Some people looking for a natural way to control mosquitoes that may carry West Nile virus are turning to a nocturnal ally -- bats.
“They’re wonderful," said Nikki Rosen, of North Haven Gardens in North Dallas. “They’re great to have. We think they’re cute, and they do eat a lot of bad bugs that are out there."
Bats can eat their own weight in mosquitoes and other flying insects each night and to attract them, some North Texans are putting up bat houses to give them a place to live in their backyards.
“It does help," said Scott Blythe, who shares three bat houses with his neighbor near White Rock Lake. "It's definitely beneficial, and you do notice it, and you’ll see them flying all around you and through the trees and, it does seem to be, all of a sudden, there’s no insects."
“You see them drop out of the bottom of the bat house in the evening, and they’re going out to eat," said his neighbor, Ralph Prutii. “Sixty to 100 bats dropping out of the bottom got to be eating mosquitoes someplace."
Bat houses can be found for about $60 at garden centers, bird food centers and home improvement stores.
