Anybody ever build a bat house?

[jonathan snyder]

Thats great that folks are thinking of putting up bat houses. Bat Conservation International is a great organization. Bats often get a bad rap, but are an important part of the ecosystem. I think BCI has some guidelines for locating the houses and what color to paint the outside, based on what latitude you live in. This helps with temperature control so they don't get overheated. I would put some houses up myself, but I am just a tad to far north.

Jonathan

[Mike Heidrick]

Does it have to face south?? What is teh benefit of it facing south? I have plenty of tall spots to mount them around the property that get full sun. I could mount one on the end of the garage but it faces north but towards the pond - would that work.

Can someone send me the multi room bat house plan to my email address unix888(at)verizon(dot)net please. I can recipricate with other plans if needed.

[Tim Wagner]

I could mount it on a pole in my yard, but that would add another obstacle to mow around.

how about two poles one on each side of your property, with a cable suspended between the two and the bat house centered between the two poles suspended off the cable.

on the other hand that may be kind of hokie.

[Fred Voorhees]

how about two poles one on each side of your property, with a cable suspended between the two and the bat house centered between the two poles suspended off the cable.

on the other hand that may be kind of hokie.

I've got a BIG yard and would need one heck of a long cable.

[Jim Becker]

I've got a BIG yard and would need one heck of a long cable.

And think of the danger to low-flying planes...

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Ryan,
I have an area on my property that has water in it at least 7 months out of the year. The water is shallow and is an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. Between the thousands of frogs and many bats, the mosquito population is not too bad.
I am not sure where the bats are living now but I am thinking about adding a couple bat houses to encourage more bats to stay in my area to help cut down on the mosquitoes that have survived.
David B

Same here.

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Check out this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Builders-Handb...5002669&sr=1-1

It's only $10 and it tells you everything you need to know. I plan on building some bat houses this summer. Good project to do with the kids.

[Ed Breen]

I've built one and will build another and mount it on the pole where my 3 tier bird house was. Its about 20' up. If you can't get southern exposure make sure you paint the house white to attract and hold heat. In fact, in some areas if you have too much sun you're better off to paint it black.
Ed

[Belinda Barfield]

Ryan,

Go to www.batworld.org. This site offers free plans, as well as all the information you need for location, paint/stain colors, etc. It is critical that you have the right combination for your area, otherwise you have no tenants, or really hot/cold bats.

If you are interested in a 5 chamber house kit with a holding capacity of ~250 bats go to www.batmanagement.com. This site has a great how-to finish section that again covers placement, mounting, paint or stain color for your area, etc.

Hope this is of help to you.

[David Epperson]

I've built one and will build another and mount it on the pole where my 3 tier bird house was. Its about 20' up. If you can't get southern exposure make sure you paint the house white to attract and hold heat. In fact, in some areas if you have too much sun you're better off to paint it black.
Ed

Sounds backwards. Black reflects less and heats up quicker.

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Sounds backwards. Black reflects less and heats up quicker.

You're right David. There's a map on the batworld site referenced above that tells you what color to paint it depending on the area of the country that you live. The further north you go, the darker you want it. To retain the heat that bats like.

[Laurie Brown]

I have bats in my area also, and I would love to build houses to attract more of them. The question is, however, how do you attract BATS to your houses rather than what I would be more likely to get - wasps, bees, hornets...

[Richard Daly]

for what it's worth, i found out that bats do NOT look for a house in trees.They DO look in the uppermost peaks of homes ,and outbuildings. I am no expert on bats but i did read this on a bat site...good luck STUBBY...keep fingers out of joiners

[James Carmichael]

I have a great place for one, south side of house, lots of sun, two stories up, but who wants bat droppings down the side of theri house ?

It's great fertilizer and useful for making black powder

[Mike Heidrick]

Isn't this an ammo can on the bat management site?? Pretty cool Idea!!