The Dangers of Bat Guano

[Carlos Danger]

In the 19th century when guano was "discovered" by Europeans they already had synthetic nitrogen, so phosphorus was the limiting factor in crop yields. When the Europeans discovered the tropical guano islands they literally reduced them to the ground. One island had built over years of shit deposits into an island eight miles square - all gone now. Guano is far better protected these days. No one in 1860 even comprehended sustainability. So things are moving in the right direction. I wish I could get some of that sweet sweet ancient guano they all used up. What I've read seems to indicate the old piles the 19th century used up were higher in nutrition.

Oh! A US law on 1856 said if you found an unclaimed guano island you could claim it all for your own private ownership. This was big money, more so than now.

 

[EclipseFour20]

From wiki--
The word "guano" originates from the Andean indigenous language Quechua, which in its original usage refers to any form of dung used as an agricultural fertilizer. Archaeological evidence suggests that Andean peoples have collected guano from small islands and points located off the desert coast of Peru for use as a soil amendment for well over 1,500 years.Spanish colonial documents suggest that the rulers of the Inca Empire assigned great value to guano, restricted access to it, and punished any disturbance of the birds with death.[2] The Guanay Cormorant has historically been the most abundant and important producer of guano. Other important guano producing species off the coast of Peru are the Peruvian Pelican and the Peruvian Booby.[4][2]

In November 1802, Alexander von Humboldt first encountered guano and began investigating its fertilizing properties at Callao in Peru, and his subsequent writings on this topic made the subject well known in Europe. During the guano boom of the nineteenth century, the vast majority of seabird guano was harvested from Peruvian guano islands, but large quantities were also exported from the Caribbean, atolls in the Central Pacific, and islands off the coast of Namibia, Oman, Patagonia, and Baja California. At that time, massive deposits of guano existed on some islands, in some cases more than 50 m deep. [6] In this context the United States passed the Guano Islands Act in 1856, which gave U.S. citizens discovering a source of guano on an unclaimed island exclusive rights to the deposits. Nine of these islands are still officially U.S. territories.[7] Control over guano played a central role in the Chincha Islands War (1864–1866) between Spain and a Peruvian-Chilean alliance. Indentured workers from China played an important role in guano harvest. The first group of 79 Chinese coolies arrived in Peru in 1849, by the time the coolie trade ended a quarter of a century later, over 100,000 of their fellow countrymen had been imported. There is no documentary evidence that enslaved Pacific Islanders participated in guano mining. [8]

After 1870, the use of Peruvian guano as a fertilizer was eclipsed by saltpeter in the form of caliche extraction from the interior of the Atacama Desert, not far from the guano areas. During the War of the Pacific (1879–1883) Chile seized much of the guano as well as Peru's nitrate-producing area, enabling its national treasury to grow by 900% between 1879 and 1902 thanks to taxes coming from the newly acquired lands.[9] Contrary to popular belief, seabird guano does not have high concentrations of nitrates, and was never important to the production of explosives; bat and cave-bird deposits have been processed to produce gunpowder, however. High-grade rock phosphate deposits on Nauru, Banaba Island, Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), and other raised atolls were not produced by marine birds.[10]

Since 1909, when the Peruvian government took over guano extraction for use by Peru farmers, the industry has relied on production by living populations of marine birds. U.S. ornithologists Robert Cushman Murphy and William Vogt promoted the Peruvian industry internationally as a supreme example of wildlife conservation, while also drawing attention to its vulnerability to the El Niño phenomenon. South Africa independently developed its own guano industry based on sustained-yield production from marine birds during this period, as well. Both industries eventually collapsed due to pressure from overfishing.[2] The importance of guano deposits to agriculture elsewhere in the world faded after 1909 when Fritz Haber developed the Haber-Bosch process of industrial nitrogen fixation, which today generates the ammonia-based fertilizer responsible for sustaining an estimated one-third of the Earth's population.[11]

DNA testing has suggested that new potato varieties imported alongside Peruvian seabird guano in 1842 brought a virulent strain of potato blight that began the Irish Potato Famine.[12][13]

It is ALL politics, no "sustainable" or "ethical" issues here. Just follow the money....lol. "Since 1909, when the Peruvian government took over guano extraction for use by Peru farmers, the industry has relied on production by living populations of marine birds." Kinda like the "tale wagging the dog"...for the government to cry foul. Let's see--recall Econ 101? What happens to "prices" when "supplies decrease" and "demand remains the same"? Yep, follow the $$$!

 

[Carlos Danger]

Eclipse, one I figured out your train of thought I was able to follow you to the same conclusion. Definitely a chance of the govt squeezing supply to raise prices, but private companies and industry does the same.

When discussing ethics - I mean on our end as consumers deciding if purchasing guano shipped all the way from Indonesia or Peru is in line with whatever our own organic ethics is.

 

[canna woop!]

I have read enough about guano that is independent of politics to decide I am uninterested in having it in a soil for cannabis.

 

[chappie]

If one were to already have a small supply of guano, wishing to render it as useful as possible (given that whatever ecological/political damage has long since already occurred), would it be best to run it through a wormbin and/or compost pile? Is it "too hot" for the worms? Should it be added slowly over time, or can a pound or two be added directly to a bin-in-process?

 

[RoadRash]

I have been feeding my chicken guano to my earthworms.

And also feeding my chickens the products of flowers, e.g. fruits (watermelon), hoping that their poop is higher in P and K.

It takes a lot of patience. The worms need time to do their magic.


Anyway, until then, there's bone meal, wood ash, and 1-8-1 bat guano.

The chickens could care less if I scoop up their droppings. (They are free-ranged.) I never thought about bat guano harvesting hurting the bats.


Maybe I will built a "Bat-hut" and put one of my worm buckets beneath it (when the weather allows) so the bats can poop right into the bucket.

Here's a Stoned Thought: Do people ever have Pet Bats ?

 

[vapor]

On the coast some folks build bat houses. They are easy to collect the guano from the floor. Been thinking of putting one up i have lots of bats. One night i woke up to this weird clicking noise. I turned my head lamp on and looked to where the clicking noise was coming from. A bat was hanging about a foot from my head hanging on the wall of my bedroom. So i got screens for my windows lol

 

[non]

aren't bats protected? otherwise for sure people would keep them as pets and there's probably a bat whisperer or two out there. some people get along with all kinds of crazy animals.

 

[Wav3F0rm]

so, basically, we should all use humanure instead.

sustainable, nutrient rich, and perfectly safe.

 

[BurnOne]

so, basically, we should all use humanure instead.

sustainable, nutrient rich, and perfectly safe.

I see the need for reliable data on this assumption of yours before you bring this subject up again. This topic has been covered here in the past and was determined to be risky at best. Mainly due to human body fluids. I've already closed one of your threads because it showed no benefit to organic soil growing.
If you want to start a new thread offering firm data of promise and safety then by all means do so. If not, abandon this topic.
Burn1

 

[Littleleaf]

I harvest mine from a cave that is empty during the winter months. They never new I was there. This bucket full was from the entrance of the cave.
If needed a truck load could be harvested every year just from this little cave, with no ill effect to the bats. In fact it would help keep down any diseases and parasites. That effect them.

S.tack
H.igh
I.n
T.ransport

 

[Granger2]

There are good sources of guano. There is a regional company out in Texas that harvests High N guano from what they claim is the largest bat colony in the world. The bats migrate to Mexico each winter, and the guano is harvested every other winter by workers in Hazmat suits, in accordance with regulations, without any disturbance to the bats. Another component of bat guano is, being mammals, piss. So you may want to consider that when choosing a bat house location. And BTW, I'll pass on the human shit option. FYI, don't breath dusts, especially guano dusts. There can be pathogens. Good luck. -granger

 

[Siever]

I can tell yu that in my country (south amerika ) bats are far from extinction, those fuckers colonize every house that have a single little hole , the other day i went to help a friend clean a house that have been seriouly colonized , man what a mess !

We pulled like 15 big garbage bags of bat dry powder shit , there was like 5cm of it on the floor everywhere in the house after pulling the triplex wood walls and roof.

I took all the bags and i have a lifetime bat guano supply now, but i don't know if it's high in P, seems to have a lot of N in it as it seems to boost the young seedlings with a small amount .
I'm carefull while using it as it's very fine powder , very volatile and heard that it can gives you sickness if you inhale some .

To know if bat droppings contain more N or more P, you should look at their diet. If they eat fruit it's said their droppings contain more P and insect eating species theirs contain more N

 

[Bush Dr]

There are good sources of guano

There are also bad ones, please don't buy Jamaican bat guano, the caves are being destroyed by excavators ....... it's not like the bats smoke ganja

You're paying good money that ends up buying guns in JA whilst taking the money out of your own country, not good for JA or the USA

 

[Gelado`]

I use high P Indonesian bat guano, but I've been using the same box since 2005 or 2006. I won't buy it again because I'm pretty sure the guano in Indonesia is harvested unsustainably. However, since I only grow for personal, my existing box should last me another decade or so!

 

[Ise]

Any other places in the u.s. that harvest & sell guano besides guano-gro? Their prices are ludicrous...

4oz of guano $24.95
10oz of guano $69.95
1lb of guano $99.95
2 lbs of guano: $199.95 + $9.95 (Shipping)
4 lbs of guano: $ 359.95 + $12.95 (Shipping)
10 lbs of guano: $ 799.95 + &17.95 (Shipping)

 

[Gelado`]

The prices on groworganic.com were significantly lower than that, but I'm not based stateside anymore and don't know the cheapest place to get it. All I know is I can get Indonesian bat guano about five minutes away for $5 a lb, but I won't be buying it again once I run out!

 

[CARE giver]

How about some recommendations?

 

[Littleleaf]

mixing up some bat tea and adding it to some bio char. It really stinks when you add it but after 24 to 48 hrs soak it smells like fermented coffee.

 

[Granger2]

High N guano, harvested sustainably
http://www.garden-ville.com/

Also check out their Rocket Fuel -granger