Bats are a vital part of a beautiful natural world. Gardens help Austin’s bats by enriching the biodiversity of the constructed landscape and could extend up to rooftop greenspace in the heart of downtown.
Bat rescuers who transport to Austin Bat Refuge view rehabilitating bats in an organic garden with crops, flowering shrubs and trees, and water features.
We feel the lessons learned here would translate well to any garden, including green roofs in the urban core.
Left photo shows shrimp plants, Abutilon, Mexican honeysuckle, night-blooming jasmine, and Berlandier’s trumpets to the left of the crops and out of the way. They have since grown much larger with walls of color late in the year. Snap peas and boneset provide spring blooms, then tomatoes and peppers, before we cover up with black-eyed peas for the dog-days of summer, enriching the soil while preserving nutrients. Fall is when giant mistflower, night-blooming jasmine, and Mexican honeysuckle provide nectar for foraging moths.
When water needs changing, we dip it from the shallow troughs and pour it on the plants before refilling.
The Basics: Stay organic, Leave the Leaves, Provide Moth Host Plants & Nectar Plants with a year-round bloom cycle, Include a Water Feature with min. 7′ swoop zone, Leave Dead Trees & Leaf Clusters, Don’t Prune Precious Palms
Our rehabilitating bats seem to like watching us work the garden and not focusing all our attention on them, for a change. We get to show them that humans can be somewhat beneficial for the environment, and it feels like a team-building exercise, with everyone having their role.
If your yard has limited open areas to allow bats to swoop down to your water feature, then you can elevate a drinking trough on top of Texas-style tomato cages (made from 6″ driveway mesh). We top the cages with metal roofing scraps lined with recycled billboard material (our billboard says “Please Drink Responsibly!”). We keep it shallow and dump it every day during summer to water tomatoes growing beneath.
Water is life – Bring some magic into your garden by providing a consistent source during summer droughts.
Native Host Plants for Texas Moths
A Field Guide
By Lynne M. Weber and Jim Weber
“Although they are far less noticeable to us (than butterflies), moths are essential to many other species, including the plants they pollinate and the animals they nourish. In their caterpillar or larval form they provide a primary source of sustenance for birds, and as adults they feed everything from tiny bats to large mammals. Like butterflies, moths require native plant species they recognize in order to lay their eggs.”
Nectar Plant Bloom Cycles
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant Search
This wonderful source will allow you to choose native plants that bloom at different times of year. Native plants are of utmost importance for moths, as they evolved alongside them and they fit into well-established niches in our local food web.
Nectar Plants
Moth Garden in Full Bloom
Ever wonder about bats’ pest control services? The moth wings we see in the garden every morning are evidence that bats are protecting crops all night. They do backflips as they catch the moths (we call those manuevers “SnackroBatics”) and they fly off consuming the moth while shucking the wings.
Ask us about bee boxes and wax worm moths!
It’s not quite so helpful for honey producers, however. If bee colonies are not thriving, wax worm moths move in, just as in nature, but no one wants worms in their honey!
This bee box was brought to us by Mike Mendez, allowing the moths to hatch in our flight cage (instead of his bee yard) and providing hunting practice for rehabilitating bats. Once the moths have hatched, he will clean them out and return them to the site he manages out at Jester King Brewery, possibly with some newly-trained bat protectors. Thanks Mike!
Bat boxes can be a wonderful addition to a home garden. But a nearby standing dead tree could provide more stable thermal conditions. Also, about half the bat species in Austin don’t use bat boxes. Many roost in the leaves of trees in summer months (mimicking dead leaves) , dropping into deep piles of leaves on the ground to survive freezes.
See our Palm Tree page and this video for more information
A flight cage full of moths is key for rehabilitating bats practicing to be successful in the wild.
When moths hear echolocation of an approaching bat, millions of years of evolution kick in and they employ various defense mechanisms. In our aviary some fly erratically while others drop to the ground to evade the bats. Normally dropping works well as they hide in the grass, but in our fight cage they often drop into the bats’ drinking troughs. Each morning we go out to rescue the moths trapped by the surface tension of the water.
Morning moth lifeguard duties
Soon the brassicas will have served their purpose. We’ve eaten lots this winter, but as the insects begin to ravage them in the spring, they form a bitter latex in their leaves that makes them unpalatable to the larvae, but also to us! Soon we will replace them with a cover crop, to fix nitrogen in the soil and protect the soil from the hot summer sun.
And we’ll plant the winter garden again in the fall.
Cycle of life.
One of the Texas Spiny Lizards in our flight cage caught a Praying Mantis! We love the Mantis. We’ve seen them sizing up the bat pups as if thinking “I can take you”! Don’t think so!
Texas spiny lizard with preying mantis after a long, 10-second struggle.