Bat House Forum

[Mickp]

Hey all, great to find this site.  I'm about to put up my first bat house here in Dripping Springs, just W of Austin.  It's clear from the posts that location is everything (almost), so I want to try to get it right. 

I think my preference is under some eaves that hang out a good 2ft on the south side of the house.  It'll be very sheltered from the likes of the thunderstorms we had last night, BUT, because of the amount of eaves overhang will get ZERO full sun.  I figure maybe with summer temps able to get above 110 here that may not be a bad thing?

The other option is on the wall of a different part of the house, again south facing, but this one will get a lot of full sun and I'm afraid will cook in the summer.  I don't really have a suitable east facing side.

Anyway, I've seen a lot of info about "minimum" temperatures to aim for, but my problem is more the "maximum" and of the scale!

Any advice would be much appreaciated.

[Terry Lobdell]

I would mount bat houses in both locations. On the south side you could paint it white  so it won't overheat. I think the more options you give the bats, the easier it will be to attract them.

[Joe Spencer]

Welcome Mickp! Absolutely with Terry on this one.  What is your proximity to BCI in the Austin area?  Have you visited Bracken cave?

[Mickp]

My proximity is fairly close I'm sure, but I've never been there.  Have seen the bats from the Congress bridge though!  I'll try to check it out soon, thanks for the hint.

Right now I only have one box, so have gone for the lower, shded option as it didn't involve getting onto the roof.  We'll see what happens!