Local bat expert Chris Edelen of EchoBats, Inc. visited our stores and shared his expertise with us how bats beneficial occupants of your backyard, how to make your yard a welcoming environment for these misunderstood creatures, and dispel common misconceptions surrounding these furry, flying mammals!o  

o   His takeaway point was that as long as there were people gathered to learn more about how they could help nature and animals, there was hope

o   Began with dispelling myths about bats- not fly in people’s hair, not blind, no vampire bats here

o   History of EchoBats, Inc

o   History of bats

o   Eyesight- echolocation

o   1,000 different species of bats

o   Vampire bats- only 3 species, not like humans as much as cattle

o   Chiroptera- skeleton

o   Bats- insectivores

o   Biggest bats here- Hoary and Red Tail

o   Most common around here- Big brown bat or little brown bat

o   What do bats like to eat- fruits, insects, scorpions, nectar

o   Bat habitats- how to make friendlier, add water, add pollinating plants to attract bugs for bats to eat, trees in yard- bat houses facing morning sun, put out of way of predators, paint dark colors, he mentioned our bat houses and that they were good houses for bats

o   Roosting

o   Benefits of bats- insect control, farmers put up bat houses, guano- detoxify industrial waste

o   Bats like mosquitos, but not their favorite. They prefer moths or other bigger bugs

o   Echolocate

o   To encourage bats into your yard- put in pond or birdbath

o   Bats threatened- b/c habitat loss, disease fears- people killing bats, some people eating bats, wind turbines

o   They are making bat and bird friendly wind turbines

o   White nose syndrome- lots of people working on this now

o   They hang upside down because they do not have strong thigh muscles

o   Bats do not hibernate in bat houses, go South for winter

o   You want to have your bat house up by early spring

o   There is hope as long as people are doing something

o   The thing we could all do= be more vocal about it, dispel common myths and protect bats

-          After his talk, he brought out cage with two big brown bats- he brought them around in the cage

o   He put on his echolocate machine so that we could actually hear the clicks when they were echolocating

o   He had a clump of paperclips that he passed around that was the same weight of the big brown bat

o   He then put mealworms in with the bats- the bats started to eat which was when we heard the clicks