden, be sure to include bright colored tubular flowers in your landscape.
Butterflies are eye-catching, as are the flowers that attract them. Not only are specific flowers important, but also providing open areas such as bare earth and large stones where butterflies may bask and moist soil from which they may get needed minerals. To support butterflies, a gardener may also be willing to accept slight damage to host plants that provide food for the larval stage of the butterfly.
Moths are mostly evening fliers attracted to flowers that are strongly sweet smelling, open in late afternoon or night, and are typically white or pale in color. Moths are easy to differentiate from butterflies if you look at their antennae; moths do not have a swelling at the end of their antennae whereas butterflies do.
Bats are nocturnal pollinators that play an important role in the pollination of agaves and cacti in the Southwest, however not necessarily in our specific region. Bats are usually found visiting light-colored flowers that open at night and often produce copious amounts of pollen and nectar.
Flies are not typically thought of as pollinators, however, many masquerade as bees in the garden. Syrphid flies, also called hover flies, are considered to be very important pollinators in agriculture.
Over 30,000 species of beetles are found in the United States, they may not be efficient pollinators but they do play a role as they visit flowers to sip nectar or feed on the flower parts. This activity may result in pollination. Some have a bad reputation because they damaging plants.
If you haven't seen it yet, please watch our YouTube video, Native Pollinators, to learn about different kinds of bees you may find in your garden.
National Pollinator Week is a campaign by the Pollinator Partnership.
Helpful Resources
How to Attract and Maintain Pollinators in Your Garden. Free ANR Publication
Build Bee Houses. Free publication from Michigan State University.
US Forest Service: Pollinators
Heidi Aufdermaur is a graduate of the 2019 Class of Master Gardeners in Stanislaus County.
