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| Large native area in the back of the Mount Pleasant Village Hall 2014 |
For several years I have been concerned about the plight of
the honey bees, hive collapse, and the disappearance of Monarch butterflies in
the Midwest. The media mentions these problems from time to time and I’ve done
quite a bit of research on these topics, to see how I can help. Now as a master
gardener volunteering at the Mount Pleasant Village Hall, I hope I can help the
pollinators a little bit. Native plants and other flowers which the butterflies
and hummingbirds like have been planted in the gardens and rain gardens around
the property. But what about the
bats? They are considered as pollinators too.
Yes they are creepy, and as I child I had two run-ins with
them, but I’ll spare you the details.
Bats are having problems too. My
neighbor has a bat house in her yard for years, it looks interesting but I
never really considered using one myself. Now I’ve rethought the problem, maybe we can
help them a little at Mount Pleasant.
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| Here is the Bat House, just purchased, before installation. 12" x 18" x 5". |
When shopping at the local garden center there was one for
sale under $50. So I proposed the
purchase and installation to Logan Martin who coordinates with me and the
Master Gardener program. He said
“yes,” and today the bat house was
installed! I have accomplished another
step in my goal to help pollinators.
So what’s the big deal?
Bat houses should be placed on buildings or poles a minimum of 15 feet
above the ground. How would I get a tall
enough ladder over there, to nail one up?
This is where Logan helped. He arranged for me to meet with Bob at the
Dept. of Public Works; we decided where it would go; and he arranged for a
truck with a cherry picker and an able person to hang it for us.
Ideally, a bat house should face the Southeast, it needs to
be up high, and have plenty of open space for the bats to approach the
box. They need to be in a sunny spot
where the temperatures inside reach 80-100 degrees!
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| The rear of the salt shed has an eastern face, the house will be installed on the SE corner |
This morning, May 28, I met Peter Shilling behind the Mount Pleasant
salt shed, we discussed a few things before he climbed into the cherry
picker. Then up he went with some tools
and the house, it was secured into place with long wood screws so that high
winds would not knock it down, the sun can warm up the box, and now it’s ready
for occupancy.
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| Peter Shilling installing the bat house, slightly above 15 feet from ground level |
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| Thank you Peter, for helping to install the box. The open bottom and side ventilation holes can be seen. |
To me, the location seems perfect. The box is placed up high
enough, in a spot near water, the little retention pond should offer a lovely
view as well as plenty of bugs. It is on the back side of the municipal salt
shed, so it is away from where most people would be walking to and from the
village buildings. Will some nice bat
family find our cozy hotel and move in?
From my research, I find it is possible that it could take a year or two until that happens. For now we wait. The red carpet is out.
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| Here is the view of the pond, which the bats will enjoy when living in our bat hotel! |
Helpful links for bat enthusiasts:
Kind of batty,
Ann Fahl
