Bat House Forum

[Rosio]

I live in Clover SC and have a 200 plus colony living in a crack between the log walls and chimney of my home. I would like to put up a house near the entry area, then seal up the opening. What size bat house, when is it safe for them to lock the out? Thanks for any help.

[IowaNate]

My suggestion is for a minimum of a three chamber bat house, 16" wide and 24" tall with the crevices being no more that 7/8 of an inch since I don't know the species. Bigger houses always have better rates of of success.

 By mid August you can exclude them safely without trapping any babies inside by using various "one way door" techniques. There are many posts of ways to safely exclude bats from your home here, and someone will elaborate more fully in this post as well (I hope).:D

      I wish you great success!

                                                   Nate

 

[Joe Spencer]

Rosio the first link below within our forum has links to BCI which are helpful for excluding bats.  The second link below has photos from a massachusetts exclusion also posted here as Nate had mentioned above.  Also use our search box at the top of the forum and put in "exclusion"  which will provide more info.  Good luck and we'll help in any way we can.

http://www.batnic.org/forum/forum4/84.html

http://www.batnic.org/forum/forum4/457.html

[Rosio]

I have learned alot about bats since I found this site! Do bats in my area migrate? And when would it be safe to exclude them from my house in regards to pups? I hope to get a bat house up soon. Thanks for all your help.

[cloudman75]

Rosio,

I am about 235 miles from you in Georgia, so I suspect you have little brown bats or evening bats, or some of similar size. I agree with what Nate told you about the minimum size. I had a similar problem a few years back and simply waited for the bats to leave. Your bats will probably leave in a couple of months. At that time you could block all the entrance points. Then you could just put up a bat house near their old entrance and most likely they will go into the house when they return about the last of March or in April. If you can't wait for them to leave, then the advice given for a one way door would work. I personally think your chances of relocating them to a bat house would be better after they leave on their own. They will come back next year pregnant and expecting a home. I put up a three chamber house, blocked off my attic louver and they moved right in the following spring. They are still with me in the bat houses each spring after three seasons. Good luck

[Rosio]

Thanks for the reply. I may have to exclude them sooner because the upstairs of my log house is smelling kinda funky. Regardless I will get a house built and put up soon.

[extrmtao]

I have learned much about bats in the past few days as we have heard some "chewing" sounds while sleeping at night.

Luckily, the bats have not yet found entry to the house but are roosting (hope I am using the right words here) in the overhang over my logs on my cabin.

I could hear the "chewing" when I came home this evening so I went outside and used a quick spray of a hose toward the roost spot and approximately 10 - 15 bats flew off.

So my question is, as they aren't really gaining entry into the house but they are keeping us awake as they are on the bedroom side of the house. Is there anything other than setting a bat house up and trying to relocate them that is reasonable?

I am all for them living around the house as we have mosquitos bad (Travelers Rest South Carolina) and I would love to have some summer colonies in their own house.

What is it that attracts them to the overhang? Its not much of a shelter but I guess it is better than nothing. Is there anything I can do to the overhang to prevent them from choosing this as their home?

Thanks so much for any help!!

[extrmtao]

After some more rooting around I found this:

Bats Roosting on Porches at Night
Bats sometimes roost on porches or under overhangs briefly during the night while they digest the insects they have eaten. Non-toxic aerosol dog or cat repellents may be used to discourage bats from roosting in these areas. The spray should be applied by day when bats are not present (Aerosol repellents are not an adequate substitute for exclusion in the case of day roosts and should never be applied when bats are in a roost.) Mylar balloons or strips of aluminum foil hung from the porch ceiling and allowed to move in the breeze may also discourage bats from roosting in that area.

I think this is my solution as they haven't gained entry. I will post up my results as I come to a conclusion.

Now my only question is, what is the sound that they are making at night? It sounds like scraping or chewing but all the material I have read says they don't "chew" on the wood. So what is it that causes this rubbing sound at night?

[Joe Spencer]

So my question is, as they aren't really gaining entry into the house but they are keeping us awake as they are on the bedroom side of the house. Is there anything other than setting a bat house up and trying to relocate them that is reasonable?

I am all for them living around the house as we have mosquitos bad (Travelers Rest South Carolina) and I would love to have some summer colonies in their own house.

What is it that attracts them to the overhang? Its not much of a shelter but I guess it is better than nothing. Is there anything I can do to the overhang to prevent them from choosing this as their home?

Thanks so much for any help!!

Since they're not in your house you can't do an exclusion. Bats would rather not have themselves exposed so your best bet is to indeed put up a nice bat house or two under the eaves may be a great place. Are they congregating beneath the peak of your eaves? Bats are there to stay dry and find protection. Yes that is not much protection there which means if you mount a bat house you're very likely to have it occupied. Relocating bats does not work. You could also consider bat houses on a pole/post or a rocket bat house on a post/pole away from the house if the location can provide a few hours of sun with minimal trees nearby.