Do bats and bat houses help in controlling the mosquito population?
Not like you’d think. Studies have found that, contrary to popular belief, mosquitoes make up less than 0.7% of a bat’s diet. Turns out bats find locating and eating bigger insects like beetles and moths more satisfying than puny mosquitoes. And well, as far as bat houses, since we’ve discovered that bats don’t actually eat a lot of mosquitoes, but we do know they are highly susceptible to contracting rabies, it’s probably not a great idea to provide them a cute little home in your back yard. Bats are good; they just don’t need to live directly in your yard.
