Utahns go batty over bat houses

SALT LAKE CITY — Once maligned, feared and widely misunderstood, bats have emerged from their shadowy reputation of years past to be regarded by many as simply "cool."

"The general prevailing attitude, not just in America but worldwide, radically changed starting in the late 1980s," said George Oliver, a state wildlife zoologist. "Prior to that time, people regarded bats as nasty little pests, if not worse than that, as malicious animals associated with notions of evil … that they're just lurking out there waiting to sink their filthy little fangs into your neck and give you rabies."

Oliver credits the change in attitude to an organization headquartered in Austin, Texas, called Bat Conservation International.

With the founding guidance of bat expert Merlin Tuttle, the group mounted an exhaustive public education campaign aimed at shedding light on this mammal and its contributions to ecosystems.

"In order to conserve bats, you have to reduce their persecution," Oliver said. "Bats are largely beneficial; very few negative things can be said about bats."

To that end, the construction and installation of bat houses at private residences have become increasingly popular, especially as the fear of catching mosquito-transmitted West Nile virus has escalated.

Oliver said he receives many calls and e-mail inquiries from Utahns who are anxious to have bats set up shop on their property.

"Bats have become something cool and interesting instead of something to be feared and loathed and destroyed," Oliver said.

Unfortunately, Oliver said the public has adopted the "if you build it, they will come" mentality, mistakenly believing that getting bats to move in is a simple undertaking. "They get a bee in their bonnet and decide they want a bat house."

Oliver said fully constructed bat houses marketed commercially at malls and online are a waste of time, and the best bat house is one that is homemade and follows a good design.

"The success rate is really low, maybe 20 percent, but the trick is to be patient," he said.

Most of Utah's bats, too, don't dine on mosquitoes, but prefer moths instead.

"Contrary to what a lot of people have heard, it is not an effective way to control our mosquito population," Oliver said. "There are two main reasons you ought to put up a bat house: It's the right thing to do from a conservation perspective, and the second thing, well, it's cool."

Oliver heartily encourages Utahns to put up all the bat boxes they can, despite the challenges.

"It's really tricky. You have to have the right design, have it in the right place, and you need patience and perseverance. You may get them for the first season, but you probably won't. People are tempted just to throw it away, but they need to experiment. Next year, move it to a different location. If it was east, try west. If it was west, try east. I would experiment with it for as long as I was alive — keep moving it around for decades."

Information on bats and bat houses can be found at Bat Conservation International's website, www.batcon.org.

e-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com