Bats.

Anyone know anything about raising bats?

I'm interested both in how one would go about raising them for guano and for bat-box inhabitants that could be sold to towns for mosquito control.

Would something like this be possible?
William

Bats are wild animals, and highly protected by the law. There is no legal or practical way to raise bats.

Here's a typical data point regarding legality of having or raising bats:

https://batworld.org/pet-bats/



You could become a trained/licensed wildlife rehabilitator, which would sort of give you a back door to have/raise a bat, or a few bats.



Alternatively, if you get to know your local bats, and figure out what they want/like for housing, location, etc etc, you might get very good at attracting and encouraging the local bat population.

If you got good at it, that could be a service that you charge for...

You could be the Batman...

Hmm.

I'm at a loss - where does bat guano in big buckets sold for 23 dollars come from?

Are they scraping it out of caves in the wild?

I sent an email to a producer to see if I could learn more of how it's produced. Nothing yet.
William

wikipedia:
"Bat guano is usually mined in caves and this mining is associated with a corresponding loss of troglobytic biota and diminishing of biodiversity.
Research in Jamaica has shown that mining for bat guano is directly related to the loss of bat species, associated invertebrates and fungi, and is the greatest threat to bat caves on the island."

Gosh. this is looking worse and worse. Poor bats.
W

Hi William,

In short...producing "bat based" organic fertilizer or keeping Chiroptera in captivity is way outside the scope of any form of DIY project...Sorry

I have keeped bats, breed them, designed enclosures for them and was a state licensed supervisor in Wildlife Control and rehabilitation. Bats in general are wonderful and charming little animals that are not for the average enthusiast. Besides "rabies" (which I am inoculated for and have been many times over the decades) they present with challenging husbandry issues. Now we have the added burden of "white nose" fungal infection decimating populations, so even more attention is being placed on them...who has them...and who may be spreading the pathogens. "Novice" cave visitors are now accounted with spreading some of this disease through there activities without supervision and good guidance in conduct around these sensitive biomes...

The idea was good, but just isn't practical and can lead to more harm than good. Even bat boxes need to be strategically placed, and well built. Most are not and do not serve well the function they are intened for because of poor design and placement....

Regards,

j