With populations of tree cavity roosting bat species like little and big brown bats in decline due to the effects of White Nose Syndrome and habitat loss, properly constructed and placed bat houses can be an important factor in assisting their survival. Many bat houses are poorly designed and constructed and are unlikely to attract many residents. According to Bat Conservation International , effective bat houses are at least 20 inches tall and 14 inches wide, have numerous roosting chambers inside, and a three to six inch landing area at the base.
If you have any doubts about which bat house to purchase, consider buying from a BCI certified vendor. Proper placement of the bat house is just as important as good design. Temperature has a huge impact on whether bats will use a bat house or not. Without exception, bat houses should be placed in areas that receive at least eight hours of direct sunlight every day.
Bats are far more likely to roost in houses that are very warm and get a lot of sun. In New Hampshire, where the climate is relatively cool, bat houses that are painted black or very dark brown are used more often than ones that are light colored or natural wood, simply because they create a warmer environment. If you do pick them up and take them to a rehabber you want to be sure to wear gloves the whole time. The benefits of having a bat house far outweigh the very small risk of having a rabid bat in your yard.
They eat lots of bugs including mosquitos and are very important for our ecosystem. Bats are losing roost sites everyday due to human disturbances and urbanization, so providing a bat house is a great way to help them!
We found the larger houses with more chambers much more successful. Home About Bats Bat Houses. How to attract bats to your backyard Bats are an important part of a functioning ecosystem. Plus, their nightly displays of aerial acrobatics are fascinating to observe.
Help Bats Install a bat house. Bats are natural pest controllers. Mexican free-tailed bats roost and raise young in standard bat houses suspended from the ceiling of a barn in Solano County, California Mylea Bayless. Buy or build a bat house Where optimal natural environments for bats are limited, installing a bat house is meaningful and a great way to connect to the world of bat conservation. The choice is yours: build or buy? Build Bat Conservation International offers three downloadable designs.
Download FREE designs here. Buy For-purchase bat houses can be found and purchased online. Smaller bat houses do not offer adequate thermal stability. A bat house should not contain fabric or mesh. Roosting boards and landing pads should consist of roughened wood. Installation Tips.
The overall construction of the box should provide the type of environment bats like. Draft-free: Bats don't like drafts, so your chosen bat house should be well constructed, without any gaps except the entrance. Warm: Bats like a warm, humid environment, so a well-insulated bat house is ideal. Sealed top: The box shouldn't be opened in fact, it's illegal in some places to open a bat house once bats have moved in , so there's no need for a removable lid or front panel.
Dry: Bats certainly don't like living in houses that leak, so the joints should be sealed to keep water from getting in. Bat houses have multiple slim chambers rather than one large chamber because bats prefer tight spaces.
You can find bat houses with one to six chambers. Each chamber should be around 0. If you want to attract mothers with pups or encourage breeding, you'll need a bat house with at least four or five chambers.
In general, bats prefer large bat houses. You'll have the most luck attracting bats to houses with a chamber measuring at least 20 inches tall and 14 inches wide. They'll also need a landing area of up to half a foot long. If you don't have room for a bat house this large, you can make do with a more compact model, but bats might not move in as readily.
The majority of bat houses are made of wood, but you can also find some made from molded plastic. Any wooden bat houses should be made from untreated wood though the outside can be painted or stained because bats are sensitive to chemicals.
Molded plastic bat houses, though less common, are more durable and need less maintenance. All surfaces inside a bat house should be grooved or scored to give bats enough purchase. Alternatively, the inside can be covered with one-eighth- or one-quarter-inch square plastic mesh.
However, some experts consider this inferior to grooved surfaces because the mesh can break over time. The main factor that influences the cost of a bat house is size.
However, you'll also pay more for the best, most well-constructed bat houses. Pay attention to the color of the bat house. Darker colors absorb more heat, so they're good for areas where summer temperatures are lower. Get the right house for the bats in your region. Although most bat houses are designed for a wide range of bats, some are specifically tailored to attract certain species.
Check before buying, and also make yourself aware of the bats that live in your area. There's no point in buying a bat house made to attract endangered Florida bonneted bats when you live in the Pacific Northwest. Check your bat house for other inhabitants. Bats like tight spaces.
They also need it nice and warm for the babies. That's why we paint the box a dark color in most climates and why we caulk the sides to keep the heat in. Also, you'll be using a saw to rough up inside the box. That makes it more like tree bark and easier for the bats to climb up.
You might wonder why you need to build a bat house. Why can't the bats just find a nice tree? That is the challenge for many bat species as forests are cleared. Ideally they would live in a natural home but we build bat houses to help those who can't find space in a forest.
A bat house is also is a great way to provide cover for wildlife , as well as a place for wildlife to raise young --two components of becoming a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat site. First I printed a bat house construction plan from Bat Conservation International's website. The big surprise was that this bat house ended up being bigger than I expected: two feet wide and almost three feet tall! According to their website, a successful bat house can be smaller 14 inches wide instead of 24 inches wide , but this one was designed to easily use up a 2 foot by 4 foot piece of plywood with fewer cuts.
That was not how I had pictured a bat house. Have you ever seen bat houses for sale that are smaller or shaped like a bird house? I have. That just means those houses were made by people less acquainted with bat needs. Interestingly, bats are less attracted to bat houses mounted on trees. There's a few reasons for this:. Bat houses mounted on buildings retain heat better and are less accessible to predators. You can put them on a pole though. Luckily my townhouse is three stories high and has a sunny side.
It's also near a stream. So I felt I probably had a good site. Also, the bat house plan calls for paint. I didn't know what color and initially I thought white to match my house trim.
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