Bat House Forum

[theryan]

    I am interested in setting up a bat house in my back yard, and before I invest my time and money was curious to what some experts think my odds are of attracting bats.  I'm from upstate NY, I live on the edge of a development, behind me is a small forest.  Within a mile are alot of small streams, a few ponds and marshy areas.  There is a large lake 2 miles away.  I see bats flying at night.  The only place I have to put a box would be on a pole, however there would still be some tree branches within 10ft-15ft.

With that said what do you think my odds are of attracting some bats? 

Also where would I find a 25ft pole?

[Terry Lobdell]

If your bat house has plenty of exposure to the sun you will have a good chance of attracting bats. I live in nw pa and have 50- 60 little brown and big brown bats in 12 houses mounted on and around my home. I have had better luck mounting a bat house on a building first. They are used to exploring buildings and will find a house mounted there quicker than on a pole. Once you have them in one house they will then investigate any other houses you put up.

As for a pole, utility companies often have used poles available. I have had good luck making an 8 inch square pole by sandwiching 2 - 1"X8" boards around 2 - 2"X6" s. For a 25 foot pole you could splice it in 3 sections. The sections are actually fairly light and one person can put up a pole of this design.

You may not need to go that high if there are no tall weeds or bushes near the bat's exit flight path.

Hope this helps!

[theryan]

My house has aluminum siding, I've read that as far as buildings go bats prefer wood or stone rather than metal...which lead me to the idea of using a pole.  I had thought of using a 4x4 or somethng in that catigory, my idea was to concrete a pair of 2x4s in thr ground and than use a 16ft 4x4(longest I can find) between them.  Minus the bat house portion would give me about 15ft of hieght, minus 6ft for a nearby fence would leave 9ft of clearence.

[Terry Lobdell]

That should be plenty high enough...........With alumunim siding the guano and urine would probably stain it pretty bad.