Bat House Forum

[LarryH]

Here's a picture of the "Belfry" Sand Box II and Four-Tube EXT bat houses mounted on a 21' galvanized pipe, with the pivot point base. The "Belfry" Sand Box II house is mounted to the east (right side in this picture), and the Four-Tube EXT house is to the west. They are mounted in the 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock positions.



Here is a picture showing the purple martin house in the foreground and the bat houses in the distance. Since this picture was taken, I had to put a fence around the bat house pole to keep the cows from using it for a scratching post. The martin house still had the plugs in the holes when this picture was taken, but has since been opened and has 3 nets with young birds in them. A couple other nests are under construction.

[Joe Spencer]

Larry any luck yet with occupancy in these bat houses?

[LarryH]

Yes, they are both have occupants.  One, the sand house, appears to be a nursery, and the other house is single adults.  The pictures I poseted last week of the bats flying under my night light are from these houses.   I haven't been able to determine an exact number of bats yet, but there are over 2 dozen of them.  I was suprised to get bats in them in the first year, but just over a month after they were put up I saw the first pair of bats in them.

 

 

[Joe Spencer]

Fantastic! Marvin does a great job with innovation.  Apologize if I've asked this before but how far are these recently erected bat houses from a utilized water source, ie pond lake, river etc. ? :thumbsup1:

[LarryH]

We have a creek that runs through the corner of our pasture, about 150 yards from where the bat houses are mounted.  When the bats emerge in the evening, the first thing they do is head down towards the creek.  There used to be some bats nesting under the bridge over the creek just outside our property, but I haven't seen them for a few years.  It is a very low bridge, and I suspect cats and snakes are a real problem for bats there.