Bat House Forum

[Dale]

Here's a pic of my newly mounted 3-chamber bat bungalow. It is 24" wide and 30" high + a 6" landing strip. There's also a 3/4" space between the brick and the bat house which could be utilized. Bring on the bats!

Dale

http://www.batnic.org/bat-house-photos/ ... ngalow.jpg

[Joe Spencer]

Awesome Dale! LIke the extra area between back of bat house and brick as additional roosting area for bats. I see that you have the strips of 3/4 wood on back of side allowing this however, did you put a middle top piece as well? If not consider it for a future project for it helps trap the heat, enables the bat house to become entirely an extension of the brick thermally. Additionally, it looks like your height is sufficient however, any lower and rain and elements could get behind the house with rain getting into the extra rear brick chamber if the top seal piece is not there. Nice house. How far are you from a water source and would you mind describing it.

[Dale]

Thanks for the reply Joe. The sides of the house is 1x6 cedar which extend 3/4" past the back of the box. I did put a strip across the back top of the box the same width. I still need to seal between the brick and the back of the house...any ideas? The top of the house is just under the soffit so rain shouldn't be much of an issue but sealing off the back will help hold the heat and decrease light from entering. The landing area is about 13' 3" above ground....is that sufficient? There's a greenbelt area and pond less than 1/4 mile away. Thanks for your help and advice.

Dale

[Joe Spencer]

13' is plenty of height. Just use some colored silicone caulking to seal. Brown should be dark enough to keep out the light. I have used siliconized latex caulking for building bat houses since it has easy water cleanup but I wouldn't use it against the brick for the stuff is often hard to get off for it dries rather firm. 100% silicone would be best so if you ever moved bat house it can be peeled and scraped off the brick if necessary but is also weather resistant and doesn't require painting obviously if you get brown. Additionally bat house occupancy increases greatly when you have more than one mounted beside the other particularly with a different color. In your photo I noticed what appears to be a handsome cream/tan colored trim/soffit paint color. Consider mounting another bat house painted with this color beside your current bat house separated by just a couple feet or what looks best to you. What exposure is this side of the house? N/S/E/W? Given your location in Texas and if bat house is on the southern side it could indeed overheat during late spring and summer. You have the luxury of having Bat Conservation International in Texas and Mark Kiser a member of this forum to offer you further help given your proximity and his vast Texas knowledge and bat preferences. CYA Joe....

[Dale]

Hi Joe,

The house is mounted on the SE corner of the gameroom above the garage but the house faces east. I figured that it would heat up early with the 6:30am sun and then it would begin to get shade about 1pm as the temps in our area are usually ~90 degrees by that time in July. I'm hoping that the brick would act as a heatsink to keep the temps fairly stable in the later afternoon. Thanks again for your help and advice....I can't wait to host a colony of bats.

BTW...I told the wife that I put up a house for chimney swifts cuz I don't think she would be too keen on bats like most people.

Dale

[Gran]

might be a problem if she notices the difference

[Joe Spencer]

Sounds Great! Will have fingers crossed for occupancy. Have you seen bats in your area yet or recently

[Dale]

Joe,

I've yet to see any bats in the Dallas area since I move here back in '82. What is the best time to view them flying...dawn or dusk? I'm guessing there's a really short window of opportunity. We just moved into this new house in December 2004 and I wanted to put up a house cuz I felt it was a good area and the 2nd story over the garage made it a good location. I'll let you know when the bats show up. Thanks again,

Dale

[Mark Kiser]

Free-tailed bats are around in TX from Feb. to October generally.
BCI has no reports of occupied bat houses from Dallas, but surely there are some. We do have successful reports from Fort Worth. Your house bat looks great, looks like you have done everything correctly. Let us know when the bats arrive.

Cheers,

Mark
BCI