Bat House Forum

[jbuza]

I have browsed a bit on this site as I have discovered that I have a colony of perhaps 50 bats. It is hard to tell which bats I see are coming out or flyinbg back by the entrance to my attic. I believe these are little brown bats, but I am not sure. I just came in from outside watching them leave the eave of my house. I have to admit that I don't think I like them very much, but have noticed that there are considerably fewer mosquitoes and bugs this year. While I was outside I had a bat fly within 3-4 feet of me (little brown bat my eye seemed more like a 747), I ducked and was very alarmed and went inside right after. Man I don't like these critters. I think part of this stems from my dad being afraid of bats, in fact it was a bat that caused me to learn that my dad can scream like a little girl. I can remember my father actually shooting a bat inside the house with a .22 when I as little. I don't want to be scared of them, and am hoping that I will come to feel more at ease with them as time goes by.

I know I don't want them living in my house, so I will be building and setting a bat box on the gable end of my house soon. I plan to do what I can to exclude them this winter, so that hopefully I will have them living in the bat box next year. I do like having the bats around, but I wish I wan't so freaked out by them; it's silly I have never had a bat try to harm me, but every time one gets within 20 feet of me I panick. Oh I live in Northern Maine and am a 39 year old carpenter. I didn't sream like a little girl when the bat buzzed me tonight but I was startled and ducked A LOT.

Sorry to ramble on, but to the bat box. As I understand the bat box should be black in my area. The place it is going is on a gable end of my house that is situated over a lower roof line the one roof is about five feet above the other roof. I have added on an addition to my home so the wall that I am going to place the bat box on will be sided with vinyl siding within the next month. The gable end where the bat box will be located face southeast and gets lots of sun.

[LarryH]

Welcome to the forum!

First, don't be afraid of the bats -- they are interested in finding food to build their body fat and feed their young, and have no interest in you. If we are outside late in the evening, we frequently see the bats soaring around the lights on the house or the night light on the garage looking for bugs. They have tremendous terrain avoidance radar, and will not hit you accidently, or otherwise.

The peak of your house, facing to the southeast sounds like it would be a good location for a bat house. I am not familiar with the house colors for Maine, but I suspect you would want a dark color to draw heat. If you haven’t already done so, visit http://batcon.org to check out their wealth of information on building bat houses, and how to place them. There is also a lot of information on how to exclude the bats from their current roosting place. If you get a bat house up soon, it is possible that the bats will prefer moving into it rather than using your house. Be sure to build a house with at least 3 chambers.

[Dave Miller]

Your reaction to the bats is quite normal and it is OK to scream like a girl the first time

The more time you spend around the bats the more comfortable you will become. I think you will find that they will never crash into you or land on you. They can maneuver extremely well - imagine the reaction time and skill it must take to catch a fly in your mouth. I was in a swimming pool once with a bat flying low over the water, it came within a few inches of my face in its hunt for bugs and drinking water.

Here is a recording I made of a bat feeding over a lake: http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=21308 (click the little black arrow to listen). Every time you hear "bzzzwrp", that is a bat catching an insect. If you had a bat detector at your house you would hear this dozens of times per minute - that is a lot of bugs that the bats are eating from your yard.

Here is a direct link to the BCI pages on bat houses and bat exclusion:

Bat houses - http://www.batcon.org/index.php/get-inv ... house.html
Excluding bats from your house - http://www.batcon.org/index.php/bats-a- ... tions.html

Keep us posted on your progress and feel free to ask any questions. There is a ton of accumulated bat/bat house knowledge here.

[jbuza]

Hi Dave. Hi Larry.

Thanks for the welcome. I realize my fear is irrational and I think bats are a really amazing creature. I have learned a great deal about bats since becoming aware of my colony this year. Never noticed any bats around till this year. I think it is truly amazing that a bat can hang upside down from it's feet and not require any energy to hold on. I found out that my wife doesn't really want me to hang the bat box on the house, so I am going to be putting it on a tree.

I am a bit concerned that reported success rates from hanging boxes in trees is lower than buildings. The tree I have selected gets quite a bit of sunlight, but it is not a very large tree so would be apt to sway in the wind a bit. Not sure if this will unsettle the bats or not. Hoping to get some work done on the bat box next week. I have looked at loads of plans and pictures of bat boxes and feel pretty confident in building one. I will probably use rough sawn lumber and build four chamber boxes. I'm wondering if the bats would be happier with some plastic screening to climb around on or of saw kerfs would work just as good.

Would appreciate any suggestions about hanging the box on the tree. I can still hang it on the house if I choose, but get the idea my wife would be happier with the tree.

[LarryH]

Your wife's objection to mounting the bat house on your house most likely comes from the fear that if the bat house is on the house, the bats will then move into the house. This is one of the things I hear most from people when they find out I have bat houses; "Aren't you afraid they will take over your house?" But, the opposite is the norm -- they prefer to have a well designed house of their own that is easy to get in and out of, and easy to move around in. But, of course, it is important to keep the house sealed so that there are not entry points for bats and other critters.

Mounting the houses on trees is the least desirable option. Not so much because of the swaying, but because of predatory birds and animals ease in gaining access to the bats. I had to place spikes on top of my bat houses to keep hawks from roosting there every evening when they were expecting the bats to emerge. If the houses were mounted on trees, it would encourage owls, hawks, raccoons, etc., to feed on the bats. A standalone pole or peak of the house would be a much better option.

I have not tried any plastic netting in the houses, but I think the major concern would be attaching the netting in such a way that it does not sag or tear loose.

[IowaNate]

I agree that the gable on your house would be the best option. Black is the appropriate color for a bat house in Maine. If your colony is only about 50 bats then a small to medium sized bat house mounted on your home should be sufficient. Small to medium sized houses work extremely well when mounted to a building because it helps to stabilize the internal house temperatures that bats need. Check some of my posts for economical bat house plans that can be constructed with just basic skills. There is nothing more gratifying than building your own bat house in a few hours and having bats move in.

Nate

[rayjoker]

The place it is going is on a gable end of my house that is situated over a lower roof line the one roof is about five feet above the other roof. I have added on an addition to my home so the wall that I am going to place the bat box on will be sided with vinyl siding within the next month...

The place is exactly at the back of the roof so it is very good that the animals are not exactly inside your house. The roof is commonly five feet above the other roof. That is the standard size that suits my roof.