Dead tree not an option? Give the bats the next best thing a bat house to mimic the space and habitat that a dead tree would normally provide. Building your own bat house is a great way to get involved in bat conservation. Bat Conservation International BCI has designs for three different types of roosts freely available on our website: single chamber, four-chamber , and rocket boxes. Make sure to check out our website for additional tips and tricks for building your own bat house.
Once you have your bat house, check out BCIs installation tips. But remember, though we have developed best practices based on years of experimentation, please dont feel you cant have a bat house if your conditions are not exactly like the ones we suggest. Mount the bat house on a pole or on the side of a building. Tree-mounted homes are a no-no, since they're easily accessible to predators and offer too much shade. Bats need height to drop down before they catch flight, so the bat house must be high enough at least 15 feet for them to fly away without running into a predator on their downward journey.
Keep it small. Bats like narrow, tight spaces to call home, similar to the space between a tree trunk and its bark. Instead, ensure the surface inside is slightly rough, making it easy for them to claw up. Maintain an ideal temperature. Position the bat home facing south to southeast.
That way, the bat house catches the heat and warms up when the sun rises. Do a security check. The bat house provides a respite from wind and rain, not to mention dangerous predators. Inspect it regularly from spring to early fall to make sure no bees or wasps have taken up shop. You'll know your bat home is a success and the bats have taken up residence when droppings begin appearing around the house on the ground.
Before you put out the welcome mat for bats, make sure you're not accidentally inviting them into your own home. We tried for years, beginning nearly 30 years ago, to get bats in various locations in Colorado. Before we dive into attract bats , we need to discuss the difference between a colony of bats and bachelor bats. Bachelor bats are just that, a few male bats that take up residence on your property. Where as a colony of bats is a fancy way of saying a family. This is ideal, as you will have whole team of bats cleaning up on your bugs.
Because bachelor bats have huge appetites for mosquitoes, too! A study done by Bat Conservation International has found that these five factors determine is you attract bats or not. Here are the top five things that successfully attract bats - in no particular order:. If you have all five conditions on your property, then congratulations.
Nursery bat houses, which are capable of supporting hundreds of bats, need to be close to water. This is because the female bats do not like to be away from their flightless newborn pups for much time. The adult bats drink by skimming water into their mouth as they fly low over a body of water.
The water source can be a lake, pond, or a stream that is several feet wide. Nursery bat houses that are within a quarter mile of a water source have the greatest potential for success.
If you do not live near a body of water, you can still have bats, it is simply less likely that you will have a colony of bats. In these situations, we recommend buying our batchelor bat box, a smaller and inexpensive box to house the few batchelor bats that are normally be found in areas more than a half-mile from a body of water.
Bats know this, too. Although some species hibernate in caves, microbats tend to spend warmer months in trees, where they seek the security of tight spaces — including gaps between a tree's bark and its trunk. That's why the living area inside a bat house is so narrow, since it's designed to mimic the spaces that instinctively appeal to bats. Don't bother with bait, BCI warns, since "existing evidence strongly suggests that lures or attractants including bat guano will NOT attract bats to a bat house.
Just make sure the house meets several criteria that bats care about, namely:. Bat houses are typically made of wood with grooves in the interior walls, since bats need a rough, graspable surface to hang from during the day. The best have roost chambers at least 20 inches tall and 14 inches wide, and a 3- to 6-inch landing area near the entrance.
Pressure-treated wood isn't recommended. It's best to leave the inside unpainted, but consider exterior paint to keep the house warm. Roost temperature "is probably the single most important factor for a successful bat house," according to BCI.
The ideal temperature for mother bats to raise their young is between 80 and degrees Fahrenheit 27 and 38 Celsius , although some species are more flexible than others. Once it's built and caulked, there are two main ways to control heat in a bat house: location and color.
Place the house where it will get at least six hours of sunlight per day — facing south, east or southeast in most climates — and paint the outside a dark color to absorb heat. Location is huge in bat real estate, and not just because of sunlight. Even though bats naturally roost in trees, they're more likely to occupy a bat house if it's on a pole or building.
That may be because trees are more accessible for predators, or because branches can get in bats' way as they enter and exit tree-mounted houses. On the other hand, some bats avoid wide open areas for fear of predators like hawks and owls, so it's still good to have trees nearby. Wherever the house goes, it should be 15 to 20 feet off the ground and away from electric lights. Since bat houses have open bottoms to keep guano from collecting inside, don't place it directly above a window, door, deck or walkway.
You could put a tray underneath to catch guano as fertilizer, but never use a bucket or other deep container — any baby bats that fall from their roost could get trapped inside. You can set up a bat house any time of year, but spring and early summer are when prospective residents are most likely to visit. Be patient, and allow time for bats to discover and examine the house.
If it's still unused after two years, though, try modifying or moving it. And if you're evicting a bat colony from a building — one of the few times bats can be a nuisance — mount a bat house nearby several weeks ahead of time.
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