We Host the Smallest Bats in the United States

Our seven year-old chemical-free food forest habitat became the release site for an adorable pair. Two young rescued brothers that had been cared for by Cindy, a Project Wildlife/SD Humane Society bat team volunteer needed a safe, comfortable, food-rich home. These two were Canyon bats, the western pipistrelle (Parastrellus hesperus) which are members of the smallest bat species in the United States. Their wingspan is at longest 8″, and their furry brown bodies are only about 6″ long.

These insectivores are crepuscular, meaning they feed around sunset and dawn rather than during the night. They are also not colonial bats, but are often on their own eating the mosquitoes, beetles, small moths and flies around your home. Females will usually bear twins, rare for a bat, in June, and live either by themselves or in a small maternity colony. Here in October, these two little bats were from an early summer birth and were more than ready to get out of the rescue flight cage and be off on their own. 

They were carefully allowed to crawl up into a bat house that had been hanging empty for five years. It was facing east so as to warm in the morning, and protected from the hot afternoon sun. The inside of the bat house had rough textured wood so the very tiny little feet had texture on which to grab. We made sure than there were no containers such as buckets or nursery cans facing up; many young bats fall in and can’t get out.

It was close to our chemical-free unlined pond for easy bug access at dining times, and which has enough open space for swooping across to get a mouthful of water. They may return to the bat house, or they may fly off to find a rocky nook or tree crevice that they like better, but we sure love them being released in our garden.

In permaculture, all the animals: bats, lizards, frogs, birds etc. are vital parts of the integrated pest management system as stated by pest control st paul, and also contribute to soil fertility with their droppings, sheds, feathers, leftover meals and bodies. When you spray for insects you kill the food supply for these animals which has effects throughout the food chain. Gardens should be alive with native wild animals and insects, and not reduced to only a scavenging ground for invasive rats and domestic cats.

At dusk or early in the morning keep an eye out for bat species in your yard. They are working to keep the insect population in control. 

Project Wildlife | San Diego Humane Society

San Diego County is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the United States with the greatest number of endangered species. People from all over the county bring wildlife patients to Project Wildlife for care and we are proud to be a resource that our neighbors can depend on in order to coexist peacefully with wild animals.