Oscar De La Huerte answered
To encourage bats to visit your garden, I'd recommend considering the two things that bats love:
How to get bats to come into your garden
Before you start turning your back garden into the ultimate bat hang out, I'd suggest you do some research into the species of bat in your local area.
Finding out exactly what type of bat you're dealing with will help you figure out how best to attract them.
Making a home for bats
Some species of bats love living in old buildings, so if you live in an old stone built or timber built property, they may be with you already. Old hollow trees are also popular with bats.
Any dark, undisturbed vantage point works well.
Along these lines, you could put bat boxes up as summer roosting sites to mimic the type of natural space bats love. These can be attached to suitable trees or even a house or outbuildings. They can be bought from specialist organisations and advice is available on how to build your own.
- A safe place to shelter
- Some tasty grub
How to get bats to come into your garden
Before you start turning your back garden into the ultimate bat hang out, I'd suggest you do some research into the species of bat in your local area.
Finding out exactly what type of bat you're dealing with will help you figure out how best to attract them.
Making a home for bats
Some species of bats love living in old buildings, so if you live in an old stone built or timber built property, they may be with you already. Old hollow trees are also popular with bats.
Any dark, undisturbed vantage point works well.
Along these lines, you could put bat boxes up as summer roosting sites to mimic the type of natural space bats love. These can be attached to suitable trees or even a house or outbuildings. They can be bought from specialist organisations and advice is available on how to build your own.
Bats are very social so a cluster of bat boxes is advisable.
Luring bats with food
Luring bats with food
All bats in the UK eat insects. Consider a garden pond to attract insects at night when bats are out hunting for food and cut down on the use of chemicals in the garden. Anything that kills insects is bad for bat populations. A garden light will also attract insects (and therefore bats), although you may want to consider energy conservation and the bill payer before you plug in!
