Mummies, Ghosts, and Goblins – oh my! This spooky season, we’re chatting about bats in Florida!
Thirteen species of Florida bats live here year-round and several more migrate in from the North or South at certain times of year. These amazing flying mammals, the only mammal with true flight, provide highly valuable pest management services for Floridians.
So, while you may see some spooky vampire bats this month on TV or in the movies, remember – our local bats eat insects … they don’t suck blood!
New Episode from Naturally Florida
Naturally Florida (a podcast about Florida’s natural areas and the wild things that live here) recently released a new episode about bats in Florida.
Check it out, below on Spotify, or on your favorite podcast platform.
If you enjoyed this episode about bats in Florida, please consider sharing it with a friend.
You can find all the podcast platforms where Naturally Florida is published, submit feedback, or request future topics at www.naturallyfloridapodcast.com
Learn more:
- (Webinar) Bats of Florida – https://youtu.be/gYhTjbBDqS8 (Taught by Shannon!)
- Read about high-quality bat houses in Florida – https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/UW/UW29000.pdf
- Connect with the Florida Bat Conservancy to learn more: https://www.floridabats.org/backyard-bat-houses.html
- Living with Bats (FWC) – https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/bats/
How You Can Help:
- Share what you learned with a friend! Bats are friends, not foe in Florida. Without them, we’d be dealing with so many more nighttime flying pest species.
- Consider leaving natural habitat for bats, like Spanish moss, dead palm fronds and their “boots” and, where possible, snags with cavities.
- Installing a bat house! Learn more about them, here: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/UW/UW29000.pdf and https://www.floridabats.org/backyard-bat-houses.html
Sources for this Episode:
Learn about other episodes from Naturally Florida by Clicking Here.
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