Bat House Forum

[bat_byte]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but I have a problem and hope you folks can help. I have two bathouses on the side of my house, each with an active colony of bats (type & number of bats unknown).

The bathouses are painted to match the siding and hung directly on the side of the house. Now the house needs painting and the painter has time to do it shortly, but I don't want to do anything that would harm or chase off my bats.

Will painting the bathouse with latex paint while the bats are inside affect them? Is moving the bathouse briefly during painting an option? Are there other options?

Thanks,
BB

[LarryH]

Welcome to the forum! Glad to have you on board.

You want to disturb the bats as little as possible during the day, when they are resting for their evening emergence and flight. The vibration, noise, and smell of painting their houses would quite possibly cause them to wake and emerge early, burning essential stored energy. You also want to ensure you don't get paint into ventilation slots, landing board, etc.

You most likely would not want re-locate the houses while they are in use -- quite possibly there are pups in the houses and they are dependent upon the mothers returning to the house to feed them.

Would it be possible to schedule painting the houses, and near them, in the evening after they emerge? You would still want to be careful to not cause any pups to get alarmed and fall from the house, but that might be your best opportunity.

[bat_byte]

Larry,

You are saying what I already suspected. I probably can't get the hired painters to work in the evening, especially when it doesn't get dark until late now.

Wonder how close I could paint to the bathouses? I might get the painters to skip those areas and do it myself at a better time.

The bathouse on the end of the house will be a problem as it is pretty high, and the eaves above are much higher. I can't paint that side of the house, I don't even have a ladder that tall. Getting the bathouse up was a real struggle. If they painted above the bathouse and left an area around & below the house, that could work.

Do you think if I left a 2 ft area around the bathouse unpainted, along with the area below, that would be OK?

On the other hand, painting around the one on the dormer would be no problem for me.

Thanks,
BB

[Dave Miller]

Do you have a masonry chimney? If it meets the height, sun & clearance needs of the bats, that might be a better long-term place for your bat house, in part because most masonry chimneys are not painted. In its current location you will run into this issue every time you paint your house.

You might also change the mounting of the house such that it can be easily moved for painting or whatever.

I would think that if the painters are fast, you could ask them to cover the house (like they do for windows), quickly paint around it, and remove the cover after 15 minutes or so, assuming you are using latex paint (low VOC's) and the weather is dry (but not too hot). In my mind the big risk of painting around the house during the day is 1) overspray getting on the bats and 2) mother bats with babies getting frightened and dropping the babies to the ground. I don't think a short period of mild latex paint fumes would harm them.

[Terry Lobdell]

Judging by the time of year it is likely there may be pups..........if it were my box I would stay away from it............later in the summer after pups are flying I would not be afraid to paint right up next to it............

I've done work on some other bat houses of mine while adult bats were inside and as long as I don't bump the box they seem fine with it.