Bat House Forum

[Karyl]

A few months ago I put up by first bat house, a pvc bat can. I was a bit nervous about this as I live in a neighborhood with an HOA. There is no policy on bat houses yet and I wanted to stay under the radar so they didn't start one. Due to our property being very wooded the house had to be placed where it is somewhat visible in winter from the road. We are on a low traffic cul-du-sac in a small, casual neighborhood but still I was waiting for the first person to scream RABIES.

One reason I selected a bat can is because it does not look like a bat house so might help with the "under the radar" theory. Well, now that the leaves have fallen a couple of people have seen our bat can and asked me what it is and the reaction has been positive. In fact we are building modified rocket box bat houses as Christmas presents for two of our neighbors who are really taken with the idea. The rocket box was selected for several reasons but again, it does not look like a bat house and is understated. Actually we are building three because I want one as well. We have woodworking skills so building them is easy, the cost is not much and it creates more habitat for bats, so why not? Both families have kids so it puts a positive spin on bats for the children which I am all about - let them grow up with the idea that wildlife is outside and welcomed.

I just wanted to post this news because it is a positive general public reaction. Very few people have seen our bat house but a neighborhood that had no bat houses at all will now have three. These are average people who are willing to accept and accommodate bats on their property with enthusiasm. I have no idea if any of us will get bats occupying - bats are around but not in droves, however perhaps we will.

[Joe Spencer]

That is good news and I hope the members of the HOA don't change their minds or discourage this long term. A condominium association approached me because they had numerous bats in a couple condos which were not built tightly allowing easy access for bats. They association met and said they would put up bat houses and I said I would not charge them for anything other than building materials. I said I would only do this if they agreed to put up houses and then I would perform the exclusion. They changed their minds and when I inquired they said they dealt with a pest company instead. This cost them much more than my/our process and approach and did not benefit the bats since I have no idea how it was handled whether humanely or not even though we know pest control companies are not allowed to kill bats but only exclude them. Hope everything works out for you and the HOA and please let us know as soon as you have occupancy. How far is your site from water and if you're in the states please remind me which one if already mentioned.

[Karyl]

Ack, that is a sad tale about the condos. I have only dealt with one pest company but it's a national chain and I was not impressed at all. It wasn't about bats, we had scorpion issues, but they wanted to spray a lot of chemicals. I asked how that would not kill all my snakes, toads and chipmunks and they told me they "were a very environmentally friendly company" and other wildlife would not be harmed over and again with no explanation what "environmentally friendly" actually meant. The man was clueless. I did not hire them but instead made my home more toad friendly, less scorpion friendly and don't have a scorpion problem any more. I could not imagine these guys dealing with bats.

My HOA will not squawk. We are rural and casual. It was mainly a matter of those neighbors everyone has that might be negative but they are outnumbered already. I mentioned the bat house to them and it went right past them.

I am in north Georgia and not positive where water is. We have at least one koi pond, a community swimming pool and a creek but the creek dries up in drought years. We have a major lake 1 mile away and a few retaining ponds with water all the time 1/2 mile away. I've look for water via satellite & can't find any but there are bats present - two species although I am not sure which species they are. Finally gave up over researching the water issue and just put up a house to see what happens. I'm considering a fish-less pond myself which may help.

When I went to get wood for building more bat houses one of the employees of the builder's supply was enthusiastic about what we were doing, asked a lot of questions. We are taking him the plans to build one for himself. Apparently he has bats in his attic, wants them out of the attic but not off his property. One more positive reaction.

[Joe Spencer]

Karyl, you can use Google Satellite maps using your address and then zoom in and out to find the nearest water which is easily approximated. Good feedback and good luck!

[Karyl]

I tried google satellite for days, no go. There are a lot of woods here and it's hard to see. IF we have water it will be a small pond, tough to satellite - GA has no natural lakes and isn't known for water sources. But like I said there are already bats here so I figured we'd just have to see what exactly my area will support. I was driving myself nuts on the water issue. Not a of lot roads here, but many large tracks of privately owned property so I can't wander around and just look.

[cloudman75]

I am in Lithia Springs just west of Atlanta. After your last post, I did look for water around Dalonega and Amicalola.
I found about the same as you on the satelite, a lot of woods. I did find one good lake. I don't know where you are exactly,
but I do know as a long time GA. resident and visitor to your area that there are many creeks under the umbrella of the woods that would support bat needs for water. There are many creeks and trout streams in your area. If you contact the local ranger there and talk, they can give you some information about water locations. If I can be of assistance anytime just email me. I have been in batting for over 10 years now and have three well used bat houses. Good luck,

Frank

[Terry Lobdell]

Karyl, that is great what you are doing! Keep us posted on your progress!

[Karyl]

cloudman75 - I am in Dawsonville 1 mile from north end of lanier. Creeks and such are so difficult to count on right now due to drought then record rainfalls. I can't tell what is "normal" yet. All the same, we see plenty of bats at near by shopping mall parking lot lights with retaining ponds. People in the neighborhood have bats roosting in their attic vent screen, but they are single bats and not several. I will just have to watch and hope. We do have a large community swimming pool but I certainly hope that is not the only water source - yuck.

Terry Lobdell - if somebody tells me they want a bat house I'm happy to build one. Local builders supply seems to *like me and they give me scraps cheap. Cost me nothing to make and I can do several at a time. This area is country but growing, hopefully by the time it booms bats will be accepted like bird houses.

Only thing that bothers me is my lack of experience - you can not teach what you don't know.

*actually I think builders supply just likes to know what whacked out thing I am doing now ever since the Great Toad Tunnel Project. I tried desperately not to have to explain to them why I needed such large diameter pipe. They are still laughing.

[cloudman75]

Karyl,
I checked your general location on satelite and saw 6 lakes near Dawsonville. Also 1 mile to Lake Lanier is a great location.
Don't worry about water in your location is my opinion. Also I and perhaps others on the forum would like to see photos or
a sketch of your bat houses. The season for seeing bats in your location is about over,so you need to get your houses in place by the middle of March for sure. It was 68 here today and I have one bat tonight in my unvented 5 chamber bat house on a metal pole. It is up about 18 ft high in my back yard near my house. I took a photo of the bat and it appears to be a big brown from its size. They can tolerate the cold better than some of our bats in Georgia. This is the first year I have seen them. I also had mexican freetails which normally don't hang around here. LoL. All my little brown bats have gone for the hibernation period until about the middle of March. The freetails left for a better climate I suppose. Good luck and post some photos if you will.

Thanks,

Frank/cloudman

[Karyl]

cloudman75 - I would not expect bats now. The hope is to get them mounted and available for when bats go looking in spring as well as to start aging the wood a bit. We will take a lot of photos - I always do! Pictures worth 1,000 words and all. We're building single chamber rocket boxes but scoring up the entire interior. We had a time deciding between rocket box and single chamber houses but settled on the RB for ascetic reasons. The pro is they look understated (therefore HOA approved) and bats apparently use them, the con is that they are limited to 4x4 post mounting. But it's a start.

We will be making them this weekend, pictures to come.

[Terry Lobdell]

Karyl, rocket boxes are a very good choice.......easy to build and provide wide temperature ranges for the bats.......single crevice boxes don't retain enough heat during the night for mothers with pups....