Bat House Forum

[cloudman75]

I finally felt well enough to take down my large 5 chamber bat house today. It was mounted on a pole and leaned up to a large tree with no limbs.
I banged on the steel pipe to make sure it was empty and four flying squirrels came running out. Later this afternoon I put a new cedar bluebird house
back where the bat house had been to give the flying squirrels a home perhaps.
I am going to re-paint the bat house and repair the roof where a grey squirrel damaged it I suppose trying to get to the little flying squirrels. I will be watching for it on the bluebird house. I hope to have the bat house maintenance completed in a couple of weeks from now.
I used a rope, pulley and my little tractor to let the heavy 5 chamber down. I will do the same putting it back up alone. It weighs around 75 lbs.

Frank

[Terry Lobdell]

Frank, I once had a mother flying squirrel raise young in a bluebird box.......have never had them in a bat box though.......I did see a bat box of outdated design with 1 & 1/8" crevices have a house wren nest in it......all the more reason to go with 3/4" crevices........

I am thinking about getting a chain hoist to help raise bat boxes.......

[cloudman75]

I am having second thoughts about painting the old 5 chamber. It has some damage from squirrels chewing on it and I may just paint the roof after I calk it good. This box is plywood about 5 or 6 years old and is in good shape. It still smells like bats so I hate to make it smell like fresh paint. I have a real problem in getting it back up alone as the pipe and house weigh about 150 lbs. I cannot even lift the pipe alone up to vertical from horizontal on the ground. I have a couple of pulleys and a new dacron rope I bought so I can use a tree and my tractor to pull it into the air. I also have a come- along that I have used before.
Right now we have rain so I can think about the paint awhile. The bats will be coming in here about March 15. What do you folks think about painting the house all over or just the roof where it needs repair? How about it Terry and any other input?. Do you think the fresh paint would turn the bats against using their old house?

Frank

[Terry Lobdell]

Frank, I am 99% sure you will be safe painting the bat box especially with a water based paint.......once bats have established residence it is nearly impossible to get them to leave.........I have made lots of alterations in the off-season to many bat boxes with no negative consequences........If you continue to have trouble with squirrels maybe you could cover it with aluminum? I have covered many of my bat boxes with metal........up here in the north it helps raise temps earlier in the morning and hold temps better at night.......of course in your location you would probably want to increase your ventilation..........

[cloudman75]

Thanks for reply Terry,
I plan to paint it when the sun comes back out. We have had warm but stormy weather with tornado warnings and watches. I went out tonight and had two little tiny bats in bat houses. One is in the winter house with an attic and the other is in the old OBC three chamber. These bats manage to disappear during freezing weather then return during warm spells in winter. I'm really glad to have them. They like to roost alone, and I don't really know what species they are. I call them my resident bats. I think my iron supplements are doing the job as I have much more energy than I did a few weeeks ago. I hope to get the heavy 5 chamber up in the air in a week or so. I will be painting it a blue latex exterior , nothing on the baffles. This one has scored plywood baffles which have done quite well over several years.

Frank

[cloudman75]

Painted the whole bat house yesterday Terry. I have rigged up a boat winch and rope tied to a tree with a pulley tied to my trailer shed post and hope to get it in the air tomorrow before the rain comes in. This old house is really heavy with a really heavy steel pole. I'll have a go at it tomorrow after I put a couple of new mounting bolts for the house and pole. One broke as I was dragging the house and pole with my tractor. The iron supplement the doc prescribed has given me some energy lately so I decided to work on the bat house.

Update, completed the job today, and it was quite a task for one peson. The old bat house still gave off a bat odor after being empty last year and painted a few days ago. I expect my bats will welcome their old birthplace home this season.

Frank

[Terry Lobdell]

I was actually prescribed iron after my surgery this fall........not sure if I still need it or not..........

Yeah its amazing how a bat house which does not seem that heavy changes in a big way once you start putting it up in the air........I may continue to experiment with scaffolding for my larger bat houses.....

[cloudman75]

This one always seemed heavy. In fact when it is attached to the pipe on a pivot I can barely pick it up a foot or so on the bat house end. Two persons cannot raise it to vertical. Anyway it is up and will remain up from now on unless nature brings it down.
I checked the bat houses tonight, no bats at all. It has been at freezing night temps for a few days. In two months now, I should be seeing some bats return
on warmer days when nights are above freezing. I don't plan to get everything done I had planned due to my lack of energy from iron deficiency.
The plastic shells will have to wait for baffles.
Frank