Bat House Forum

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is a rocket box covered with a 10" diameter popcorn tin. I will slide another tin onto the bottom half leaving a gap in between for ventilation. I had always thought these tins would be an easy way to make a durable exterior for a rocket style house. This will be a 2 crevice house when completed and fairly light because of the tin exterior.

[Terry Lobdell]

This is after I brushed on the home made walnut husk stain. each side has a 1 & 1/2" hole for access to inner and outer crevices. The outer crevice behind the tin will be approx. 1" to 1&1/8" at the farthest point........bigger than I wanted........if I don't get much usage I may slip a thin piece of wood up next to the tin on all four sides to get the crevice size closer to 3/4" I will post more pics as I complete it.........

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is the finished popcorn tin rocket box. The base of the post is an old broken treated 4X4 I had, about 7 feet long. I sandwiched 1 inch red pine boards around it and the double 2X4 center of my rocket. This made for a fairly stiff pole. The bottom of the house is about 13 feet off the ground.

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is a close up view. The ventilation gap is about 1/2". If this design proves successful I may try one with 3 popcorn tin sections. The 45 degree cuts on the one inch boards should show guano, making it easy to tell when bats are roosting. The roof is a stove burner cover that I glued to the top of the tin. I also put a 1/4" layer of foam in between to help hold heat.

[Joe Spencer]

Very nice Terry!  The tins eliminate the need for spacers correct?  So basically you just slip them over?  Do you/can you use a can opener to open up the lower non-roof tins bottom and if so how are you smoothing or eliminating any sharp metal edges?

[Terry Lobdell]

Joe, That is correct..........there is no need for spacers........the tins easily slide over..........I did use a block plane to shave down the corners a bit..........the gap at the furthest point out to the tin is a little wide (1&1/2") so I may eventually slide a thin strip of wood up through to maintain a 3/4" crevice........The inner crevice between the 2x4's and wood baffles is 3/4" all around.............I did use a can opener on the lower tin.........I bought the best one I could find which did a smooth job of cutting. I then coated the rim of the cut end with liquid nail to seal off the sharp edge. For it's size this has been the easiest and quickest to build bat house I have ever made. I just hope it gets some usage because these would be very easy design for someone who wanted to mount several bat houses quickly....... 

[Joe Spencer]

Thanks for the great feedback and good luck with occupancy on this design.

[Terry Lobdell]

I have been finding some little brown bat guano under this bat house for about a week now........looks like some bachelors have been investigating it...........

[Joe Spencer]

Fantastic news Terry!  I really like the creativity of designs which incorporate materials that would need to be recycled or otherwise sent to a landfill.

[Terry Lobdell]

Well, part of my big brown maternity is now using this bat house! I'm starting to see guano from the pups as well.

I hope to do an exit count tonight to see if the pups are flying yet.

No use by the little brown maternity yet, only little brown bachelors.

This makes the ninth house my big brown maternity has used this summer!

I've always noticed how bats like to roost behind metal especially in mornings. Must be because it heats up so fast.

[Terry Lobdell]

I did an exit count the night of July 14th and had at least 6 adult big browns exit this house. I shined a light up in and saw at least 4 pups about 3/4 grown.

The same night 2 other boxes had a single big brown pup roosting after the mothers had exited. This year my big brown maternity has fragmented and moved around more than ever. Maybe it's because I just have more bat houses for them to choose from.

Last night I came home from work, and shined a light up in and there were even more big browns and pups..........they were too packed in to count, but I'm guessing 8 - 10 mothers with pups.