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Spring is here and it time to start getting your backyard in shape again. You can start by cleaning up all your flower beds and cleaning out your bird houses so the new inhabitants have a place to stay as they start coming back to your yard.
According to Horticulture Magazine, there are good reasons why some plants bloom before others. Early blooming trees and shrubs bloom so early that their blossoms are sometimes damaged by late freezes. The reason this happens is that pollinators pay them special attention by blooming in advance of the spring rush. On any day or night when the temperature is above freezing, insect and birds are out and about and spreading seeds and pollinating while they enjoy a bat free existence because the bats are still in hibernation.
Bats are misunderstood creatures that are generally quite harmless to people. They do not become tangled in your hair, nor do they attack humans. Contrary to misconceptions, disease transmission from bats to people is easily avoided. Never handle bats and the odds of being harmed will be extremely remote.
In more than four decades, public health records indicate that only 16 people in the United States and Canada have died of bat-borne diseases… Placed in perspective, this means that the odds of anyone dying of a disease from a bat are much less than one in a million. In contrast, in the United States alone more than 10 people die annually from dog attacks, not to mention dog- and cat-transmitted diseases. - Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle, America’s Neighborhood Bats, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1988. In contrast, several children in a million are likely to die each year from encephalitis contracted through a mosquito bite.
In the Orient these gentle animals are symbols of good luck, long life and happiness. They are meticulous in their grooming, spending a fair part of the day and night combing and grooming their fur.
When bats fly, they navigate by means of an sophisticated echolocation system. The bat sends out signals of sound energy, which are reflected back, giving it the location of an object as well as its texture and other characteristics. They can avoid a single human hair with extreme accuracy, even in total darkness, giving lie to the myth that bats are blind.
If you live in the country you might want to purchas a bat house.
Bats are in need of protection if they are to survive. They have proven themselves as valuable members of our ecosystem, and we must increase the awareness of people who have the ability to protect or to destroy these little creatures.
Bats are declining, world-wide, at an alarming rate, due to human misunderstanding. They have typically only one offspring per year, making their comeback slow and in need of our help.
Bats eat an amazing amount of mosquitos. Some experts estimated that one bat can eat between 600 to 1000 insects, mosquitoes included, within a period of one hour. And the guano is a great fertilizer for your garden. Check out the bat houses that are available online.
Truth About Bats
Bats are misunderstood creatures that are generally quite harmless to people. They do not become tangled in your hair, nor do they attack humans. Contrary to misconceptions, disease transmission from bats to people is easily avoided. Never handle bats and the odds of being harmed will be extremely remote.
In more than four decades, public health records indicate that only 16 people in the United States and Canada have died of bat-borne diseases… Placed in perspective, this means that the odds of anyone dying of a disease from a bat are much less than one in a million. In contrast, in the United States alone more than 10 people die annually from dog attacks, not to mention dog- and cat-transmitted diseases. - Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle, America’s Neighborhood Bats, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1988. In contrast, several children in a million are likely to die each year from encephalitis contracted through a mosquito bite.