Bat House Forum

[Teddy Dee]

1st post :
I have always noticed bat's flying in the late evenings where I live . I never gave them much thought .
I live in Tifton , Georgia which is in the southern , central part of the state .
I work at night and get off at 6:00 AM . About 5 years ago I came home from work and my co-worker came
by the house to smoke a cigarette before heading on home . As we stood in the drive way talking we noticed
about a 1/2 dozen bat's flying around us . We were amazed at this behavior and just stood there , quiet and
still and full of wonder . Then we saw what was happening . These bats were trying to get to their roost
which is a support beam of my carport , which is surrounded by brick work .

Last year I decided to put up a bat house and see if they would relocate . The idea was to let them move
and then fix the crevice of the support beam . I have bats in each location now but more so in the Bat
House . I purchased the bat house off of Ebay . It is a 2 chamber that is about 14 in. tall X 10 wide . The
chambers are 3/4 in. and there is a nursery in the top . I could swear that the Ebay seller stated that this
box would house 22 bats but I have counted 67 leaving for the evening hunt late last april. Of course the
numbers are not that high everyday . I am averaging between 35 to 45 bats these days .

But the purpose of my writing was to say that now that the pups are out hunting . And when they come
home to roost in the mornings it get's quite comical . They do not quite have it down how they should
approach the landing pad . They have many failed attempts and often smack into the landing pad . They
will also land on the front and then take back off for a new approach . Then there is one that has it in
his mind that there is a back door to the house . But it is so cool to stand about a dozen feet away and
watch them come in from the nights hunt and begin circling around , buzzing around within inches of
me . THIS PART is what I like most about having the bats .

[cloudman75]

Hello Teddy,
Welcome to the forum down there in Tifton. I am in Lithia Springs. I got a laugh out of your description of the pups learning to fly. I had the exact same experience as you described night before last watching mine practice and try to get in the right area to enter the house.
I hope that you will get about a three chamber box as soon as possible and put it up as the house you described sounds too small for all the bats you have. One problem I had this year from overcrowding in a house was to lose three pups that fell or got knocked out of the house right after they were born.
Keep us posted and enjoy your bats.

Frank

[Joe Spencer]

I second Frank's suggestion. Bat houses with larger thermal mass(multiple chambers 3 or more) can be mounted anywhere on buildings or poles. Looking forward to your progress...

[marius]

Great story, Teddy!

Of course now that I've read it I'll have to get up early ... thanks for that! (laughing, but sounds like it will be worth it.)

[Terry Lobdell]

That is a great story Teddy! You are off to a great start with that many bats! Keep us posted on your progress!

[Teddy Dee]

Thank you for your response guys . I appreciate the reception and the advice .
I just received a new 3 chamber house from a gentleman in Paducah , Ky.
last week . I will be getting it up soon .

May I run something by you that I have been wondering about ?
In my 1st post I said that in late April , I counted 67 bats leaving for the
evening hunt . Two day's before then I had 65 for an exit count . I am
aware that pups are born in May and I was wondering if the females have
pheromones to indicate that they are in season and is this the reason that the
exit count was so high ? What I am theorizing is that when the females
became receptive , then many males followed them home . Also when the
mating season was over these extra males returned to their normal roost
sites . Of course I am also assuming that the gestation period for a bat is
very brief . Am I even close ?

Teddy Dee

[Terry Lobdell]

Bats here in the northeast mate in the fall.........I'm guessing it would be roughly the same time of year in your area......My exit counts vary a lot because bats seem to change their roosts through out the season.........In recent years I have started to notice that about 2 or 3 weeks before my bats give birth they do a lot more investigation of different bat boxes.......maybe to finalize their location for raising pups? That is my hunch anyhow.......Each year as I get more boxes mounted I start to see more patterns and trends in how they choose which box to roost in.......I have around 50 or 60 boxes throughout the my property as well as others in a tri-county area in NWPA......

[cloudman75]

To expand on what Terry said,
Bats mate in the fall and the males also sometimes mate with the females in hibernation when the males wake up during hibernation. Even if the females are asleep they still get mated. The females are able to hold the sperm until spring and then release it then and become pregnant. I don't remember the gestatation period but it is available on the net. I saw my first pup here in NW Georgia on May 20 this year. It would vary from state to state because of the weather. In colder states, the bats come out of hibernation later. I have had some bats sleep in the trees and then come back to my bat house making the exit counts vary a little. I also have the entire colony leave for a few weeks and then return and stay until hibernation time around Nov. when the frost comes.
Right when you think you know about bats, they will do something unusual to give you doubts. At least that has been my experience.


Frank