Post by L Roebuck on Aug 15, 2006 6:40:47 GMT -5
Bats doing the tourist thing
Web Posted: 08/14/2006 11:53 PM CDT
Scott Huddleston
San Antonio Express-News
Holy bat guano!
A mild winter and seasonal migration of Mexican free-tailed bats has led to more sightings of the winged mammals in San Antonio. Several thousand have roosted at one high-rise hotel with a spectacular downtown view — one they probably can't truly appreciate with their light-sensitive eyes.
Tim Hanks, owner of Commercial Bat Control, said he's had numerous calls from local stores, schools and hotels.
"About 100 of them flew in the lobby" of a downtown hotel last week, said Hanks, who's worked with bats for about 20 years.
What are pest control experts doing about these critters often associated with vampires and the macabre? They're caulking cracks and sealing openings where bats can enter but generally leaving the bats alone.
Mexican bats look creepy, but they protect South Texas crops from insects from spring to fall. And their guano is good fertilizer.
The world's largest bat colony, Bracken Cave, with 20 million to 40 million bats in the spring and summer, is about 30 miles northeast of downtown. The mild winter left an abundant supply of insects for the bats to eat.
"As the insect population goes up, the bat population goes up, too," said Ron Anuszewski, wildlife specialist with Critter Ridder, an Austin firm that deals with bats across the state.
The bats begin leaving Bracken Cave in early August, then typically wander before their southward migration gets fully under way in October.
For outdoor colonies, such as one roosting by a sliding glass door next to a service corridor on the Marriott Rivercenter's 33rd floor, experts at times use lights with white noise, or a predator scent, to drive bats away.
The best thing, experts say, is to let bats leave on their own. That's what the Marriott is doing, an employee there said.
Homeowners with bat problems can refer to the Web site of Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org, to study options. Barbara French, science officer with the Austin nonprofit organization, said people can start having bats removed from their homes at the end of August, when young bats are old enough to fly.
"We were concerned that the drought would hurt the bat population, but it appears to be doing quite well," she said. "This is the time of year when people suddenly start noticing them."
Sometimes, Mexican free-tailed bats carry rabies. A bat that looks sick should never be handled with bare hands.
But most bats in attics, inside walls and behind store signs are healthy, young bats born in May or June, Hanks said. Besides their favorite food, the corn earworm moth, the bats have had a convenient buffet of millions of snout butterflies this summer, thanks to a drought punctuated by July rain. But the young ones haven't found a natural place to roost.
"They haven't established where they want to live," Hanks said.
People have used all kinds of things, from mothballs to loud music, to try to drive bats out of their homes, with little luck. Hanks uses an "excluder," a custom-fitted door that lets bats out, but not back in.
Except for parking garages, bats seldom return to the same outdoor roosts, Hanks said.
"If you wait until the next day, they're usually gone," he said.
Article: www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA081506.1A.oddbats.1ebc53f.html
Web Posted: 08/14/2006 11:53 PM CDT
Scott Huddleston
San Antonio Express-News
Holy bat guano!
A mild winter and seasonal migration of Mexican free-tailed bats has led to more sightings of the winged mammals in San Antonio. Several thousand have roosted at one high-rise hotel with a spectacular downtown view — one they probably can't truly appreciate with their light-sensitive eyes.
Tim Hanks, owner of Commercial Bat Control, said he's had numerous calls from local stores, schools and hotels.
"About 100 of them flew in the lobby" of a downtown hotel last week, said Hanks, who's worked with bats for about 20 years.
What are pest control experts doing about these critters often associated with vampires and the macabre? They're caulking cracks and sealing openings where bats can enter but generally leaving the bats alone.
Mexican bats look creepy, but they protect South Texas crops from insects from spring to fall. And their guano is good fertilizer.
The world's largest bat colony, Bracken Cave, with 20 million to 40 million bats in the spring and summer, is about 30 miles northeast of downtown. The mild winter left an abundant supply of insects for the bats to eat.
"As the insect population goes up, the bat population goes up, too," said Ron Anuszewski, wildlife specialist with Critter Ridder, an Austin firm that deals with bats across the state.
The bats begin leaving Bracken Cave in early August, then typically wander before their southward migration gets fully under way in October.
For outdoor colonies, such as one roosting by a sliding glass door next to a service corridor on the Marriott Rivercenter's 33rd floor, experts at times use lights with white noise, or a predator scent, to drive bats away.
The best thing, experts say, is to let bats leave on their own. That's what the Marriott is doing, an employee there said.
Homeowners with bat problems can refer to the Web site of Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org, to study options. Barbara French, science officer with the Austin nonprofit organization, said people can start having bats removed from their homes at the end of August, when young bats are old enough to fly.
"We were concerned that the drought would hurt the bat population, but it appears to be doing quite well," she said. "This is the time of year when people suddenly start noticing them."
Sometimes, Mexican free-tailed bats carry rabies. A bat that looks sick should never be handled with bare hands.
But most bats in attics, inside walls and behind store signs are healthy, young bats born in May or June, Hanks said. Besides their favorite food, the corn earworm moth, the bats have had a convenient buffet of millions of snout butterflies this summer, thanks to a drought punctuated by July rain. But the young ones haven't found a natural place to roost.
"They haven't established where they want to live," Hanks said.
People have used all kinds of things, from mothballs to loud music, to try to drive bats out of their homes, with little luck. Hanks uses an "excluder," a custom-fitted door that lets bats out, but not back in.
Except for parking garages, bats seldom return to the same outdoor roosts, Hanks said.
"If you wait until the next day, they're usually gone," he said.
Article: www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA081506.1A.oddbats.1ebc53f.html