Bat House Forum

[flyin-lowe]

http://www.batguys.com/resources/suburb ... house.html

Earlier in the summer I brought up this topic but didn't get much response. My father has a bat or two in his garage every summer. There is a small amount of guano so I am sure it is just one. Does this guy's theory make much sense or not? He is claiming they like the gables because of the constant air flow. My limited experience would tell me it is because of the warmth of an attic. I think the bats use vents as an entry point and only roos in the vent itself if there is a screen from blocking them from entering further. Would building something like this be a waste of time?

[William Bagwell]

To build one as a test, not a waste at all. Too many projects on my plate at the moment, but would love to see several people in different climates build one and report their results. I'm sure that in some places and certain times of the year they would in fact get used.

On the other hand his blanket statement that traditional bat house do not work because they "do not have air-flow" is obviously flawed. Half the folks on this forum have a traditional bat house full of proof to the contrary. Even my too dark and totally unventilated test box out in full sun had at least one bat use it for over a week.

William

[Terry Lobdell]

I have seen many bats packed in gable vent louvers.......Frank has had them like that too........yes they do love the air flow.......

The thing is many times bat's preference for certain types of bat boxes is skewed by the simple fact that in good habitat they will roost in almost anything......
Another thing to consider is the fact that they move around a lot to evade parasites........

They roost in the gables for both reasons.......the heat and the air flow........

[cloudman75]

flying-lowe,
Here are my experiences. Bats will move into a louver for venting an attic. I had some do it and they were hard to make move. However, A plain bat house with baffles is just as successful or even better in my opinion.Bats like different conditions based on the heat available. Right now I have about 50 or more Little Browns and Freetails roosting together in a bat house with no ventilation at all. I have posted photos and mentioned the un- vented house in
past years also on the forum. When it gets in the high 90s they do not use the unventilated house. As far as air flow, many plans call for calking to prevent drafts. I have come to the conclusion after experience with 6 houses of various amounts of ventilation that bats don't mind a little draft in warm weather.
My winter visitors are few but when they do stop by they use the dark unvented house with plenty of sun. It all comes down to weather, temps, and
average wind speed where the bat house or louver is located in my opinion. I personally think there is a bit of marketing effort in the adds for louver type
bat houses. Bats looking for a home will surprise one where they chose to live.

Frank

[flyin-lowe]

The only reason I was thinking about this design is that the bat(s) is entering on the west side of the garage. If I were to put a standard house on that end and close the gable off it would receive zero sun until late in the afternoon, so I figured a "normal" house might not be used. I thought maybe a design like this might get some warmth from the gable. It is in a garage with a metal roof. There is no ceiling so i don't know how much heat would be coming out of the gable.

[cloudman75]

I would try it and see what happens. One cannot predict how the bats would feel about it. I have tried a lot of different things. I lose some, win some I think then the bats move. LOL There are some large bat houses in Florida that have louver faces as the entrance. They are very successful. I have never tried one so don't have any data to report . I would think a louver face entrance would be fine. I am also tempted to use hardware cloth for baffles as that's what my bats used a few years for a small maternity colony. Good luck keep us posted.

Frank

[bigfish34]

Yes Bats are mysterious in their nature.Bats looks ugly but they are clean and they are not seen in daylight.They are only can seen in night time and they collect their food in night.They have sharp eye power.I think it's better to know about Bats Facts to know their mysterious nature.

[cloudman75]

Hello bigfish,
Actually bats can be seen in daylight when they get too hot. I have posted several photos of them taken in daylight. One has to take what is written about bats with the so called grain of salt as just when it is thought that they are predicable, they do something different. At least that has been my experience.

Frank

[William Bagwell]

Agree on the occasionally in the day time. Now if I could just get mine to cooperate like Franks bats!



From inside looking out.



And same bat showing it is outside the house. This is a young pup that was having trouble getting back to the main colony on June 16th 2011 and apparently gave up. Stayed on the window most of the day.

William

[bigfish34]

Hello bigfish,
Actually bats can be seen in daylight when they get too hot. I have posted several photos of them taken in daylight. One has to take what is written about bats with the so called grain of salt as just when it is thought that they are predicable, they do something different. At least that has been my experience.

Frank

Hi cloudman75
Thank you for your information and i really learn a new thing today ,thank you again.