Plastic bat tastic….
Micro bats in Shenton Park, Western Australia have taken to the PVC type bat homes.
Meet and greet the bats….
Well, come on down!!!
At Bibra Lake on Saturday 21st August we’re going to introduce you to one of our most gorgeous Australian creatures, the Gould’s Wattled bat. Forget about trying to see one flying high in the sky. They only come out at night when we’re asleep in our nice warm beds. Here’s a chance to see one live and real close. Learn all about micro bats and what interesting habits they have. After the presentation join us for a walk through the “Bat Forest”, where during the day they hide in the boxes that a local community group built. We’ve developed a special “Bat-cam” which is a infrared camera on the end of a telescopic pole. By gently pushing the camera through a hole at the bottom of the boxes we can spy on and count how many bats are there.
One lucky person will win a magnificent custom built bat box to take home with them.
Guaranteed to be a entertaining and informative session.
Click on the blue tear drop icon to get directions
View Bibra Lake in a larger map
Bats tee off.
Bats were found in a bird nest box on the local golf course.
Bats hit the headlines.
The local bats at Bibra Lake have become famous. The local newspaper “The West Australian”, asked if they could include a article in their paper. Of course I jumped at the chance. Here is an opportunity to help educate the public on micro bats in general and the explain the benefits of having them around. The box I choose to remove a bat for the photograph was completely full of bats. They were all huddled up together keeping cuddly and warm. I bet this little bat didn’t think he was going to be the ambassador for his species. In the coming Summer I will be creating some more Youtube videos of them moving around in the box.
Cheap nest boxes
Is this what you really want???
Yes, this what happens when you choose a box that has not been feral honey bee resistant. Ours have….
We don’t believe in building boxes that the feral honey bees like. They have their own white boxes out in the fields. The reality is they enter a common nest box, sting the baby animals then take over. Of course this happens in spring, right when the native animals need their homes the most.
When you buy a cheap box ask what the manufacturers have done to stop the bees from taking over…
Woody Pt Night Stalk
Well, what a beautiful night for roaming around the bush in the Woodman Pt Nature Reserve. We all rendesvoused at the isolation hospital in the old Quarantine Station, which is now a recreation camp for kids. This place is teeming with history. Check out this link. Woodman Point Quarantine Station.
The whole area dates back to the 1800′s so you can imagine what would have been around at that time. The reserve itself is made up of old Tuart trees, which have huge hollows and consequently house a large number of nocturnal life. The lower vegetation is wattle and other thick scrub. We wandered along the track and found the crematorium which is really spooky. You could close your eyes and almost smell the disease ridden bodies burning away. It took four hours to completely incinerate a body. At that moment we arrived there a flock of pelicans flying in a “V” formation flew overhead. A sign of forbidding events ahead……
Continuing moving silently along the sandy tracks we spotted a family of three Kookaburras sitting on a old gum tree. These critters reflect no eyeshine so the only way to see them is to look for their underbellies which is a whitish colour. They cast a bleary eye upon us then went back to sleep.
Wolf spiders were spotted on the ground with the torches. Their eyes sparkling like diamonds, mesmerising us, like luring their prey closer and closer. The kids were ecstatic to discover how small they are and how easy they were to find after a little bit of instruction from the guide.
Turning a corner we heard the call of a male Southern Boobook owl. He was calling out for his mate which came to him shortly after. She started some low drumming noises indicating their prey was moving about. As a group travelling along the path we tend to scare little critters from their hiding places. The owls started following us, calling out in their haunting voices.. We were flushing out the game for them. They were hunting the rats which scrounge around in the forgotten ammunition dumps that are scattered in the area.
Walking down into a low lying section of a track our noses detected the musk smell of a fox. It wees around the bush marking its territory. Another animal on patrol…
A little further on some animal gave a blood curling scream which caused the hairs on our skin to rise. What on earth was that?, someone asked. It seemed to be moving around us like something watching and waiting……Suddenly, it flew over us, silent and deadly, making no sound with its wings. It was a Barn owl.
With its sharp beak and immensely strong talons I’d hate to be a rat wandering around.
The guide carried a bat detector which burst into a frenzy emitting a “Tick Tick” sound. Flying really fast in the sky was a micro bat. Hunting with its powerful echolocation these flying mammals consume 1,000 mosquitoes per bat per night.
On the return trip back to the start more Wolf spiders were found. By this time the kids were really getting their eyes in and picking up the eyeshine. Arriving back to base we enjoyed a cuppa dished up by the Nearer to Nature volunteers Jess & Paula.
All in all a most rewarding night hunting the hunters.
Bats speak up to avoid a jam.
Bats can locate their prey using echolocation without confusion even when immersed in a thick swarm of many hundreds of other bats, and now researchers have discovered the secret. The winged mammals raise the pitch of their echolocation calls to make them stand out against “jamming signals”.
The finding helps explain how hundreds of bats can hunt in the same area without getting confused by others’ calls, and could perhaps inform the design of better radar systems for aircraft.
Bats use the echo pattern of their voice to locate insects and other prey – so confusing echoes can cost them dinner. A new study reveals that the flying mammals use a wide range of pitches and simply raise the pitch of their echolocation calls to stand out against other bat calls at the same frequency.
Erin Gillam of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, US, and colleagues conducted experiments on Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) in the wild.
Read more from New Scientist…..
Do we have bats???
A common question asked probably right throughout the world is “Do we have bats here??”. This is asked by many newcomers who have never had any exposure to any bats. Many people seem to know about the flying foxes or fruit bats due to their exposure in the media but not so much with the microbats. This video below talks about the bats in the local suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. This can also apply to any suburb.
It answers the question. “Do we have bats in our suburb”????
Well worth watching.
DIY Bat Box
So you’re keen to build your own bat box….
Here are some dimensions that have worked under Australian conditions. The idea is to build a insulated box and 40mm Jarrah (Australian hardwood) is superb to use as the main material. It can be difficult to source and if you can’t find it then settle for 18mm plantation plywood.
So Tiny, so precious,so beautiful….the Pygmy Possums
At Natsync.com.au we are excited about introducing a new product in our range of animal habitats. This is not a nest box but a nest tube for the Pygmy Possums. Typical of our high standards it has a life expectancy of 45 years. It consists of two PVC tubes, one sliding into the other. The outer tube is coated with a special render that makes the it blend in beautifully with the bushes. Stainless steel components are used throughout ensuring many years of life. It also has special anti-cat barrier built into its design. This means the naughty feral pussy cats cannot put their paws through and grab the possums.
These possums is so small they weigh about 8-19 grams. It’s smaller than a house mouse. A appealingly attractive marsupial, you would never know it’s there until a possum tube is opened and there they are cuddled up on a bed of Eucalyptus leaves. Unlike other animals if they are in the neighbourhood they will find their new home quite quickly and take up residence.
They can be installed at chest height. No need to put them really high up into the trees.
We can ship them anywhere in Australia.
Special Introductory Price $85.00 only (GST inclusive)
Postage extra.
Please don't hurt me..
What's inside...they're sleeping.
