Bat House Forum

[kh67]

Several times now my husband has mentioned a fear that we will get in trouble with the city for putting up bat houses.  In particular, he is worried about the lady next door, who seems to not be too keen on what we are doing.  He thinks she might call the city and complain.

My take on it is that its really no different than putting up a bird house and that you wouldn't need permission to do that.  Has anyone heard of needing a building permit or other form of permission to erect a bat house?  Has the city ever made you take a bat house down?  I know you can't judge one city by another, but I'd be curious to see if anyone has had a problem like that.

[Joe Spencer]

A friend and co-worker of mine had his son die last year purportedly from an infection from bird droppings.  They certainly wouldn't be able to say stop trying to attract birds because of it.  With bats it is similar.  It  is likely your neighbor cannot legally force you to remove the bat houses as one can't force removal of a bird house.  Everything  sadly revolves around the rabies factor.  Rules and regulations vary from STATE to state.  Here is an excerpt from Arizona:


Remember, removal is usually a last resort:
Bats are protected by state law, and disturbing a colony of bats where babies are present can result in dead bats and large fines. Bats reproduce slowly compared to other small mammals, and their benefits usually outweigh any harm they might cause. Bats should never be allowed to remain inside human living areas, but bats outside can be tolerated and even encouraged.

Entire info here:   http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/urban_bats.shtml

[IowaNate]

 I can't see any concern with the city or state requiring you to take down bat houses because someone complained. And if someone did complain and the city wanted to take action against you, myself and many of the members of my local Nature Center would be taking fast action. Unless you have covenants on your land prohibiting bat houses or are hanging them on private property, I wouldn't be the least bit concerned.

  The Cedar Rapids Gazette (our major newspaper) did an article about me and my bat houses in 1997, and on the front page was a photo of me climbing a functioning utility pole (wich I don't reccommend to most) with two of my bat houses mounted on it. Neither the city or anyone else complained or took them down.

  Here is a link to the article, unfortunately they want $2.95 to download all of it. 


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[kh67]

Thanks for the information!  I told my husband what you guys said, and he seems a bit more relaxed about the issue.

[LarryH]

An interesting side-note that I will add to this discussion -- When I put up our bat houses, I asked the neighbors if they thought it would cause any problems.  They were non-committal at best, and weren't sure if it would bother them.  But, after the houses were up and had attracted a fairly large number of bats, the neighbors on both sides of us thanked us for getting rid of the neighborhood mosquitoes.  Several times since the, they have again thanked us for putting the bat houses up.  We now have a little over 200 Big Brown and Little Brown bats on a regular basis, and we very seldom see a mosquito or June Bug.