Bat House Forum

[nantucketgeoff]

Hello All!
A few friends and I are in the middle of building 100 bat houses right now. We are installing them all around Nantucket Island, which is where we all live. We are running up against a problem, the high cost of materials to build the houses. We are using a lot of scrap wood but it is in limited quantities. I was wondering if anyone out there has gained public or private funding for the creation of "bat habitat"?
Thank you for your time!
Geoff Smith
(508)221-8334

[Joe Spencer]

I'm sure someone has Geoff. Have you consulted BCI at all?

[Terry Lobdell]

Hi Geoff,
Have you had any luck getting material? I have made donations of material to the PA state game commission for some bat condo projects. I do have some more lumber that I would be willing to donate if you are interested?

[Dave Miller]

Have you tried contacting fencing companies? If they have any wood fencing jobs where some or all of the fence will be shorter than 6 feet, you should be able to use the scraps. e.g. I got a lot of my bat house material from a fence project that used 6 foot boards to make a 4 foot fence.

You can also put an ad on craigslist or freecycle stating what you are looking for and why. Frequently people will be removing old fences and are looking for someone to give the boards to. Used fencing is IDEAL bat house material.

You might also contact local wood recyclers, I have seen some great lumber scraps in their piles which they may either give you or sell super cheap.

Of course you can just contact the lumber stores and ask for donations. They will probably want some sort of advertising/acknowledgment in return.

There are tons of organizations who give grant money. Typically you will need to provide matching funds, either in the form of cash or labor hours. You may also need to be registered as a non-profit organization, or work with an existing non-profit (or for-profit?).