We’re considering putting a bat house on the back wall of our 2 story brick home. The wall faces south west. Do any of you have any experience with these? Do they attract bats, do the bats make a difference in flying insect population, are they a mess, etc? Thanks for any insight!
Bat houses?
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Properly constructed they will find a bat population in short order.
Bats are wary of predators and will not move to a bat house that is too close to the ground or has openings that are too large.
Bats require proximity to water; you should be no more than a mile from a river or lake, and preferably a bit closer.
We've installed them on every compass heading, true north to true south and everywhere in between.
I've never seen any evidence (mess) they are living there except for seeing them at dusk as they come out and having them surprise you when painting the building.
They eat thousands of flying insects each night.
Bats are wary of predators and will not move to a bat house that is too close to the ground or has openings that are too large.
Bats require proximity to water; you should be no more than a mile from a river or lake, and preferably a bit closer.
We've installed them on every compass heading, true north to true south and everywhere in between.
I've never seen any evidence (mess) they are living there except for seeing them at dusk as they come out and having them surprise you when painting the building.
They eat thousands of flying insects each night.
I enjoyed giving the bat flight talk at Carlsbad Caverns during the summers of 1964 and 1965. Always well attended. Still wish I could have found permanent employment with NPS but my degree wasn't in the natural sciences.
Go to batrescue.org you need to have plans.
There are two types of bats, solitary and colony. You will attract the solitary bats or very small colonies. Large colonies would live in caves which Indiana has a lot. Caves offer a constant temperature. Indiana has a large bat population which will help find your house! Large colonies will find caves. Many times the bats that occupy bat houses will leave in the winter and find a cave, drainage, a hole in the rocks of a cliff, then return in the spring. Bats make a home and that's it. They don't move around however they will move to a more hospitable home. You will also attract the young adults whom have left the parents.
You generally need to mount the houses on buildings but there are some trees that are suitable, those with few branches and leaves such as sycamore, planetree, white oaks.
There are two types of bats, solitary and colony. You will attract the solitary bats or very small colonies. Large colonies would live in caves which Indiana has a lot. Caves offer a constant temperature. Indiana has a large bat population which will help find your house! Large colonies will find caves. Many times the bats that occupy bat houses will leave in the winter and find a cave, drainage, a hole in the rocks of a cliff, then return in the spring. Bats make a home and that's it. They don't move around however they will move to a more hospitable home. You will also attract the young adults whom have left the parents.
You generally need to mount the houses on buildings but there are some trees that are suitable, those with few branches and leaves such as sycamore, planetree, white oaks.
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I bought some from the Eagle Scout son of a coworker, he built a bunch as part of a project to increase the local bat population.
I put them near water and high up in trees, but they attracted nothing...I mentioned this to my coworker and he asked if I put them in sunny places.
I said heck no, figured the bats wanted it dark...he said I screwed up because the bats want to be warm and will only move in if the houses are in sunny spots.
Don't know if that was the reason they were empty, never bothered moving them and I have to admit that I've lost track of them in the ensuing 20 years.
The bat population appears to be in serious trouble here, used to see bats all the time around dusk and we've had none the last few years.
I put them near water and high up in trees, but they attracted nothing...I mentioned this to my coworker and he asked if I put them in sunny places.
I said heck no, figured the bats wanted it dark...he said I screwed up because the bats want to be warm and will only move in if the houses are in sunny spots.
Don't know if that was the reason they were empty, never bothered moving them and I have to admit that I've lost track of them in the ensuing 20 years.
The bat population appears to be in serious trouble here, used to see bats all the time around dusk and we've had none the last few years.
I installed one on our chimney 14yrs ago facing south/east and not one bat has been inside from what I can tell. We are close to natural water a pond and we have an inground pool. I wish they would live there but no luck for us.
I'm not sure a pond would be enough to sustain / attract a population of bats, especially since in most places I've visited in the US, "pond" refers to a very small body of water. A pool is not enough either..
Using the definition they use in Minnesota, what you want is a "lake", and a bigger "lake" than most referred to as such in the Twin Cities. At least a mile long and half that wide ... 320 acres minimum and preferably more.
The house also has to have small openings ... think something a mouse could go through. An inch is plenty. If something like a weasel family animal can get in, they won't move in. It also has to be isolated from climbing rodents / weasels etc; either mounted high on the side of a building or on a tall pole. If animals can run along your roofline and the bathouse on the chimney isn't many feet above that roofline, they won't move in. Oh, and protected from rain. They like to spend the day undisturbed by anything and anyone. Normal human activity, even heavy equipment, won't bother them but they do want to be "cozy".
We put ours either on poles with the bottom entrance 12' above the ground, or on the sides of buildings roughly 2nd story height.
Using the definition they use in Minnesota, what you want is a "lake", and a bigger "lake" than most referred to as such in the Twin Cities. At least a mile long and half that wide ... 320 acres minimum and preferably more.
The house also has to have small openings ... think something a mouse could go through. An inch is plenty. If something like a weasel family animal can get in, they won't move in. It also has to be isolated from climbing rodents / weasels etc; either mounted high on the side of a building or on a tall pole. If animals can run along your roofline and the bathouse on the chimney isn't many feet above that roofline, they won't move in. Oh, and protected from rain. They like to spend the day undisturbed by anything and anyone. Normal human activity, even heavy equipment, won't bother them but they do want to be "cozy".
We put ours either on poles with the bottom entrance 12' above the ground, or on the sides of buildings roughly 2nd story height.
I briefly checked out batrescue org, I didn't like their designs. You can get better plans and information here:
http://www.batcon.org/resources/getting-involved/bat-houses/install
http://www.batcon.org/resources/getting-involved/bat-houses/install
I think you guys are Bat cht Crazy!
Thanks for the replies! Any recommendations on a well built pre assembled model?
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