Reply #29: That's very sad. I love bats.

[InvisibleTouch]

I was active with Bat Conservation International years ago, trying to promote a positive view of bats and educate people on how useful they are, how many mosquitoes they can eat per night, their social lives, etc. They have a very low reproductive rate (like sharks), which makes them especially vulnerable to disturbance. They're actually more closely related to primates than to rodents, which many people mistake them for ("flying rodents" they are not).

I put up a bat house in the yard, but never had anyone move in. :( Maybe it wasn't close enough to a source of water.

BCI web site is here, btw, for anyone who wants more info:

http://www.batcon.org

They sell various bat houses, and they used to sell construction plans for do-it-yourselfers, but I can't currently find those on the site. I'm sure the plans are out there, though.