Bat House Forum

[#93]

After deciding that I wanted to build a bat house and started looking into it I stumbled across this forum.  What a great site.  I have also learned a lot about bat houses along the way.  I know myself well enough to know that I will not adequately care for a traditional style house made with a wooden exterior.  So the bat houses made with a PVC  sewer pipe exterior are appealing to me.

First a little background.  I live in South West Ohio.  Summer days below 80 degrees are rare.  I live on .8 acre with 38 mature trees and no mounting options on my house.  The chimney is only a few feet above the roof line on the North side of the house.  It is a ranch that has a 15 inch soffet on the South side and that is where the AC unit is.  I know trees are a less than ideal place to mount the bat house but I think they are my most viable option.  I plan an hanging 3 bat houses.

On the positive side I have a stream, that is always flowing, with in 150 yards of the house.  It actually makes a horse shoe shape around the house, all of it well with in a 1/4 mile.  The trees I plan on using are very tall and the first branches are 20 30 feet off the ground, 10-15 feet off the ground they get as much sun as any place in the yard but only 3-4 hours a day. There is a good mix of woods and fields in my area but most important, I think, is that I already see bats on a regular basis.  

I plan on using 10-12 inch PVC sewer pipe painted black with 1/4 inch plywood baffles that have plastic gutter guard attached to them.  I will separate the baffles with 7/8 inch spacers. and leave the same size gap at the top of the baffles.  I may also put some foam type insulation in the top.  I plan on using a 32 inch long section of pipe then cut the bottom 8 inches off the front of the pipe, a 4 inch landing pad will be built into one of the rear baffles.  The other 4 inches will serve to make it harder for predators to get in.  I will also mount the house a few inches away from the tree for this reason.  There will be .5 inch vent holes drilled around the bottom 4th of the bat house as well.

Do you think a bat house like I describe would stand a good chance of success in my yard? Also any constructive criticism, thoughts or words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. 

[cloudman75]

Welcome  # 93

I have had thoughts of using the plastic sewer pipe material, but have not followed up. I find that wood bat houses  serve one well if built properly. I would hope that you would pole mount at least one house . Tree mounts from what I have read and one personal experience seldom have maternity colonies. It would be interesting to see if your houses would be used. My experience is that you can never tell what bats will do. Sometimes it appears imposssible to make them leave where you don't want them, or to attract them where you do want them.  If you are seeing bats, I would put one  three chamber wood bat house on a pole to get them attracted to your property. It will last for a couple of seasons without maintenance and utilize a proven design. That's my two cents worth and I don't claim to be an expert. I do have nearly a 100 little brown bats total in two houses. They surprise me every season with their actions. I have three houses on poles with two of them being used now. One I just built several weeks back to let the bats get used to it for possible use next year. Insulation at the top keeps the house cooler in daytime, probably warmer at night. I would not use it myself as the pups need to stay warm from the sun especially heat from the roof as the sun appears almost directly overhead in the months they are born. The insulation would, I think reduce the temperature in daytime when the object is more sun exposure. I put no vents in my new bat house so that it would be warmer in April when the pups are born. They can move to another house if they get too hot as the summer temps rise.  Keep in mind 93, that my opinions are just that and by no means documented. Keep us posted on your progress with the sewer pipe bat houses, and good luck.

Frank

 

 

[Terry Lobdell]

#93, I agree with everything Frank told you.........One thing I would not do is use gutter guard. I have tried it and it has too coarse of a weave for the bats. Also, the strands are too thick for pups to cling onto. I have had bats roost in houses with gutter guard baffles in small numbers, but they always eventually chose houses with pet mesh covered baffles or saw kerfed wood baffles. Keep us posted on your progress!

[#93]

Thanks for the advice guys.  I could only find one local source of 10 inch PVC pipe and they only sell it in 20 foot sections for $236 and end caps were $72 each.  So that plan has been abandoned and makes the bat house sold at http://www.batmanagement.com/Ordering/batboxes/batcan/batcan.html look like quite a value.  

I am now considering using air duct and applying spray/brush in bed liner on the inside and out side.  I could make the baffles out of sheet metal coated with the bed liner as well.  

Would the bed liner provide sufficient roughness for the bats to grip?

I spoke to the wife unit about a pole mounted to the house, that is the only area with out trees, and she was less than fond about the idea.  To be honest I am not excited about a pole mount either so I should not blame her, entirely

I am considering making a more traditional 3-4 baffle house as well, since that seems to be the direction you all are suggesting.  Too bad ammo cans in that size range are so uncommon, if they are made at all.  

[kent borcherding]

Hi #93

PVC pipe is successful for bat houses . Downside does not retain night time heat as well as a dense wood bat house.

I have used the truck bed liner on the exterior of many bat houses works well . If you do not apply a polyureathane coating to the wood material first bed liner material will not adhere properly. The bed line material cures by heat and pulls some moisture from the wood being covered and material will not bond properly .Polycoating prevents this.

Possibly have problem with outgassing from the bed liner material if you used it to cover the baffles in the bat house.

Are you familiar with the book " In Ohio's Backyard : Bats by Jacqueline J. Bellwood - ISBN 0-86727-125-6. your local library may have it or able to obtain it for you. The book contains plans for several bat houses , and much bat info.

Dr. Bellwood is a very knowledgedable bat person and lives in the Cincinnati area.

Also the Cincinnati museum has a great bat cave and exhibit.

[#93]

Thank you for the great advice Kent.  I will check the library for “In Ohio’s Backyardâ€Â

[#93]

Today has been a good one.  My local branch of the Library got the book “In Ohio’s Backyard: Batsâ€Â