Bat House Forum

[cobradriver]

I guess I should have thought about this question before going thru hell mounting my house up there, but basically is it ok to mount a house on a power pole?

I was wondering if the transformers or any other components put out some frequency or energy that would keep bats away. I didn't put to much concern on this matter because I have seen photos here and there of houses mounted to poles with transfromers....but still.

Thanx for any input ppl's

Vladimir

[LarryH]

I have two separate, unrelated comments regarding putting bat houses on utility poles:

1. We have a utility pole mounted on our property, near our house, with a transformer on it. I wanted to mount a "night light" that comes on at dusk on that pole, using our electricity to power it. The power company provided me a document quoting part of the agreement on that pole that shows it is the express property of the power company and the "consumer may not attach" any items to the pole.

2. Within the past year we have had 2 squirrels executed when they climbed the pole and attempted to gain access to the wires leading to/from the pole. One of the squirrels fell to the ground in flame and started the grass on fire.

So, I would not consider mounting bat houses on the utility pole, with or without a transformer.

[cobradriver]

Larry thats a great point, I'll call the company and see what they say about that. I haven't had any animals killed on the line but that is a fact to consider. Thanx for the input and ideas.

Vladimir

[LarryH]

As an update, yesterday we had the third squirrel commit suicide on the utility pole. This one, unfortunately, caused the power transformer to explode in the process. We were without power for over half a day while the power company located “on call” maintenance people, got a new transformer from the warehouse, and replaced the blown one. Fortunately, though, even though the exploding transformer sprayed oil all over the ground, it did not start any fires.