Bat House Forum

[jdawn]

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce myself and say "hello"   and also ask for any feedback on placing bat houses in high desert regions (does lack of nearby water sources make this more difficult)?  We have observed bats flying about in the evenings (western pips at dusk) .  I have recently become interested in placing a bat house or two on our property (5 acres of juniper/pinion in southern Utah set against wild BLM-Arizona strip area behind).   If anyone has recommendations for placing bat houses in this type of arid terrain, it would be greatly appreciated (we are mostly Great Basin region, but are within 20 minutes drive of the convergence of Mojave, Great Basin & Colorado Plateau areas).  There is an ephemeral water source about a mile away where run off from a water tank has created an intermittent stream and also there is a small reservoir about 2.5-3 miles away.  This site is a wonderful resource~ thank you for being here.  I look forward to learning more about these wonderful creatures and how to support their habitat. 

[Terry Lobdell]

Welcome! Here is a link to a guy from Arizona who has posted on here before. It has been awhile since he has posted. Maybe you could send him a private message. BCI may be able to help you out also since they are involved with bats virtually everywhere in the world.

http://www.batnic.org/forum/view_user.php?id=201&posts=1

[Dave Miller]

If you are already seeing bats on your land then I wouldn't worry too much about distance from water.   I would guess that a properly constructed and placed bat house would be used by the bats on your land.

If water is scarce in your area, it would benefit the bats to have a close water source.  Do you have a stock tank on your land?  Some of us here have purchased or built small ponds for use by bats, you might think about that.  Anything the size of a bathtub or larger will do.  Just keep it filled with water and keep the mosquito larvae down by circulating the water or using those mosquito eating fish.  You will find that a pond will attract many other creatures as well, e.g. birds are attracted to the sound of running water.   I have just a small pump on my pond which circulates the water through a biological filter (i.e. the roots of water plants).  This keeps the mosquitoes and algae at a minimal level.

If you do have or provide a water source, make sure that there is a way for bats and other creatures to crawl out if they happen to fall in.  See the "Water for Wildlife" booklet from BCI:

http://www.batcon.org/news2/pdf/bciwaterforwildlife.pdf

Before purchasing or building a pond for bats, let me know so I can give you my "lessons learned".

Dave

[jdawn]

Thank you for your responses- we are also in process of putting a patio in back of house and the possibility of a water feature has been discussed.   I will definitely read up on BCI's info about this and check in as we get closer to this step to see the 'deets' on what & "what not" to do.  I will stay in touch as we continue to explore our new bat house adventures... regards, jdawn