Cavechat.org

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8108912.stm

Scientists have found that, as bats travel to feeding grounds, they avoid hedgerows illuminated by streetlights.

Reporting in the journal Current Biology, they say this could cause bats to use longer and less safe routes.

The researchers studied the effect with artificial lights along flight routes used by lesser horseshoe bats.
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Odd

The bats seem to congregate around our security light and don't seem hesitant to dip water off our illuminated pool. We are fairly rural and I always figured our security light acted like a big bat feeding station

Same here, there are a lot fewer mosquitoes around my house because of the street light next to it and only one or two ... uh... make that one moth flittering around...no, that's gone too. heh...
But wonders how a detour might be more dangerous... ?

Squirrel Girl wrote:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8108912.stm

Scientists have found that, as bats travel to feeding grounds, they avoid hedgerows illuminated by streetlights.

Well there's your problem. Here in America, we've got hedges and we've got fence rows but we've got no hedgerows. Just build yourself one of them hedgerows, light it up, then see what happens. I'll bet there would'nt be a bat in sight!

Hmmm...Maybe we should put street lights and a hedgerow around all the WNS states to keep it from spreading.

if there's a bustling in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed, man.

I've got a hedgerow in my yard, and it's only a little bitty townhouse lot. In the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Squirrel Girl wrote:I've got a hedgerow in my yard, and it's only a little bitty townhouse lot. In the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Hehe, yup, I used to have one too but it was always called simply "the bushes", same as everyone elses. I've always associated the term "hedgerow" with England.

Re: the bats...I suspect from reading the article and my own experience (same as Ralph & Wyandottes) that the type or color of light used is what put off the bats. Or maybe they've got a more a more aggressive night flying predator over there than us. The only one I can think of around here is owls and I've never heard of them having bats very high on thier menu.

Although this was an interesting article, the bat in the article (Rhinolophus hipposideros) is a European species and there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that their behavior would be universal and applicable to North American species.

Brian,

I've watched an owl catch and eat several bats. This owl had a nest at the bottom of Punkin Pit in Texas. In the evening when the bats would spiral out of the entrance he would casually fly up into the swarm, grab his dinner and land back in his nest to eat it. We never saw him leave the cave. He had it made.