Bat House Forum

[Joe Spencer]

A handsome site indeed!  Looking forward to the future on this one...

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is the finished condo. It may not get much use this year but I'm expecting much occupancy in 2009!

[Joe Spencer]

NIce!  Terry, I can't quite tell from the photo whether this finished product bottom is enclosed with drop down floors for cleaning or is it an open bottom?

[Terry Lobdell]

Joe, it has trap doors which can be opened later when the bats leave in the fall. Whatever guano has accumulated can be cleaned out then.......I will post more pics soon!

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is another view of the finished condo:

[Joe Spencer]

Fantastic photo!  So basically this is nearly identicle to the original erected by Cal Butchkoski?  Does your finished product also have roosting partitions between the wall studs as below?  No biggie since you certainly have a lot of thermal mass here with all that OSB.  Do you know if this marsh dries up later in the season or does it provide enough drinkable water seasonaly? 



 

[Terry Lobdell]

Joe, yes this is basically Cal Butchowski's design. The lumber list I gave to the sawmill came right from the PA game commssion's plans on their website. The conservation officer who got this project started has worked with Cal before. He said all the condos he has been involved with are full! What that means numbers wise I'm not sure.........I've got to ask him when I see him next. Kent said 3,000 is the highest number he's aware of roosting in a condo.

I'm not sure if they put baffles in the stud cavities or not........the previous photos in this thread show that they do not have them.........I will ask the next time I see the guys who built it.

The marsh probably does dry up during certain times of the summer........but this location is next to a very large stream (French Creek) of high water quality. A guy just down the road from here has a bat house and told me last summer he had around 200 little browns in it. This was probably about 1/2 mile away.

The very first day I came to look at this project a bald eagle flew out right past me..............it made me think of all the stories I had heard over the years about my Great Uncle and how much of an outdoorsman and naturalist he was.......... 

[Joe Spencer]

Based on your reply Terry,  this sounds like a fantastic spot for occupancy.  Since white nose fungus is primarily found in little brown bats and not big browns, it will be interesting to see whether you or anyone who inspects the house after occupancy can determine whether you see any indication of WNS in your bats at this site once you have a good amount of bats (as you say hopefully next year).  Latest WNS outbreak is seen below.  Since you said this site is in NW PA, hopefully you will be ok:

[BrackishBatter]

Terry

any update for 2009?

[Terry Lobdell]

As of June no guano observed........I need to check soon as pups are exploring a lot before migration............

[Cheryl]

That is gorgeous... I want something like that!! Even 1/4 that size ... Wow...

I've considered making some guano tea (like you do for plants) with whole guano, not store-bought fertilizer.. and then straining it, putting it into a spray bottle and misting the insides of a new bat house with that.

Do you think that might draw more interest from potential residents? Like swarm-lure for bats instead of bees!

When I build my next bat house, I'm going to try that. Won't know if it works until next year.

[Terry Lobdell]

Thanks Cheryl! This condo is now receiving use........another one built in 2006 not too far away had an exit count of 300 this past August 2009.

As for guano tea, BCI says there is no evidence that it attracts bats........I agree based on my experience.......

What does attract bats very well though, is a previously used box..........I believe it is the urine scent more than anything.............a box with urine (white colored) stains on the landing pad is almost sure to attract bats in a couple weeks if it is in reasonably good habitat.....

I have started mass producing boxes here at home, then mounting them temporarily outside so bats will use them a little bit before I mount them elsewhere.........So far I have had 100% success with this method..........

[Cheryl]

Hmm... the guano I gathered last fall has clumped sand mixed in - which is probably urine. I sifted the guano - and clumps - from a sandy riverbed under a bridge.

If it's urine that "marks" a roosting spot, this might work. I suppose it can't hurt to try (make it smell sort-of lived in). What would be even better would be to disassemble an old box and incorporate pieces of it into a new box. I'm sure this has already been done.

I like your method best -- but I lack the resources (and enough bats) at present. Someday, maybe. :D

[Terry Lobdell]

Another thing you could do would be to mount a small box somewhere near an established colony.......then after it has had some use, just transfer it back to where you want them........