Greater fishing bat for mings

Here's the fella i promised you. Bats tend to look rather weird to us because their faces are adapted to pick up their echolocation calls so they can navigate at night. They aren't blind, but use this to find their way around when it's too dark to see well with eyes.
Also their hands are altered to make a wing. Their thumb is the little hooky thing at the top of the wing and the fingers are all very elongated and joined with skin to enable them to fly (the only mammal that can)

They really are nice animals, just that we don't see them close up often and are not used to the way they're put together, so we think it looks strange. The unknown is always a little offputting, but they're cute when you get to know them - honest :)

Great photo, Phil.
I don't think that I've ever
seen a photo of one of that type (of bat)before.
Thanks for posting it.
He's actually kind of cute! :-)

He really is isn't he Oscarsdotter? And look at those FEET!

Wow, really cool pic! (He didn't try to bite you?)
H.
(ps...I think it's a boy.)

wow philomel what a great picture.

I love the feet, they look like an alien *LOL*

you're right horseshoe

Thanks all. That was an amazing evening. He uses those feet to catch the fish zameluzza. And yes, you're right on both counts horseshoe - HE didn't try to bite me either!

hey Shoe, you must have found out my DD's secret to telling animal sexes. She was three and told us she knew how to tell if it was a boy or girl puppy. In horror, we asked 'how' and she in all sincerity said




"you go ask Grandma"

LOL!!! wonderful pic!

Hah! Very cute, tiG! "outta the mouths of babes"!

Philomel, how'd you catch that critter anyway? And when they catch fish, do they swoop down like a hawk and grab them? I wonder if their echolocation works thru water. Mighty amazing creature, eh?

LOL tiG. and thanks.
Yes, they're truly brilliant animals Horseshoe. They fly fairly close to the water surface and can detect the ripples made by a fish near the surface with their echolocation. Then the feet come forward and the fish is a gonner as it's grabbed and hoisted out of the water. I don't think the echolocation works through the water - they don't dive into the water themseves, so they need the fish to be at the surface. They can swim however, though i've not seen them.

This bat was caught in a mist net similar to that used for birds, which we set up over the water across a creek.
I think i have a photo, so i'll post it on this forum. We set up two close to each other and had to use a boat to erect and dismantle it and to retrieve any bats from the nets.

at bat talks kids always ask to tell if a bat is a boy bat or girl bat

An obsession from an early age LOL
;)

E gads! Speaking of bats,i went out
to get the clothes off the line last
evening,right at dark. There was one
on one of my shirts. I didn't know
it until i picked the clothespin
off and it was tooooo late. It
landed on my shoulder and got hung
in my collar. Lets just say,i wasn't
doing a rain dance, Thank goodness
it didn't bite or scratch me. Sheesh!

Bats rock. We are building many bat houses to put up on our farm and hoping that they will control the mosquitoes here. I don't want any fishing bats though because they would eat my baby koi that I want to raise up. :{ Lani

I love bats! Has anyone read "The White Lady"? It's a neat book, now out of print, about a fellow who studied a colony of bats he stumbled upon (literally) when he fell through a great bunch of leaves and roots at the base of a big old tree in a field. It's a fascinating, touching book. :)

Yes, in a situation like that bitty a bat would have trouble taking off. They need to launch downwards before their wings take over and they can fly. It would much rather NOT have been on your collar :) They can also get the claws on their feet caught in material, so as much as they'd like to let go.......

Really pleased to hear that Ponditis - keep up the good work!

No i haven't read that gw, i'll look out for it, thanks.

So, one important question. In the case of bitty's, or similar, are bats inclined to automatically bite you if you reached up to pull them off? Or do they even consider that a defense mechanism? (Might be good to know in the future.)

Correct me if I'm wrong - but is there really any sense in building Bat houses??? We have a lot of bats that seem happy to just live in our woods. I think they might just be a good place for hornets or wasps to live. How do they know it's for them??? My neighbor had a cute Butterfly house, she had to change the picture of the butterfly to one of a lizard, Lol!

It really does seem to depend on the individual bat Horseshoe, just as some people are crabby or tend to lash out more when they're frightened and others stay calmer and more reasonable. The smaller bats don't have the strength to puncture our skin anyway, but some of the larger ones can give a bit of a nip.

If the bat house is of a good, tried and tested design then they are very much worth putting up Azalea. The bat is looking for a cavity that has certain conditions - of temperature and humidity for example. Different species like different conditions and also their requirements vary around the year, so a house that is used in the summer probably won't be inhabited in the winter and vice versa. If the bat house fits a bats needs at a particular time then it will 'know that it is for him', so the trick is in the design of the house. But as they need differing conditions no one design can be recommended. The proof of the pudding and all that.

Certainly other animals may take up residence as they may like similar conditions to bats. People putting up boxes for birds find they are used by dormice, bat boxes are often used by birds and i occasionally come across long-eared bats when i'm checking dormouse boxes etc etc Artificial boxes are just a good way of giving an extra choice to animals whose habitat we have been degrading with our activities. They may not be as good as the natural thing, but they can often provide a welcome substitute.

Whew! :o)

I found my old post in the Media forum (formerly Bookworm forum) so I could tell you more about "The White Lady". It was written by Leonard Dubkin in the 1950's, if I recall the publication time correctly. It's out-of-print and only one library in Ohio had it; thank goodness for intra-library loan. It was such a treat to find that childhood favorite of mine.

The White Lady was an albino bat he witnessed being born, and tamed to some extent. He'd take it home some days and observer her behavior around his house, as well as staying at the bat colony many nights to see the behaviors there. One thing she liked doing was flying through the rotating blades of his electric fan!

It's a great read about bats. :)

Cute! Not cuddly for me . but cute.

Hurrah mingsmimi, thanks for coming over, nice to see you here.
Also glad you find him cute, i think cuddly is a little much to expect.
:-D

Bats would have a hard time here finding cavities to nest in because of the lack of trees around here and the penchant of people to cut down any that have cavities. Sage brush doesn't get tall enough for bats to live in. We do have bats around though. I just want to give the local population a boost with the bat houses. I have done lots of research on the proper way to build and paint the house for my area so feel ready to do it. The commercial ones mostly aren't inhabited because they don't have a landing board for the bats to land on and then walk up into their house. They need at least a 4 to 5 inch landing board that is roughed up for them to attach to. My neighbor has given me permission to put some houses on his barn and shed too so I will be busy for a while building houses.

Good for you Ponditis. What you're doing is very valuable
:-D

I have friends and neighbors who are worried about the incidence of rabies in bats. I am still not worried about that as much as I am worried about my horse dying from the West Nile Virus. It would be much more likely for my horse to die than the bats to have rabies but I will take precautions such as if I see a sick bat and/or if a bat is in a weird place I will not handle it without welding gloves on. I hope to be able to take bats to the local schools someday and educate children on how they are so good for our environment. Thanks for the boost and encouragement because people here think I am Batty. lol Lani

That picture is incredible!! He is a cutie pie bat...wish he lived near me!!!

Maybe you will get to be as lucky as me and have 2 come into your home.

Ponditis,
You should talk to your vet about the vaccine to protect your horse from West Nile Virus. We had ours vaccinated early this spring. I don't believe it was too costly

Thank you momcat, before I read your post, I had made the appointment for next week for the vaccine for her. We don't have West Nile yet but I expect it next year if it isn't here by fall. :>( I sure wish there was a way of hurrying the bats into my houses and them exploding their population fast for me. lol I can dream can't I? Lani

:-)
They only have one baby a year, very occasionally twins - just like us. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they move in soon though, Pond

I know that they have only one baby a year but I can dream can't I?? Giggle. I know that I should just be wishing for quick occupation. Last night, I got permission of the owner of a huge shed across the road to put houses the full length of his building. It has a south exposure and no trees to hamper the little fellows in their flight. I am so happy about this building and the prospects for our future natural mosquito abatement program. Off to find some free wood...

Cute? Yuk...he's ugly to me and hope I never have to face one!

It would be a poorer world if we were all the same, imaseedpicker :)

That sounds a great plan Pond! Where i live we're finding the 'woodcrete' boxes that Schwegler make are far preferred by most bats to the wooden ones, though i think in the US there has been a lot of success with wooden bat houses. I think the difference may be that the wooden boxes we tend to have been using are much smaller than the bat houses, so the conditions inside are not nearly as stable. The woodcrete gives better insulation and this means the interiors have more stable conditions. They're a bit expensive, but i'll see if i can find some details in case you'd like to try just one - or experiment making your own, they're a sawdust/concrete mix. It would be interesting to perhaps put boxes/houses of differing designs along the building to see which work best - or they may be used by different species or at different times........Also, south facing is what they usually like for maternity roosts, but at other times of the year the bats here move to other locations. It might be worth trying a few on the other sides of the building.........hmmmm getting carried away as usual, lol.

http://www.birdcare.com/jacobijayne/
This firm shows the Schwegler boxes, but unfortunately only trade in europe, though i think they have plans to trade in the states as well at some point
Anyway, i hope you find their site interesting whatever :)

Well, whatever! I don't like them darting at me in my yard much less seeing them in my house!

They feel like snakes to me! YUK!

I would love those plans. I have already made three different models and want to make some more. The bats here seem to go south for the winter as far as we have been able to find out. Or into caves? I am hoping to have the houses up for spring migration. I love winter projects like this. LOL ima I had a bat as a pet for several months when I was a small child and we lived in Taiwan. It was a fruit bat and it came when called for its fruit. Kept it in a shoebox for bedtime. It seemed happy and healthy but our cook decided he wanted it worse than we did. Lucky for us we were not fed the bat soup.

LOL Pond - i meant they are planning to trade in the states.
And LOL about your pet, though not your cook ;o/
That's fascinating about migration, if your winters are too long and cold that is almost certainly what they will do.
I was reading up on this to discuss with Weezingreens and her husband who are in Alaska. I see you're 6a, but not sure where. As with them, your bats probably migrate south to hibernate, but some, which start further south, also migrate, but into a climate which is so warm they don't need to hibernate and keep on the go all year round.

Sorry you feel like that ima, as bats are mammals like us, with warm bodies and they look after and suckle their young. They just have much more sophisticated body systems than us as they can drop their body temperature at will, to conserve energy.......oh, and they're the only mammal that can truly fly.

Yeah but the plans for one only take buying one and then replicating it. Or looking and modifying your own pattern to make things better. Even the materials will make a difference in habitation I am sure.

This is one of those things where no one is going to convince anyone else to like what we like. Just best to go on. :(

I got to thinking about this today and I am thinking that I might just try making one out of hypertuffa. It is a mixture of cement, perlite or vermiculite and peat moss. It might just work for climate control too. Hmmmmmm Off to buy some more cement. Lani

Yes, i'd wondered about that Lani. I've used it once to cover an old sink with reasonable success. I don't think i put perlite in it, and i substituted peat free compost for peat, as our peat bogs are disappearing, but it still held together fine. It looks quite good and it soon grew lichen and moss as i did the old trick of painting it with milk.

Please let me know how you get on, i just might have to give it a try myself :)