Thanks to donations from readers like you, our Pollinator Gardening project raised a total of $1,000. This amount will go towards our garden signage and pathway. We've sent out narrowleaf milkweed seed packets, which you should receive in the mail soon. Now is a great time to plant these seeds! As you've read, milkweed is the sole food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars. We are excited about the possibility of seeing these gorgeous yellow, black, and white caterpillars in our garden in the near future!

Next steps for the Pollinator Garden include adding mulch (next week!), planting more plants, and figuring out best ways to label the plants. Many of the native plants have their original name tags, so feel free to stop by. The garden is located on the west side of the Stanislaus Building at the Ag Center.

In the coming weeks we will add pollinator plants that are not native, but that have the same water requirements.

If you visit, don't let the lack of pathways stop you! Stroll right through and take a look. The plants are small now, but we expect spring blooms, and in another year they will have doubled in size. We will continue to update you on the progress of the garden

Missed Giving Tuesday but still want to give? You still can. Please make checks out to:

UC Regents and send to:
UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program
3800 Cornucopia Way, Ste A
Modesto, CA 95358

We still have plenty of milkweed seed packets left to send.

Thank you!

Throughout history bats have been objects of fear, hostility, and myths, largely due to their nocturnal, mysterious behavior. Horror movies and media exaggerations has led people to believe they are dangerous disease-ridden blood suckers. The truth is very different.

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.

Bats can live between five and thirty years, depending on the species. Most female bats have only one pup per year, making them vulnerable to extinction.

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?

Bat roosting sites include caves, tree cavities, buildings, bridges, attics, barns, bat boxes or other structures.

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.

Fact - There are three species of “vampire bats” whose food source is blood. None are found in the USA.

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. . .

A bat that flies into your living space is usually lost, perhaps young, and its only goal is to find an exit outside. While keeping it in sight, close all the interior doors to the room, opening exterior doors and windows to provide means for the bat to escape.

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

More than half of the bat species in the United States are in severe decline or listed as endangered. In addition to loss of habitat, tree-roosting and migratory bats face significant threats from wind turbines.

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

Bats are a part of healthy and diverse ecosystems. Some ways you can help:

• 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

There are a couple locations near Stanislaus County where you can go see bats at dusk during the warmer months:

• 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

If you wish to learn more about these vital, fascinating creatures, join Rachael Long, UC ANR Integrated Pest Management Advisor for Yolo, Solano, and Sacramento Counties for her webinar “All About Bats.” Rachael will discuss the natural history of bats, including common types found in California, bats and pest control, bat boxes to attract bats, excluding unwanted bats, bats and rabies prevention, as well as fielding questions from participants about bats. Listed below is registration information:

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/

 

 

 

 

To help raise awareness about the declining populations of many pollinating species, in 2017 the US Senate unanimously voted to establish National Pollinator Week. Because pollinators are crucial not only to our human food supply but to the health of all life on the planet, there is good reason to care about them: our lives are intertwined with theirs. This year National Pollinator Week is from June 20 to June 26^th.

A pollinator is any insect or animal that unintentionally, through its movements, carries pollen or the male reproductive part of plants to the female parts of plants, a process that facilitates the reproduction of over 85% of flowering plants. It has been estimated that more than two thirds of the world's crops depend on pollinators, and the seeds and fruits produced by pollinators comprise a major part of the diet of many other animals. Perhaps surprisingly, bats, birds, small mammals, and lizards can be pollinators, but most pollinators are insects. While the honeybee (introduced to the U.S from Europe, and therefore non-native) typically comes to mind, in fact a diverse crew of butterflies, moths, wasps, ants, beetles, and flies, and a dazzling array of wild bees, does most of the work of pollination. In fact, wild bees are primarily responsible for the pollination of the most agricultural crops, whether or not managed (as opposed to wild) honeybees are present. A diversity of wild pollinators has been shown to result in improved crop yields (Garibaldi et al in Science, February 2013). Unfortunately, many species of wild insect pollinators are becoming scarce because of habitat loss, pesticide use, introduced diseases, and climate change (of course, managed honeybees aren't faring very well either).

The Xerces Society is an organization dedicated to working on behalf of these important native insects. Established in 1971, the non-profit Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation was named for the Xerces blue (Glaucopsyche xerces), a butterfly of the sand dunes of San Francisco driven to extinction by land development in the 1940s. Based in Portland, Oregon, the Xerces Society creates science-based programs and educational resources to facilitate protection of rare and endangered invertebrates and pollinating insects. While their focus is global, they currently have initiatives operating within California including the California Bumble Bee Atlas and Bumble Bee Watch, and the Western Monarch Milkweed mapper and Thanksgiving Monarch Butterfly Count. These initiatives utilize community members (citizen scientists) to help collect scientific data, an entertaining and educational way to be involved in insect conservation at the ground level. You don't need any previous experience to join this team: the Xerces scientists provide the necessary training webinars to get you started.

Helping to conserve pollinators will benefit your own backyard garden and, ultimately, the planet. The Xerces Society website contains a wealth of information to aid you in getting started. Broad measures you should take include the following: planting flowers and native plants used by pollinators for food; providing safe nesting habitat for wild bees on your property; reducing or eliminating your use of pesticides; and spreading awareness about the need for pollinator conservation. The website offers specific information on how to accomplish these goals and numerous resources to aid your efforts: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Perhaps most useful to gardeners are the regionally specific habitat establishment and maintenance guidelines; the lists of native plant and seed vendors; and the Monarch and pollinator habitat kits that can be requested for habitat improvement on public lands such as city and school properties. If your public land project meets their criteria, you will receive seedlings appropriate for your location and habitat and detailed instructions for making your habitat project a success; all you need to supply is the labor.

The Xerces Society also hosts regional events and webinars; a Bee Better Certification Program that provides incentives to conservation-minded farmers and points consumers towards food grown with pollinator-friendly practices; and a beautiful pollinator habitat sign to grace your garden (available as a gift to donors). For more ideas on how you can improve your garden for pollinators and celebrate National Pollinator Week, visit The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and Pollinator Partnership.

UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system. To learn more about us and our upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, email the Hotline at mgbutte@ucanr.edu (preferred) or call (530) 538-7201.

This week, from noon on May 19 to noon on May 20, the UC Master Gardener Program is launching an independent statewide giving day! It's called UC ANR GivingDay—and is a day to ‘dig deep' to support the program you care about.

Locally, our program gives classes at libraries, community gardens, garden clubs, our Harvest Hall facility at the Ag Center, and to senior centers. We also help answer questions in person, online, and by phone. We are currently working on two gardens that will act as outdoor classrooms. You may remember that we raised funds for them last year. Here is an update on their progress.

The Sensory Garden

Our Master Gardener Sensory Garden Committee has been busy researching which plants to use for the garden, and creating a landscape plan that includes water-wise plants. Recently, we used part of the donated funds to remove some of the original plants in need of replacement. Next steps are amending the soil to prepare for the installation of the drip irrigation system. Thanks to Hunter Industries for donating irrigation supplies!

By the end of the summer, the soil will be amended, the drip irrigation installed, and this fall, we will begin planting. Grover Landscape Services Inc. has generously agreed to donate plants for this space. The remaining funds we have will be used for a water feature and a few benches, however it won't cover all of this cost. In addition, so we are looking for funding for hardscapes, mulch, and amendments for this garden. 

The Pollinator Garden

This garden will not only showcase plants for pollinators, it will include a demonstration pollinator hedgerow. These  hedgerows will demonstrate to farmers how they can help provide food for pollinators, while at the same time use hedgerows as visual screens and windbreaks.  

Thanks to a generous donation from the West Stanislaus Resource Conservation District, we will have the funds to remove the turf in the area where we want to plant the garden. One of our Master Gardeners, Rhonda Allen, who created the La Loma Native Garden in Modesto, is creating the plan for this landscape. We plan to remove the turf in late summer, prepare the soil and irrigation, and be ready to plant in fall. Once we reach that step, we will work with Modesto Junior College Nursery to grow plants for this space. We are looking for funding for plants, hardscapes, mulch, and amendments for this garden. 

Our Program

By donating to your local UCCE Master Gardener Program and UC ANR, you help extend the knowledge and resources of the University to your community.

Mark your calendar, spread the word, and stay tuned for more details! Join us at noon and be the first to give—or visit us anytime during the 24 hour giving day. Make your gift then share your support on social media using #Giving Day or call a friend to let them know what's happening. We hope you will join us on May 19-20!

donate.ucanr.edu/givingday