Yellow bats roost in the old, dried fronds of palm trees. Their distinctive yellow fur and the thick layers of fronds make it hard for predators to spot them. A mother and her babies can rest easy, knowing they are safe while they sit perfectly camouflaged in the old palm skirt. The apartment complex yard where Burger was found was once home to a line of lush palm trees. Unfortunately, like many tropical plants growing in Central Texas, nearly all of the palms on the property were killed during the freeze. Only one palm tree remained. However, the apartment complex decided to give the lone palm a “buzz cut,” removing the valuable skirt habitat. Now, even when Burger and Beanie are ready to go back to the wild, they can’t be released into their home tree.
You may be able to help! If you have a palm tree on your property, you might be able to provide Burger and Beanie with the new home they are looking for! In order to provide a home to these beloved bats, we would ask you to never trim the dead palm skirt on your tree. We need to find a safe home soon—we expect for mom and pup to be ready to go by the end of October. If you’d like to volunteer your palm tree, please email info@austinbatrefuge.org.
Even if you can’t provide a home for Burger and Beanie now, you can help all yellow bats by not trimming dead palm fronds on any palm trees on your land—and ask your friends, family, landlord, or businesses not to trim their palm trees either. Palm trees don’t need to be “manicured” and are best left alone for their longevity and health. Native palms such as our sabal palms and Mexican fan palms stand up very well to wind events, and giving them a “hurricane cut” or “buzz cut” (living fronds but no skirt) does not make them any more resistant to storms. That cut can, however, allow for easier introduction of disease. This skirt is valuable habitat for a variety of other wildlife too, including over 20 species of birds documented to use these dried fronds. Leaving old palm fronds on the trees provides these important creatures with a safe place to roost. If you give bats a home on your property, they will pay you back with free pest control services.
Public Service Announcement: If You Have Any Unexpected Lodgers on Your Porch, Please Be Patient.
Bats at this time of year may be on the move, and occasionally will spend a little time resting in unusual places—sometimes on the outside wall of homes or businesses.
The very first autumn cold fronts have arrived, and bats are busy gaining the fat reserves they will need as the weather gets cooler. The tiny tri-colored bat hibernates earlier than other local species, and sometimes during September flies into apartment complex breezeways and stops for a night or three, roosting on a wall near the ceiling, sometimes above an apartment door. We think they see the open breezeway as an entrance to the caves they occupy during hibernation.
