Bat House Forum

[goacom]

Folks,
I am planning to install a bat home at my property. Our home adjoins a greenbelt and we tend to suffer from severe mosquito problems in the summer.
I purchased a Looker Triple Chamber Bat House http://www.amazon.com/Looker-OBC-Bat-Triple-Chamber-House/dp/B000FLTO6A and plan to mount it on a 15 foot post http://www.backyardbird.com/Bat-House-Pole-Kit_p_737.html

I have attached a map of my home. It is located in Austin, Tx. The average high's for July and August are around 95F, though there are days when it can easily cross 100F and sometimes even hit 110F. The Batcon's color recommendation is medium or light shade of paint. I have chosen a medium brown tint. However, my concern is if it gets too hot in the summer, what do I do?

I suspect it would be difficult to repaint the house in the middle of the summer if I am lucky to have it occupied by then as it would require dismantling the posts and bringing the occupied house down. Another option would be to move the post to a more shaded location, but again, moving the house around without agitating the bats may be a challenge. Another thing I was thinking about was to perhaps gently gradually rotate the house though the summer (if needed), so that less of its surface area is exposed to direct sun. What do your folks think of this?

Besides the temperature issue, I am also looking for recommendations for locations. I am currently planning to place it near the south, unshaded portion of our house. From my reading that seems like an ideal position in terms of morning sun and open space. One concern I have is their potential lack of water. There is a seasonal stream (highlighted in blue), but that area is deeply wooded and I'm not too sure if the bats would venture so far. They would also have to cross a road to get there. Would having a bird fountain in close proximity help?

Sorry if my questions seem a little naive. I don't have much experience in this matter.

Thanks.

[po boy]

I don't think that pole kit will work with a 3 chamber.

Check here for colors http://www.batcon.org/pdfs/bathouses/ba ... iteria.pdf

[goacom]

po boy,
Can you tell me why you think it will not work?
Thanks.

[cloudman75]

Hello in Austin, and based on my experience with that bat house that I purchased directly from OBC, here is my advice:

Don't paint the house at all and especially not brown in Austin. Leave it natutural and it will serve you well for many years.
The one fault with the design of the house as pointed out to me by Joe Spencer is where the roof meets the back board. As the house ages the roof pulls away due to shrinking of the wood. I put a couple of extra screws in mine and a bead of calk where the roof board meets the back board. I have had no trouble with a leak there after several years.
Bat pups need to be warm, but can do well without sun. Where your ambient temperature is 95 and hotter the bats will be too hot in your house. It has the minimum ventilation with only one slot across the front. I have found that over and over each season it will be too hot in the metro Atlanta Ga area which is cooler than Austin. Bats in attics never get direct sun.
Your house will need little sun so locate it out of the direct sun if you like. The house is good for about 100 bats maximum.
The bat pole kit, as described, should be OK for this house is about a 10 pound house. My bats love this house and use it every year. I have some freetails and little browns and I suspect that you will have those also in your area, especially freetails.

Take a look at my post under Bat house Photo /pictures Bat Relocation Method and you will see my house with the bats hanging out after I first mounted it under the eaves with very little sun ever hitting it. They still got hot. You can read the obc logo.
I still have the house and it has three bats in it right now. It is a great choice I think.
I hope this helps and ask anytime on the forum as there are some real batters on this forum.
Don't plan on a gentle relocation when bats are present. If there is a pond or stream within a half mile they will use it. If you are seeing bats flying at your place they have what they need. A fountain would not suffice if it is small just my opinion.

Frank

[goacom]

Frank,
Thank you for your reply.
I had already primed the house with a white primer, so I will have it paint it with a light brown paint I guess. I will caulk the seam between the roof and the back board and reinforce it with more screws.
About relocating/moving a bat house, my strategy is to have the bat house located for maximum heating/sun during the spring so as to increase the chance of it being occupied (I have not seen any bats in our neighborhood). Once occupied and as the summer heats up, I was thinking of moving the occupied bat house closer to the shade of a tree. This is what I am not too sure about. What do you think?

[Dave M]

I'm pretty new to this, but I have not heard of anybody moving an occupied bat house. You'd probably be better off putting two of them up, one in the sun and one in the shade, that way the bats can use the one they like. Take a peek at "The Bat House Builder's Handbook" by Merlin Tuttle, I checked it out from the library. There is a plan for mounting two houses back to back on the same post with a gap in between. It sounds like you can have a wide range of heat inside the various crevices this way. In addition to mounting them this way, you could also paint the outside of the cooler house white.

[cloudman75]

Goacom,
I agree with what Dave M said in his post. My advice would be to buy another identical house. Mount it back to back on the same post, leave it unpainted. Face it for the sun, paint the existing house white and let it be your summer house to be cooler.

An alternate scheme would be to leave the bottom of your existing house white, paint the upper part including the roof brown.
I have a house painted Dark blue on the upper portion and light blue on the lower that is used every year especiallly liked by freetail bats. If you get bats, you need to put up another house next winter back to back so they will have a choice of temperatures. A nearby location would also be good in lieu of back to back.
Don't dare move the house while the bats are using it especially the first year they select it. I don't think they would tolerate that.
Of course one never is sure what a bat will do and these are just my opinions. I am no expert. BTW, my Ggrandfather's brother
lived a few miles from you in the Leander area. He is in Bagdad Cemetery along with a dozen or so of my relatives. My old Navy shipmate and I keep in touch from Georgetown and he often tells me how hot it is in summer. Last summer here was a scorcher and my bats hung out in the daytime quite often due to temperature not sun exposure. Bats here used that house unpainted by the first of April and were a maternity colony under the eaves of my house. After they arrive and get pregnant it is several weeks
before the pups arrive so it is warmer weather by then. At least this has been my experience.

Frank

[goacom]

Frank, Dave,
As always, thanks for your suggestions! I don't think the pole mount I purchased will allow for back to back installation. In lieu of that, where would you recommend I mount the second bat house? Alternatively what if in the summer I attached an umbrella or some shading over the bat house to keep it cooler. Finally, what do you folks about the idea of gently rotating the bat house (but in the same location) so that it gets less sun in the summer.

Frank
I am a recent move from California to Austin. Have not checked out all the places yet. You sure sound like an old pro

[Terry Lobdell]

The box you have is a decent box, but it is too small to give you the temperature and ventilation needs for your area. You might consider adding another crevice on the shady side with an open top where the bats could go during the hottest part of the day. The open top will allow for really good ventilation. I have some boxes mounted on my house here in PA for big browns with a crevice between the box and my siding. (One is on my chimney). Big browns needing cooler temps than little browns love these boxes. I always find them roosting in these open topped back crevices at mid-day.

[cloudman75]

Goacom,
Rotating the house would do little good as in summer the sun appears to be more overhead . The angle of incidence is high in summer. Also it makes no difference if the sun hits the front or back it still will be hot if the ambient temp is hot unless you get some shade out of the sun part of the day. A lot of heat comes through the roof.
Just pick you a spot for the second house out of the sun during part of the day. In Austin you have a different ball game than others in cooler locations. BTW, you got the old description right. Are those solar collectors on the house? Just curious about the pattern on your roof. I would suggest that you paint the roofs of your bat houses white. I painted my summer bat house roof white and also made the roof with a large overhang in an attemp to keep the bats cooler this year in my area. Good luck and keep us posted. The freetail bats in your area can take more heat than some others you may have. My bats sometimes just leave for a period if conditions are not to suit them. I suppose they have a summer home in the mountains, lol. They have always returned.

Frank

[goacom]

Terry, Frank,
Thanks again for your thoughts. Based on your recommendations, it looks like heat is potentially going to be a big factor for the bats. I had thought the more heat the better! Hence I am now thinking of moving the house to the north. The "exposed" house (#1) should get almost the same amount of sun as the original location. However, assuming I get occupancy, I will then have the luxury of being able to add another house (#2) that gets more shade very close to the first, thus allowing the bats to switch homes if needed. Hopefully, the trees nearby don't scare them off.

Frank, yes, the stuff on my roof are solar panels. Averaged over a year, I generate around 90% of my electrical energy needs with these panels. I have a reflective metal roof which besides being better for mounting the panels, also helps reduce heat buildup. I guess if I need a light roof, so do the bats!

Regards

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[cloudman75]

I was curious and checked the summer climatic design conditions in Austin for cooling calculations. It was 98 degrees. I think your bats
will be fine in the shade or partial shade and for sure from June through Sept. A light colored paint would be my choice, not anything brown. Keep us posted during the summer about your bat house. Post some photos if you will.


Frank

[goacom]

Ok folks, I finally set up the bat house! I used a two tone paint scheme - light beige on the top and a darker brown on the bottom. I also caulked and screwed the top of the bat house to make it more durable.
The pole is a 15ft pole that was attached to my fence (http://www.backyardbird.com/Bat-House-P ... p_737.html). One concern that I have is that the top portion sways a bit (a couple of inches?) in the wind. Is that a problem for the bats? Another concern I have is whether the post will be able to tolerate very strong winds. The pole kit was pricey, but convenient. I would have preferred if the adapter bracket that interfaces the bat house to the pole was metal instead of plastic.
Now, all I need are some bats!

bat house.jpg (27.72 KiB) Viewed 2024 times

[Terry Lobdell]

Based on my own experience and much that I have read bats have a surprisingly high tolerance for bat house poles swaying in the wind........I have a couple boxes mounted on poles that sway and I've never seen the bats leave or switch boxes because of it........

Also, judging by your picture that pole should be plenty strong enough!