Bat House Forum

[Mulator]

I was reading another post and was wondering how far away should the bat house be from back patios/doors?  I live in a "McMansion" in VA and have little land space between me and the rest of the world.

I am lucky though....I see Bats every night.

Thanks.

[Terry Lobdell]

If you are 10 - 12 feet from your patio you should not get much guano falling on your patio area. I all depends on how many bats you have roosting though.

[Mulator]

Thanks all.  I appreciate it.  I am really looking forward to figuring this out!  I have looked at so many videos and have sat and watched the bats for so long I really don't know why I am just now getting into this. 

I was reading online some messages that have now gotten me confused as to what to do.  Some say to caulk the house...others say to allow for ventilation and still others say to paint the roof.  My house is made of cedar and the temp around here in VA is about 85-93 on a daily basis in Jul.  One website instructed to paint the roof black.  Any comments on this?

I'm really fighting my desire to put the house up!

Wish me luck and I will let you all know how this turns out.

[Terry Lobdell]

You may not need to caulk it at your location. Many of the ones I build I cover with aluminum painted flat black..........Often the weather determines where they roost. If it's cold out they will want a warmer roost. And if it is too hot they will want a cooler roost. The challenge is to build a bat house that can meet all their temperature and ventilation needs.

[Mulator]

HA!  I've got BATS!  This is a truly pathetic story, but I have freakin Bats so you have to read on!

Every night I go outside and watch the Bats fly around through my yard....every night....this morning, I took my dog Rebel (yellow lab...my brother) out for a water break (bathroom) and as he was checking the surroundings, I decided to check my bat houses again....afterall, I have been checking them for the last couple of weeks. 

I walked up and looked for droppings...nothing.  I decided to step up on a chair to make sure that there were not any wasps in the house (since some had been cruising in the area recently) and WHAM....A BAT THWAPED ME IN THE FOREHEAD!  The next two came out in full force and bolted off before I could even flinch.  Naturally, I screamed like a little......(person I guess...for the lack of a better term) and ran for the house!  Man....I was running and heard this horrific noise and suddenly realized that the noise was coming from ME! 

I ran so freaking fast that I blew out a flip-flop and reached the door and looked back...at this point, the bats were just flying like they were in some kind of panic!   HA....I won....They were scared of ME!  My dog was in a panic as well....I swear you could read the thought going through his mind....It read...."What the hell is he doing?"  I don't think I have ever seen a tail so tight against that dog. 

As I stood at the door (respecting the fact that I had won....and still being able to escape the true madness), I looked back and watched the bats fly around.  They seemed intent on staying close to the house they had just exited, but I had to leave for work. 

Maybe they will be back.....Now I feel like such a wimp......I'm scared to check, but the bottom line is I won.  They came and they were scared!

[Terry Lobdell]

How long have you had that bat house up? Sounds pretty quick to have it occupied. I've had them come within 5 inches many times but they never have touched me. I've seen them have mid air collisions with each other chasing moths. The same night one ran into a light pole going after moths.

Anyways, Congratulations on getting them to roost in your boxes!

[Mulator]

I put two houses up.  This one I put up on 18 Jul.  Really expected that they would come in next year, but there are so many bats flying around here at night.  It was pure luck....nothing else.

 

[Terry Lobdell]

It sounds like you have a hot site there! You will probably have even more next year!

[cloudman75]

How high is this house and is it on a tree or pole or bldg?   You have some unusual

bats to thump you.  congrats on the new tenants.

[Mulator]

The house is about 17 feet off the ground on a pole just off of my elevated deck.  I climbed up on the rail and leaned out to look inside the home to check for wasps since they have been hanging around it quite a bit.  My face was very close (I know...stupid) and in an effort to leave the house quickly, the first one exiting hit my head.  The other two just flew out since I was long gone within a quarter of a second.

[cloudman75]

Sounds like a good location on a pole. I hope they come back and bring some friends. I put up a third house on a pole this week but no bats in it yet. I guess they are happy with my other two houses.

 

[Mulator]

My concern is that they should be moving on in the near future right?  Where do Bats generally go during the winter, and when do they leave?

[cloudman75]

I think it depends on where you are located according to the weather conditions. Here in metro Atlanta my little browns leave about a week into Nov. There are several bat caves within a 100 miles of me and I think they go there to hibernate for the winter. I have one that stays here in my west facing attic ventilation louver when it gets cold. At other times he is alone in the bat house or stays gone for a week or so. If your first frost is in Oct. I suspect they will leave about that time. My bats return in small groups starting about the third week of March. Then the total return is completed by the last week of April if the weather is spring like as normal. The weather has to be about 70 for the high here before a lot of bat activity in spring.

If you read some of the other posts on this forum, you can get more information. Look back at March and April. There are many like I that get excited when they start seeing droppings under their bat houses.