These flying mammals should be a welcomed asset to your yard. Bats consume impressive quantities of insects every night, especially mosquitoes, beetles, and moths. You can encourage bats to roost in your yard by installing a bat house. An organization called Bat Conservation International, Inc. (BCI) is an excellent resource for information about bats and features The Bat House Builders Handbook. Find BCI on the web at http://www.batcon.org/. Many bat houses are never occupied because of poor design or installation in a manner that does not meet the needs of bats.

See FWP's Living With Bats brochure for information about excluding bats from buildings.