Bat House Forum

[BatBubz]

Has anyone come across the plans or specifications for Dr. Campbell's bat roosts? I have not been able to find schematics online.

Since the articles mention the roost had a trap door to facilitate guano collection, I am curious as to whether or not the structure was open at the bottom. Did the bats enter and exit via the long gable? Some of the other towers he built show to be much closer to the ground than the collosal municipal bat house in San Antonio. One of the articles claimed his designs called for 10' x 10' foot print. This roost obviously seems larger.

If someone lives near one of the remaining structures, maybe he/she could share some observations as to how the interior is designed. Thanks.

http://www.shorpy.com/files/images/19684u.preview.jpg

http://www.reformation.org/campbell.html

http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0302hsted/030212campbell/campbelltoc.htm

[cloudman75]

After reading your interesting post I did some searching on Dr Campbell. I did not find a schematic. However I believe the only way it could have been built from a practical standpoint is to have a trap door in the bottom.
This photo I believe would give some validity to that opinion. Take a look at figure 2 on this site. It appears that a bag of guano can be seen heading down to the pile of bags beneath the bat house. Also a person can be seen inside the house through an open hatch. Scroll down to see the structure.

http://www.batsnorthwest.org/BNWSpring07.pdf

I found a written description of the bat tower here. http://www.americanheritage.com/article ... _110.shtml

This is interesting to read I think and the house is described further down in the article. It had a funnel design ,open to a trapdoor in the bottom to collect guano. He actually had a patent on the design.

Frank

[Terry Lobdell]

Those are all really good links with lots of great info!

I think given the availability of different bat house design theory it would be easy to replicate Dr. Campbell's bat roost at whatever size desired.

[BatBubz]

Thank you for the links. Now I know "the rest of the story". Sort of sad to read that the structures were not as successful as I initially thought.

I do wonder how much detail Dr. Campbell put into his patent application. I did dig up one picture of the underside of the Sugaloaf Key roost.

http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/dalemcdonald/dm0057.jpg

If I assume that our ability to see the "honeycomb" from the bottom is due to missing boards, I am starting to visualize how the guano collection was supposed to work. I my mind, I envision the roost being sealed from the bottom. I suppose then that the bats were supposed to enter and exit via the louvre.

I wonder if there is a vertical succession of "honeycombs". If there were numerous floors of honeycombs, how did the guano get to the bottom? If there weren't multiple floors of honeycombs, why such a tall structure?

[Terry Lobdell]

I think the height would create more temperature variation which all bats love........they like to be able seek out whatever temperature they want along with fresh air.......bat house design is all about temperature and ventilation........

[cloudman75]

"Constructed entirely of wood, the tower was thirty feet high and twelve feet wide at its base. Inside, it was intricately honeycombed to imitate a cave’s interior and divided into three distinct parts: a winter or hibernating roost; a summer roost; and a central open shaft that ran the entire height of the house, at the bottom of which was a funnel-shaped pit equipped with a trap door for the guano."

This is a copy of info in the article. The good doctor intended for the bats to hibernate in the house. I don't think one can
read this and visualize exactly how it was constucted exactly. How he imitated a cave's interior is beyond my scope.
I sure enjoyed reading this article and thanks also for your post and your comments Terry. The open shaft and 30 ft height certainly gave them a choice. However I suspect in Texas and Florida that freetails would have used the house and they do not hibernate but stay active in the presence of insects. Perhaps other species might have hibernated in the houses, but we may never know. I do think after looking at the info that the bats did enter and exit from the louvers as
was mentioned in your post.

Frank