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<h1>How to Save Bats in Your Own Backyard</h1>
 <div>  <div>  <div>  <h3>1. Build a Home</h3>  <p>Bats like warm, dry, tight spaces. A bat house provides them with an alternative to your attic, and reduces the chance of human/bat contact. Advice on what to look for in a ready-made bat house, along with plans for building one yourself, are available from Bat Conservation International at batcon.org.&nbsp;</p>  <p>That&rsquo;s where you&rsquo;ll also find a state-by-state guide to the needs of different bat species. For example, the hollows of dead trees provide a roosting site for bats in many areas, but the Western Yellow Bat roosts in living palm trees. So bat lovers in Southern California leave palms untrimmed, particularly during nesting season, when bat babies may be clinging to the fronds.</p>  <h3>2. Watch Your Water</h3>  <p>Bats need drinking water and are attracted by ponds and birdbaths. They may miscalculate a swooping approach and become stranded in steep-sided swimming pools. Provide an escape route by making or buying a small floating ramp like the &ldquo;Frog Log&rdquo;: froglog.us</p>  <h3 align="center"><figure><img alt="Bat Feeder" src="/wp-content/uploads/imports/b0dc32af086072c50237b4210a8ac98f.jpg"></figure></h3>  <h3>3. Plant a Night Garden</h3>  <p>Bats are the primary predator of agricultural pests&mdash;one bat eats 2,000 to 6,000 insects each night. Plant afternoon-blooming or night-scented flowers to attract moths, and the voracious bats that follow will help control your local mosquito population. Evening primrose, phlox, night-flowering catchfly, fleabane, goldenrod, four o&rsquo;clock,&nbsp; salvia, nicotiana, and moonflower are all good choices.&nbsp;</p>  <h3>4. Adopt a Bat</h3>  <p>This is the year of the bat, according to a United Nations declaration that recognizes their importance to the world&rsquo;s ecosystems. You can support research, conservation, and protective legislation by adopting a bat through Bat Conservation International. Someone you know might love the (symbolic) gift of a bat.&nbsp;</p>  </div>  <!-- <img src="ab717ce9326e89401a2bb1d8c0d5db3c" alt="Upside Down Bat"> --></div>  <!-- <p align="left">Heidi Bruce and Shannan Stoll wrote this article for<strong><a title="Making It Home" href="resolveuid/abc9d016662b2f544745f8f1886b27b7">&#160;Making it Home</a></strong>, the Summer 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Heidi and Shannan are interns at YES!</p> --></div>  <!-- <a title="Film Review: Queen of the Sun" href="resolveuid/0fd027dd0d86e303f62a83496d145bdb">Film Review: Queen of the Sun</a> --><!-- <a title="The Emotional Lives of Animals" href="resolveuid/87098ff0dca16f463255fe39eed53306">The Emotional Lives of Animals</a> --><!-- <a title="6 Tips for Green Pet Care" href="resolveuid/d5d17eb4e4cc0556e178f6cb26eb3690">6 Tips for Green Pet Care</a> -->
<p>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org">Yes! Magazine</a> at <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/home/2012/07/17/how-to-save-backyard-bats">https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/home/2012/07/17/how-to-save-backyard-bats</a>.</p><link href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/home/2012/07/17/how-to-save-backyard-bats" rel="canonical"/><p>Yes! Magazine is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of ... . Learn more at <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org">Yes! Magazine</a></p><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.yesmagazine.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=16081&ga4=G-74QJNNY44Z" style="width:1px;height:1px;">

How to Save Bats in Your Own Backyard
       1. Build a Home  Bats like warm, dry, tight spaces. A bat house provides them with an alternative to your attic, and reduces the chance of human/bat contact. Advice on what to look for in a ready-made bat house, along with plans for building one yourself, are available from Bat Conservation International at batcon.org.   That’s where you’ll also find a state-by-state guide to the needs of different bat species. For example, the hollows of dead trees provide a roosting site for bats in many areas, but the Western Yellow Bat roosts in living palm trees. So bat lovers in Southern California leave palms untrimmed, particularly during nesting season, when bat babies may be clinging to the fronds.  2. Watch Your Water  Bats need drinking water and are attracted by ponds and birdbaths. They may miscalculate a swooping approach and become stranded in steep-sided swimming pools. Provide an escape route by making or buying a small floating ramp like the “Frog Log”: froglog.us    3. Plant a Night Garden  Bats are the primary predator of agricultural pests—one bat eats 2,000 to 6,000 insects each night. Plant afternoon-blooming or night-scented flowers to attract moths, and the voracious bats that follow will help control your local mosquito population. Evening primrose, phlox, night-flowering catchfly, fleabane, goldenrod, four o’clock,  salvia, nicotiana, and moonflower are all good choices.   4. Adopt a Bat  This is the year of the bat, according to a United Nations declaration that recognizes their importance to the world’s ecosystems. You can support research, conservation, and protective legislation by adopting a bat through Bat Conservation International. Someone you know might love the (symbolic) gift of a bat.

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