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Bats in my porch: 21. Hanging CDs

on 14th November 2014

A colony of Common Fruit Bats (Cynopterus brachyotis) had been roosting in my porch since 2006 LINK.

In 2014 I got tired of the mess the bats left behind and decided to find ways to get rid of the colony. First I installed a pair of powerful spotlights LINK. This was followed by placing Compact Discs on the floor to reflect light onto the bats above. This worked initially but not for long LINK 1 and LINK 2.

Along the way I found that turning on the spotlights in the late evening actually attracted bats, rather than chasing them away LINK.

In late June 2014 I was requested to delay chasing the bats away as Channel New Asia intended to video the colony for a series on the wildlife in Singapore LINK.

After the CNA cameraman had completed his job, I continued observing the bats for some months before deciding to continue finding ways to discourage these night creatures from visiting my porch.

This time around I hung two series of four CDs each on the roof of the porch. My hope was that the movements of the CDs, spreading the reflections around the porch would irritate the roosting bats. But it was not to be. The bats simply hung in spots away from the reflections.

The edited video below shows the arrival of the bats on the night of 3rd October 2014 between 19:00-21: hours. The two spotlights were on all the time.

Initially few bats stayed to roost as most flew off immediately after they flew in. It took some time before more stayed and by the end of the period there were more than a dozen roosting bats.

The next night I hung three series of four CDs each. The same thing happened except that the number of bats actually roosting was less – see video below. And there were two instances where the bats collided with the roof, probably disoriented by the reflections.

You can compare the arrivals of the bats with and without CDs by viewing the control video below. Here, no CDs were hung and the two spotlights were on all the time. The bats flew in normally to roost.

Another failed attempt… unless more strings of CDs are hung or getting a strobe light LINK, but then instead of bats I may attract disco goers…

YC Wee
Singapore
October 2014

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

10 Responses

  1. Hello Baba YC: Them bats are driving you batty hah?
    Bats got brain too, you know & they learn in their own instinctive ways.
    Have you tried blaring loud jazz music yet? Make sure it is big band with plenty of horns & drums……TGIF cheers, Goblok.

  2. That is a “top-dog” suggestion! Also Beethoven’s 9th Symphony conducted by Karajan. And you should relax to the booming chorus, sipping a frosty cold TIGER
    mah! Must enjoy leh! 😉

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