Same Bat time, Same bat channel

In our neighbors yard is a large, well a huge ciricote (ziricote) tree.  I love this tree, one of the reasons is because it is not in my yard and because it set slightly away I get to enjoy all its mysteries.

 Jim Conrad has a pretty good post if you are interested in the tree itself, click here!

This tree is home and roost to LOTS of birds and iguanas.  It has a huge canopy and at various times during the year is covered in beautiful bright orange flowers.  Hummingbirds and Orioles love this tree for its flowers.

The leaves are tough, leathery, with a slightly raspy surface, which would have all sorts of practical purposes should I need something sanded, or cleaned.  The tree sheds a bit, not much, so is green and lush year round.

This tree also produces a golfball+ size fruit.  This fruit is a favorite treat of the iguanas and the bats.
Sometimes it is cultivated for its fruit, which can be eaten raw or made into a conserve. In fact I have been known to pick up a ziricote, brush the dirt off and take a few bites.  I am not overly impressed, they aren't terribly flavorful, and when made into a conserve are mostly just sweet.  To each his/her own!

Interestingly, In the past, the bark and wood were used to make a cough syrup.

In addition, the wood of the ziricote is a gorgeous dark brown and black veined wood, which is also hard, heavy, and strong.  Ziricote wood is typically used for fine furniture, cabinetry, doors, paneling, flooring and face veneer on plywood.

We are experiencing a rather new interest and love of this tree.  Bats!  Yes, Bats.  We have bats, lots of bats, both fruit bats and insectivore bats.   The fruit bats have recently been consuming vast quantities of ziricote fruit and using the royal palms in the garden as their roosts while eating. 

As part of nightly routine is 'Last Call', which is the signal for the dogs it is time for one last turn around the garden and potty break before bed.  Now we also take the flashlights and bat gaze.  We have seen as many as 8 bats hanging from the undersides of the long pinnate palm fronds, and even more moving about above the palms.

if you have more interest in bats check out this link, click here!

I love living here!


I found a great bat house idea, with instruction.  Hmmmm, doesn't Tom need a project???

We now live in a red light district

You may remember in a previous post on our ongoing bat problem, I made this statement "So for us - lights 0, bats 1 - fans 0, bats 2 - sound machine 0, bats 3. On to the next bat deterrent."

Well our most recent bat deterrent attempt may just put that score at bats 3, us 1. And let's just say we WON! HA! Day, well night #2 without bat crap everywhere.

In a neighboring yard there is a tree that produces a berry like fruit, similar in shape to a mulberry but it stays green.. It is a HORRIBLE tree. It drops so many berries that then lay on the ground and rot and smell putrid and breed fruit flies, ICK, I hate that tree! Well, the frut bats love this tree, and they like to hang under our patio roof, right over our table and eat and shit these horrid little green berries.

This doesn't even begin to show how icky this is, and this is one nights activity.

BLECH!!

We finally found a 'red' light bulb. We had been told stories of people who know other people for whom red lights work to deter/repel bats. Our red light has been on the past 2 nights and no bat crap. I may be premature in my exuberance, But I am happy to announce it to all, I live in a red light district!

Now you have first hand testimonial. The red light is working for us in deterring bats!

Click here to read what wiki says about red light districts.

Bats II, the blog continues...

We have bats, I've posted about the bats before. I don't mind the bats, they don't scare me. I am not afraid that they will attact me and suck my blood, or that they will get caught up in my 2ft high bouffant hairdo. I HATE the bat poop. We have a large covered terraza, they like to swoop in on one open side thats high,

then soar down to the pool for a dip and circle back through.

The walls are splattered, the furniture cushions are splattered, the table tops are splattered; And that shit just won't wash off.

Friends who also have bats found that putting up strings of stencil banners stopped theirs. Other friends leave lights on and that stops theirs. We bought the machine that emits the high pitch sound that repels, bats, vermin, and mosquito. Others say leaving the fans running deters theirs.

We've sat out in the evening with friends, laughing, talking, fans running, lights on, sonic sound machine silently emitting ultra high frequency bat deterrent sound...and yep, bats circling above our heads. So for us - lights 0, bats 1 - fans 0, bats 2 - sound machine 0, bats 3. On to the next bat deterrent.

We stopped last week as Casa Borges on Calle 66, sorry can't remember the cross streets. They sell costuming; already made costumes, pieces, parts, forms, and supplies for costume making, a very cool store. They also sell the plastic stencil strings of banners. They have a variety of color options. A string of 10 banners costs 45pesos - we bought 4 - we have a large terraza.

Don't the banners look lovely!

So last night we are sitting further out on the patio (not under the covered terraza) watching a fabulous lightening show going on. We were also checking lighting; Tom installed a new patio light. So there we sit, new patio light, pool lights, terraza lights, fans, banners flapping, and bats, lots n lots of bats. We have several kinds - the big fruit bats that suck my oranges dry, and eat the fruits off my and my neighbors fruit trees, little tiny ones that I can't identify, and some also unidentified medium size ones. banners = 0, bats = 4. Yep, bats just flew under the banners, didn't seem to bother them at all.

So, this is the high open space where they come in, then just make a half turn and you can see where they dip down into the pool, then around and up again. It's like a roller coaster ride I guess!

We've heard a red light will stop them, sure wish we could find a red light bulb.

We have Murcielagos

Yes, we do! No big deal; I actually like having them, they eat bugs. I just hate having them fly up on the terraza/patio. They leave batcrap everywhere.


I have to scrape batcrap from the tabletops every morning. The cushions are covered in batcrap spots and need to be recovered in a waterproof/washable fabric. The walls are spotted with batcrap which discourages us from actually painting the walls. I'm getting used to cement grey.

We've had several discussions on how to discourage them from the terraza/patio area.

Suggestion 1 - lights - well when we sit out there of an evening we have lights on, we are there laughing, talking, moving around. They don't mind. Our bats seem to like a party. They swoop in while we are there...

Suggestion 2 - we bought pinatas and hung them from the techo supports. The pinatas have streamers, they swivel and move; this is supposed to discourage them as well. NOPE!

Suggestion 3 - red lights - haven't tried this one yet. Guess we should find a 'red light' store.

Any other suggestions are welcome!!!!