Monday, August 07, 2006

And the winner is...

You didn't know you were in a competition, did you? That would be the anti-bat competition I ran a few posts back. Who provided the best suggestion for getting rid of the bats?

My personal favorite has to be John Cowart's singing fish, for its sense of fun. But I just couldn't see it happening.

Alice's suggestion of playing rowdy music might make us a tad unpopular, but Diane's triple barrelled assault on unsuspecting blackbirds (firecrackers, shotguns and propane-powered noisemakers) would have to win some sort of prize, or at the very least a date with law enforcement officials.

Tanya has confirmed what we already knew (yes, the bats were evicted from the Botanical Gardens and they have now chosen our garden to visit), but her statement that they're CUTE?? This disqualifies you immediately! Ditto The Other Val who thinks they're cute (are we talking about the same animal here?), and anyway, lion poo might be a bit too difficult to collect, and would we need to throw it UP into the tree? That's pretty whiffy stuff!

Mountain Mama is starting to get close to the mark with her suggestion of a bird which might prey on bats, and Sue too mentions a bird solution. In fact, Melbourne Zoo uses fake owls in trees to keep away possums, and I might try that. And yes, you would have thought cats would go after bats, and although our male cat is a great mouser and even tackles the odd possum, I'm not sure he's interested in bats - he has better taste than that.

I appreciate those of you sympathised with our plight, and even those of you who can get their kicks thinking of me out in my garden at night in my pyjamas and clacking away with my "automatic applauder" (elegant turn of phrase, Jelly), but your amusement won't get rid of the bats.

There is one suggestion that really appeals, and that's Pea's idea to use light to get rid of them. You're right, bats don't like light, and shining a light up a tree is not as intrusive as rowdy music, firecrackers, propane-powered noisemakers, and even the gentle sounding singing fish. Right now we have our veranda light trained on the area the bats have been frequenting, and when the Man Who Cooks went out on clack patrol before, no bats flew off. Let's hope this is the solution we've been looking for. I'll keep you posted.

7 comments:

Carole Burant said...

Loved all the suggestions and hopefully one of them will work:-)I'm so glad I didn't say they were cute..ugh! lol

John Cowart said...

I'm honored that my singing fish suggestion made the playoffs. Thanks.

Your weekend trek with photos of the old huts sounds intriguing. But it is odd to think that it's cold where you are; I can't get it straight in my mind that while we have 98 degree heat here, it's cold in your part of the globe... You expand my universe.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I see that blogger ate my comment.
So here I go again:
I agree that Pea had the best suggestion that wouldn't bother anyone but the bats, but I still may use John Cohart's singing fish in my cherry trees. I'd love to see what those black birds do when they hear the fish start singing. What a sight!

Hope Pea's suggestion continues to work for you.

Susie said...

Val,
I'm back again to try to leave a comment, mine earlier bounced back to me marked "spam" :-)
(as did my comment on Merle's)
My husband and I enjoyed reading this post and are anxious to hear how Pea's suggestion works.

Granny said...

Years ago, when I was a kid in upstate New York, our neighbor's cat (who spent much of his time at our house) brought us a dead bat as a gift. I don't know how he managed to catch it.

We thanked him and disposed of it as quickly as possible.

Tanya said...

Oh, but bats ARE cute. I'm talking the little fruit bats. You know, flying foxes. They are adorable. Maybe not when they're screeching all the time and crapping everywhere (as they do here at mango time), but they have such cute little faces....

Kerri said...

I wonder if Tanya has seen those huge bats in the Sydney Botanical Gardens. They're definitely NOT cute! And the mess they make is awful!
Jelly always has a witty remark. That girl has a way with words :) She had me laughing, as usual.
Good follow up Val!
I see I'm not the only one who had some of my comments on your post bounce back. Hasn't happened lately though.