Celebrating the Bats of Wrightwood

[Wrightwood]

[Naughty_Pines]

W'Wood,
Blind as a human, that's cool.
I had atleast one bat "living" in my carport and messing all over my car and stuff. I purchased a plastic owl thingy and set it on top of my deck, poof, no more bat mess around.
Mountain Hardware has plastic replicas of owls which work well.
I learned about this in Wyoming.
Naughty Pines

[zelicaon]

Does anyone know when the bats of Wrightwood go into hibernation in the fall and come out again in the spring? Or where they might go? Caves? No, no caves here, right? Old buildings?

And, yeah, I mean, the little tiny furry flying animals.

[WWRatOut]

More closely related to primates than to rodents!?  That is a real ear pricker-upper!  Blind as a human.... Good One.  Thanks for all the info....!

[inout]

Good article naturalist.... Thanks

A good place to spot bats in Wrightwood:

Under the front or rear eaves of a typical Wrightwood "A" Frame house. The bats can't resist them every afternoon and night. (Watch at sundown)

You'll know their present when you find droppings and bug debris.

To keep them from flying under those eves, criss-cross clear mono fishing line so the line is about 4" apart.
It will last for years if it's not in direct sunlight.

The bats will not fly under the eaves when the fishing line is present.

[naturalist]

That's a great tip!

Bats around here are already in hibernation or have migrated to warmer climes, so Halloween bats are all of the fake rubber variety.  As to when they do it, I am pretty sure I saw bats only a couple of weeks ago, but didn't get a good look.  I will have to look it up or ask my local friendly bat biologist--sometime AFTER Halloween when she recovers from all the programs she does this time of year!

Thanks for getting my bat story posted before Halloween--that's when bat interest is at its peak, unfortunately bat activity is non-existent now, but in the spring they will be back, especially near water like the at the country club.

If anyone is interested in learning more about bats, there are many great websites, but the main one is Bat Conservation International, at  http://www.batcon.org/
They have lots of links, including a link to a key to California bats:  http://arnica.csustan.edu/esrpp/batkey.htm
And the California Bat Conservation Fund, which is based in the Bay Area, is http://www.californiabats.com .  Another good site with fun bat facts is on the bats of San Diego webisite:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cmsquare/batfacts.html

Go bats!

[Mountain_Witch]

Bats are people too.
I found that the best way to attract them around your yard (that is if you want to attract them) is to make sure you have a water source such as a simple bird bath placed in an open area. Or like me and the cheap person I am, I just use a planter trays for bird baths. I have a large one I keep somewhat in the middle of my yard. During the summer nights certain bugs are attracted to the water thus attracting the bats. I thinks bats are too cute to deserve the bad rap that most people give them. Hurray for the bats and what a wonderful article. Thank you so much naturalist for helping others to understand what bats are all about.

[Lola]

Twinkle, twinkle little bat  [smiley=blackbat.gif]
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.

[Mountain_Witch]

Ahh...Lola sweetie, you certainly know how to make my day. Like a hot cup of tea on a cold winters nite you realy warm a smile on my face.  

[clint]

So where do the sayings: He's Batty or Battie, and She's an old bat originate?

[naturalist]

I think calling someone batty probably comes from the term "bats in the belfry"--bats would like hanging out in a bell tower, except when the bell rang, I suppose.  That's a good question to look up in one of those books on where sayings come from.

[Wrightwood]

With the new Infrared Illuminator and Night Vision Camera we will be setting up a Bat LiveCam when warm weather arrives.

[naturalist]

I think you're the biggest geek I know!  I LOVE that about you!!!  

[Mountain_Witch]

Anyone that takes pictures of ringtail poo is one big geek and a friend of mine.

That night vision will be awesome to watch bats with, it will be interesting and I hope we see more action with bats than we have with that sneaky little ringtail.

[artology]

Count me into geekdom--I love this stuff!

[Mountain_Witch]

Well, the bats are out and about. I saw some flying around the other evening and can't wait to see if they take to WW bat house as it would be really fun to watch them on the camera.

[Hillbillies]

The bat population seems to be larger this year than most.

[ChattyCathy]

One was in my bedroom at the top of the ceiling a few days ago (as mentioned on another thread).  We gently captured it and released it outside.  This little guy was very cute until he showed us his teeth!

[makgirl]

This guy was in our carport about 3 years ago.  I posted it before, but I guess no one saw it.

[Nolena]

Nice picture. 
I saw it before; just never commented on it.
I had a bat trapped in my house a few years back. I got it out by removing the screen from a window.
They're little. They sneak in and you don't see them until they try to leave.