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Halloween is a fun time of year to spook ourselves and others.  Decorations go up around town with everything from ghosts and witches to bats.  Bats have long been associated with Halloween and all things scary, but in reality, bats are gentle, intelligent creatures that do a lot of good for the world.  So don't give bats a bad rap - find out more about these misunderstood mammals.

Bats are an environmentally safe, non-chemical method of pest control.  They eat between 50 and 100% of their body weight in insects each day!  Mosquitos are a favorite insect of bats (and that's good for us humans), but they also eat a large variety of other insects.  Some of the insects that bats eat could cause damage to crops, so bats are freinds of farmers too.

Here's another reason farmers should love bats:  in addition to eating things that bug us, bats are also important pollinators.  They help to pollinate plants like mangoes, avocados, cashews, bananas and agave, which is used in the production of tequila (I knew I liked bats).

You hear a lot about bats and rabies, but actually less than ½ of 1% of bats have rabies.  The best policy to avoid rabies is to never touch a wild animal (bats included).  If you run across a bat, even one that appears to be dead, don't touch it.  If you are indoors, open a window or door and step away.  Whether indoors or out, if you find a bat that you don't want to stay where it is, call your local Humane Society for help.

Put a bat house in your backyard.

• You can buy one ready made on-line.  They range in price from less than $20 (www.BuyHardwareSupplies.com) to $85 for one made from recycled cedar (www.artfire.com).
• You can also make your own bat box.  Check out the National Wildlife Federation's website (www.nwf.org) for complete directions on how to make your own.  EParks.org also has over 20 free plans available, so just pick one and get building.

One bat can eat as many as 1,000 insects per hour.

My kids are planning to make a bat box.  We are researching the perfect site to hang it.  Ideally, it needs to be sheltered from the wind, near a permanent water source, receive morning sun and shade during the afternoon.