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Hot Buys

We've decided to run a special on a handful of products. Act now on the following "Hot Buys" because the special ends on Monday, June 5th.

New at the Nest

Our customers are valuable to us. We continually search for new and better ways to serve our customers. In an effort to better meet your needs as a customer, BestNest aggressively adds new products to the website. Some of the new and exciting products that we've added are shown below. Be sure to check out our New Items department regularly.

Benefitting from Bats

Although historically they have been widely misunderstood and considered pests or coupled with legends of darkness, bats are now better understood and their many benefits are undeniable. North American bats collectively consume millions of pounds of insects every night, each bat eating nearly its own body weight in insects. While bats, like all mammals, can contract rabies; bats prevent much more disease than they spread. It is important to note that, in the past 55 years, only 46 rabies deaths in the United States are attributed to bats while more than hundreds of thousands of deaths are attributed to mosquito borne disease. In addition to consuming mosquitoes, bats also feed on other common pests like cucumber beetles, June beetles, stinkbugs, leafhoppers, cutworm moths, and corn earworm moths to name a few. We can all benefit in some way by maintaining a healthy bat population. By offering a bat friendly habitat, concentrating their food source, and staying chemical conscious we can help our neighborhood bats help us.

Varying the habitat within your yard to be bat friendly will not only help bats, but will also add beauty and attract butterflies, birds, and other wildlife. Creating small ponds and roosting sites will greatly increase your chances of attracting bats to your area. Bats naturally inhabit areas nearby streams, creeks, rivers, lakes, and ponds so that they might eat insects emerging from the water. Even if you live near an existing water source, consider creating a small pond with running water. A small pond will not only attract bats to feed from the insects that group there, but also offer drinking water for bats and other wildlife. Increase your chances of attracting a colony even more by offering a place for roosting. Whether by planting trees, leaving dead or dying trees standing, or offering a man made bat box or house; you can create the necessary housing for your neighborhood bats.

Concentrate the population of night flying insects for your bats by installing a small pond, creating a garden, or installing a mercury vapor light. Bats will dip through and consume thousands of insects a night. By keeping the insects that are already in your yard grouped together, bats will quickly locate them and feed easily. A small pond with running water, as described above, will create a place where insects group and offer drinking water. Plant groups of flowers or leave some portion of your lawn undisturbed to concentrate insects in certain areas of your yard. Sweet, fragrant flowers that release scent at night, such as evening primrose and sweet rocket, attract night flying insects. Herbs like chives and marjoram also attract night insects. Lastly, a mercury vapor light will draw in groups of moths and other insects creating a quick and easy meal for most bats.

Chemicals are one of the biggest detriments to bats. Insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides will affect the insects that your bats eat. When the bats ingest these insects, they too will become ill or die. Try to avoid spraying your lawn, tress, or shrubs with toxins. Investigate natural remedies for plant and insect control whenever possible as bats are not the only creatures that are affected by toxins.

BestNest carries bat houses, bat books, and pond equipment in a variety of styles and price ranges. Visit our Learning Center to find out more about bat house placement and other exciting facts. For more personal assistance, call our customer service line toll free at 877-562-1818 from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Standard Time Monday through Friday.

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