Bat House Forum

[Terry Lobdell]

This evening I checked out a bat house I mounted on 6/24/08. The location is fair habitat, mostly wooded with adjacent fields but no large streams nearby. No known maternity colonies nearby either. There is a marsh about a half mile away on state gamelands, so I was hopeful that eventually this box would become occupied. Since there were no maternity colonies close by and no buildings where they could be roosting, I used a box that  had frequent use by my big brown maternity colony at home. I was expecting maybe one or two little brown bachelors, but when I shined the light up in, there were six little browns! I was very suprised. I am becoming more of a believer that boxes that have been frequently used in the past will attract bats more quickly than an unused box. It must be the scent inside. This strategy has worked 5 times now. All the bats were little browns. 

[Erik]

Wow, that is quick indeed. Is it an area that could have tree roosts of little brown bats as well, or do they online roost in buildings and bat houses.

Erik

[Terry Lobdell]

Erik, it is possible little browns may roost in old dead hollow trees, but not likely. Most forest in Pennsylvania is young forest and there are not that many large dead trees with much sun exposure. Most little browns are found roosting in barns and people's attics.

[Gran]

Maybe ought to add a extra baffle to next design.  If you have an baffle that you can easily remove and swap out then you could use it on any new houses to help get them started.  Also a potential business option.  Maybe you could sell the baffles to be iused  in others peoples houses to increase chances of getting bats

[Terry Lobdell]

I've thought about doing something like that............based on what I've seen so far, the fresher the better and the more use the box has had the better.