Author Topic: Stop Hori bat damage  (Read 2146 times)

cos

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Stop Hori bat damage
« on: July 02, 2019, 06:39:45 PM »
On east Maui have had great success growing Luc’s garcinia except for heavy defoliation of all exposed outer leaves.
Has anyone found a way of stopping this . Should be noted Hori bat is an endangered animal
Mahalo

Daintree

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2019, 07:58:11 PM »
Aren't hoary bats solitary insectivores?  I think they mainly eat moths and such, and prefer to roost in taller trees.
My guess is that something else is causing the damage.
Maybe you could put out a trail camera to see what is causing your damage...

Carolyn

cos

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2019, 08:34:09 PM »
A  cam is a good idea.
Nope they also eat foliage & a picture would show that only easy accessed parts are bothered.
I have heard ( no pun) that ultrasound may work.
I  need get more info on this .

Daintree

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2019, 09:08:57 PM »
Is the tree small enough to bag? We bag our fruit trees to keep the squirrels put, up to 20 ft trees.

Carolyn

cos

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2019, 09:48:19 PM »
Yes none over 8 ‘

Gambit

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2019, 02:55:21 AM »
A  cam is a good idea.
Nope they also eat foliage & a picture would show that only easy accessed parts are bothered.
I have heard ( no pun) that ultrasound may work.
I  need get more info on this .

Carolyn is correct. The Hoary bat is strictly an insectivore. It is something else that is stripping the leaves and eating fruits. You definitely need to document this with hard evidence. Who knows, you might have just discovered an up-to-now unknown frugivorous species of bats in Hawaii. For your sake, I really hope that there are no frugivorous bats in Hawaii.

Nobody yet knows what the Hoary bat hearing range is. Although you can get a decent estimation of what the animal hears based on its echolocation frequencies (which is available), the use of an ultrasonic repellant is not a good idea, since pollinating insects and other good bugs may also hear ultrasound and stay away from your blooms. Ultrasonic repellant has never been an effective deterrent, simply because high-frequency sounds are very directional, easily blocked by obstacles, and does not propagate far.

So your best bet is to first prove that the Hoary bat is raiding your fruits, and is indeed a frugivore or omnivorous in its food preference. There are such bats, but not in Hawaii, unless they were "accidentally" introduced to the islands. It would certainly be BIG news to the scientific community.



Doug

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2019, 12:20:30 PM »

Hang old computer disks or music CD's perpendicular to the ground around your tree. Scars bats!

pvaldes

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2019, 02:34:25 PM »
Microbats do not eat anything of vegetable origin. If you see bats in this leaves, there will be insects on the area. Show us detailed photos of the fallen leaves and maybe could see something more

Microbats will not care about CDs hanging. Can navigate them perfectly. Fruit bats could be scared by them, but this is in a different Order or animals.

Maybe is this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJqntFxyKdk
« Last Edit: July 03, 2019, 02:44:17 PM by pvaldes »

FrankDrebinOfFruits

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #8 on: July 03, 2019, 04:06:51 PM »

Maybe is this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJqntFxyKdk

That is hilarious... how have I not seen fruit batman before. He is the new mascot of my fruitarian lifestyle.  Hopefully he makes an appearance at the next fruit growers conference.  Forget catching robberies, I just wish he would solve only fruit crimes.

cos

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #9 on: July 03, 2019, 10:35:01 PM »
I’m sending this for my father because he was having issues uploading it.





pvaldes

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #10 on: July 04, 2019, 03:12:14 AM »
Yup, typical insect damage. Bats are probably cleaning the tree from tree crickets. Microbats can't chew. They don't have molars.  Maybe could scratch, or tear off leaves but can't make chew marks. The other option apart of crickets would be snails or slugs or caterpillars. Two marks of birds can be seen in the photo also. You should encourage bats to keep doing it instead to try to deter them.

The only reason for not wanting benefical microbats in your tree could be a high risk of rabies in your area, I suppose.
« Last Edit: July 04, 2019, 04:05:50 AM by pvaldes »

pvaldes

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #11 on: July 04, 2019, 04:16:12 AM »
I have to correct myself. Some tropical microbats will eat fruit and can chew (Genus Ariteus, Artibeus, Dermanura, Enchysthenes, Phyllops, Stenoderma or Rhynophila). All of them belong to the Phyllostomidae family.

Aerorestes (Hoary bat) is in the Vespertilionidae family. Strictly feeding on invertebrates (or small vertebrates).

In theory you could be mistaken a Hoary bat by a folivorous species, but I don't think that this is happening here. When microbats feed on leaves they tear chunks off the leaves. They produce marks like those:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Evidence-of-bat-folivory-on-Senna-macranthera-leaves-A-Leaves-with-bite-marks-made-by_fig1_259573769

And your trees show a very different kind of marks, like those:

https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_2/NWRS/Zone_1/Wichita_Mountains/Sections/Cosa/WildlifeHabitat/03%20Common%20Grasshoppers,%20Katydids,%20Crickets%20AChiri%20508.pdf

Or those:

https://news.psu.edu/story/314397/2014/05/02/research/leaf-chewing-links-insect-diversity-modern-and-ancient-forests


« Last Edit: July 04, 2019, 04:51:03 AM by pvaldes »

simon_grow

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #12 on: July 04, 2019, 01:48:56 PM »
If it’s bats or birds, you may want to try exclusion netting. The bats should be able to detect the netting and avoid the area. It is used in Australia to protect some of their crops.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-HxOcXUhCIY#fauxfullscreen

Simon

cos

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Re: Stop Hori bat damage
« Reply #13 on: July 04, 2019, 04:37:23 PM »
Caused by mangosteen caterpillar !   
Outer damage only  as only eats  fresh soft growth