By JONATHON HOWARD
BORDER region microbats are currently in a feeding frenzy as they fatten up on insects to see them through the coming winter.
If they have taken up residence in your roof or walls, autumn is a good time for a gentle bat eviction before they bunk down for their winter hibernation.
The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife’s Backyard Buddies program is all about getting more enjoyment from native animals in your backyard.
It provides tips and advice on how to make your backyard a haven for our insect-controlling microbat mates.
“Microbats are much more common than you may think,” Foundation CEO Susanna Bradshaw said.
“Right now, bats are eating as much as 40 per cent of their own body weight in a single night or several hundred insects per hour.
“Many of our microbat species are hollow-dependent which means they live during the daylight hours inside the hollows of trees or branches,” she said.
“Competition from birds, possums and gliders, along with the clearing of many old trees, means that microbats may find the roof or walls of your home the perfect roosting place.”
The smallest microbat weighs only three grams – about the same as a single-serve sugar sachet or a single A4 sheet of paper.
If these tiny bats cannot find a suitable hollow, they can slip into gaps as small as 5mm and snuggle down in your roof and walls. This is why artificial roost sites are an important alternative.
