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Old 08-24-2007, 12:07 PM
 
10 posts, read 33,704 times
Reputation: 13

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When my children and I were riding our bikes at dusk last night (about 8:15), my daughter said, "what's that bird with the pointy wings? It looks like a bat!" And by the time I spotted it, there were two! Then one started flying really low and freaked us all out! Ok, I'm from Los Angeles...just moved here in June...and the only bats I've seen have been on Scooby Doo. My kids freaked out and couldn't get up the driveway to the garage quick enough. I had to play it off, and said "bats are just birds", so they wouldnt think was freaked out as well. But yes, seeing real LIVE bats freaked me WAY out! Are bats something that I need to get used to seeing? Someone said Atlanta has an official "bat season". Is this true? I know bats carry diseases... but what can I expect when it comes to bats here in the city? Tell me this isn't normal and they were just passing through on their way to transalvania. Is Lawrenceville Transalvania? Say it aint so!
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Old 08-24-2007, 12:12 PM
 
582 posts, read 2,008,966 times
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I've never seen a bat in Lawrenceville and I lived there for years. You might want to see if there are any pest control places that have experience with them that can tell you if there is somewhere near your home that they are usually found. It might just be that there is a group (or whatever you call a bunch of bats) living in a park near there or something.
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Old 08-24-2007, 12:49 PM
 
3,493 posts, read 7,928,809 times
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Bats are pretty common in Georgia. They are often spotted at dusk as they come out to catch flying insects. Bats eat tons of mosquitos - some people even put up bat houses on their property to encourage them! Tell your kids they are safe little flying mammals. Better yet, go to your local library check out a book about bats so you can all learn more about these bug-eaters!
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Old 08-24-2007, 01:16 PM
 
Location: Middle Tennessee
196 posts, read 732,132 times
Reputation: 102
Yes, they are common. I see them a lot. They will not harm you as long as they are flying around. Have a little fun with them. Throw a rock up in the air and watch the bats radar hone in on it thinking it is a bug making noise...Teach the kids to love nature, not to be afraid of it!!
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Old 08-24-2007, 01:20 PM
JPD
 
12,138 posts, read 18,286,784 times
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Bats are no more of a threat than squirrells.

At dusk bats practically fill the skies, and thank goodness. They eliminate a zillion times more mosquitos than any bug zapper. Exterminating bats would be a horrible idea.
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Old 08-24-2007, 08:52 PM
 
Location: West Cobb County, GA (Atlanta metro)
9,191 posts, read 33,870,568 times
Reputation: 5310
Quote:
Originally Posted by pinetreelover View Post
Bats are pretty common in Georgia. They are often spotted at dusk as they come out to catch flying insects. Bats eat tons of mosquitos - some people even put up bat houses on their property to encourage them! Tell your kids they are safe little flying mammals. Better yet, go to your local library check out a book about bats so you can all learn more about these bug-eaters!
Yep - you can buy "bat boxes" at some bird house supply stores. They're flat-ish bird housy looking things and you secure them up in trees near a water source. Within a year or so if you're lucky (!) you'll get bats. They eat lots of mosquitos.

Rabies-to-human cases are VERY rare in bats. Just teach the kids not to try to handle one, and never pick one up if they see one out during the day, as it could be ill (healthy bats are only out at night).
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Old 08-26-2007, 06:46 AM
 
Location: Buford, GA
138 posts, read 622,871 times
Reputation: 28
We LOVE bats. Bats are one of the most beneficial animals you can have around. We have quite a few of them around here in Buford/Lawrenceville. My wife and I almost put up some bat habitats so more of them would come around.

They are completely harmless and they LOVE eating mosquitoes. Wonderful animals.

Californians crack me up.
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Old 08-27-2007, 06:25 AM
 
167 posts, read 769,152 times
Reputation: 60
I lived in Lawrenceville for seven years and never saw one bat. Don't think they are harmful though.
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Old 08-27-2007, 06:27 AM
JPD
 
12,138 posts, read 18,286,784 times
Reputation: 8004
Quote:
Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127 View Post
Yep - you can buy "bat boxes" at some bird house supply stores. They're flat-ish bird housy looking things and you secure them up in trees near a water source. Within a year or so if you're lucky (!) you'll get bats. They eat lots of mosquitos.
You dont need to hunt down a bird specialty store to find a bat box. You can usually find them at Ace Hardware, maybe even at Target or Home Depot.

The biggest mistake people make with bat boxes is not hanging them high enough.
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Old 08-27-2007, 11:23 PM
fil
 
364 posts, read 1,626,840 times
Reputation: 68
This is a funny thread to me.

After moving to Austin, I found out that people here marvelled over the 1.5 MILLION (Yes, MILLION) Mexican free-tailed bats that reside here.
Congress Avenue Bats in Austin Texas - Bats at the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin (http://austin.about.com/cs/bats/p/bats.htm - broken link)

We even went out and watched them.

They're harmless critters. In fact, with all of the mosquitoes and insects here, they make living here more tolerable.
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