Bats in the Barn

[Mike Cruz]

We have bats. We know that. We like the bats. We heard a bunch of bats making some racket today up on a ledge near the roof of the barn...on the front side of the barn, not where they usually are which is on the backside of the barn. A couple of hours later, they were all on the ground...and a 3 foot black snake was where they WERE. 12 in all. Two had hair (adults) 11 were bald (youngin's). One either didn't survive the fall or was already dead. So, 11 into a box and in a somewhat safer spot in the barn. The black snake taken far away (at least to buy the bats enough time to relocate come nighttime. Cute little buggers...mice with wings. :D BTW, yes we have a bat house on the barn, but in 8 years, I don't think it has EVER been used.

[Lee Schierer]

Good for you. We have a little brown bat that does figure 8's under our street light every night all summer long. Sometimes there are 2 or more doing the same thing to get bugs.

I have the same luck with bat houses that you have. The most effective ones I've seen were mounted on the south side of a building and painted a dark brown.

[Bruce Page]

You’re a good man Mr. Cruz, they are cute little buggers. We don’t have any bats locally but I once saw the evening mass exodus of Mexican Freetail bats flying out from Carlsbad Caverns in southern NM. There were literally thousands of them. It was an amazing site to see!

[ray hampton]

You’re a good man Mr. Cruz, they are cute little buggers. We don’t have any bats locally but I once saw the evening mass exodus of Mexican Freetail bats flying out from Carlsbad Caverns in southern NM. There were literally thousands of them. It was an amazing site to see!

I do not intend to argue with your statement that you do not have any bats but I hope that you are mistaken

[Van Huskey]

I have bats... bats in my belfrey!!!

The only time I haven't like bats was when we had one in the house!!!

Cool critters, good on ya Mike!

[Bruce Page]

I do not intend to argue with your statement that you do not have any bats but I hope that you are mistaken
:p I have to admit, my wife would probably disagree with my statement..:rolleyes:

[Kevin Bourque]

When I lived in the suburbs we had a whole sky full of bats. Now I live on a farm in the country and there are no bats anywhere. What up with that?

[phil harold]

Bats are dying at alarming, rates from
White Nose Disease (http://www.batconservation.org/drupal/white-nose?gclid=CMbcrt-d1bACFalgTAodP3L-2w)
and
Wind Farms (http://www.news.wisc.edu/19969) are also decimating the population


ps Better to have bats in your barn than bats in your belfry!

[ray hampton]

I have bats... bats in my belfrey!!!

The only time I haven't like bats was when we had one in the house!!!

Cool critters, good on ya Mike!

you are lucky if you got bats in the belfrey, having fleas in the belfrey tend to make us howl at the moon-pie

[Curt Harms]

Bats are dying at alarming, rates from
White Nose Disease (http://www.batconservation.org/drupal/white-nose?gclid=CMbcrt-d1bACFalgTAodP3L-2w)
and
Wind Farms (http://www.news.wisc.edu/19969) are also decimating the population


ps Better to have bats in your barn than bats in your belfry!

This colony was devastated

http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/new_hope/nearly-bats-die-in-durham-cave/article_9b553884-72a3-11e0-bb2c-0019bb30f31a.html

[ray hampton]

This colony was devastated

http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/new_hope/nearly-bats-die-in-durham-cave/article_9b553884-72a3-11e0-bb2c-0019bb30f31a.html

if the bats die -off then we may not be able to go outside after dark because of the biting bugs

[Curt Harms]

if the bats die -off then we may not be able to go outside after dark because of the biting bugs

Yup, and mosquito borne diseases aren't going away if mosquito populations increase. Yellow Fever isn't the only disease transmitted by 'skeeters.

[David G Baker]

Couple of weeks ago a local girl was bit by a bat while she was sleeping. Her parents captured the bat, it was tested for rabies and it tested positive. The girl had to go through the painful rabies shot regimen. I have plenty of bats on my property and due to my obsessive hate of mosquitoes I encourage them to stay. I also have a small swamp that is around 1/2 acre in size that breeds mosquitoes but there are thousands of frogs that eat the majority of the critters. Keeping my large lawn mowed also helps discourage the bugs.

[ray hampton]

Couple of weeks ago a local girl was bit by a bat while she was sleeping. Her parents captured the bat, it was tested for rabies and it tested positive. The girl had to go through the painful rabies shot regimen. I have plenty of bats on my property and due to my obsessive hate of mosquitoes I encourage them to stay. I also have a small swamp that is around 1/2 acre in size that breeds mosquitoes but there are thousands of frogs that eat the majority of the critters. Keeping my large lawn mowed also helps discourage the bugs.



I got one smart question , do your frogs fly after the mosquitoes, now for a stupid ?? do wasps and hornets eat the mosquitoes

[Mike Cruz]

Ray, as far as I know, wasps and hornets are active during the day...when mosquitos are least active. Bats and mosquitos like dusk and dawn. Frogs eat mosquitos and their larva when on and in standing water. But frogs are, however, excellent fliers. At least the ones with wings are. They look remarkably like bats...wait a minute, those ARE bats.

[Pat Barry]

I understand the benefit but still hate bats. Last year we had over 100 of them living in a lean to shed. Needless to say the shed is gone and the bats that survived had to move on. They can live elsewheres

[ray hampton]

I understand the benefit but still hate bats. Last year we had over 100 of them living in a lean to shed. Needless to say the shed is gone and the bats that survived had to move on. They can live else wheres


do you know that the bats said the same thing about you and me

[Pat Barry]

Well they listened. LOL

[Larry Edgerton]

There is a fungus that can be found at times in accumilated bat droppings that causes histoplasmosis in humans. I have a cousin that was a hard charger working two jobs and this ruined his life.

Google it. You do not want cute little bats sharing a building you will be useing yourself.

Larry

[Kevin W Johnson]

I've had a bat take up temporary residence in one of our patio umbrellas a couple times. If I had a good place for a bat house, I'd put up several.

[Belinda Barfield]

There is a fungus that can be found at times in accumilated bat droppings that causes histoplasmosis in humans. I have a cousin that was a hard charger working two jobs and this ruined his life.

Google it. You do not want cute little bats sharing a building you will be useing yourself.

Larry

You can also get histoplasmosis from bird droppings.

[Mike Cruz]

Belinda, you grew your hair long! Not sure when you changed your avatar, but I haven't seen a post by you in a while...we've been in different forums, I suppose.

[Belinda Barfield]

Again . . . I grew my hair long again. The photo is from a hiking excursion last month with some gal pals. I should remember to remove the backpack next time. :rolleyes: You haven't seen me post much because no topics have required me to expose my extensive knowledge of everything, or my rapid fire wit. :D

[curtis rosche]

when i light a fire in my feild, we see some 20 bats flyin around catching the bugs. not sure where they have their nests since we dont have a barn or anything

[ray hampton]

will bats use the concrete overpass/ underpass on a highway ?
there are plenty of places [manmade] where bats can use for a nest

[Matt Meiser]

OK, so related, I bought some bat houses made from cedar while in Ohio Amish Country last week. They are bare wood right now--should I paint the outsides of them? What color?

I was planning to mount them on some 4x4 posts --was thinking of buying 10'ers and digging a 3-4' hole, basically as deep as my posthole digger will go before its too much work. They will be in the "back 40" so well away from regular human activity.

[Mike Cruz]

Matt, sorry, not sure...

Ray, they will find wherever they can to crash for the night.

Curtis, they don't have nests...that would be birds. They find nooks, caves, whatever/wherever is tucked away to crawl or fly in to huddle in/hang in/or otherwise sleep. I'm not a bat expert, but this is what I know from my experiences with them...other than knowing that they have have/make/use nests.

[Mike Cruz]

Sorry, Belinda, didn't realize this was an "again" thing. Last avatar I saw of yours I noticed a hair color change...

I will work on creating new threads that will inspire your wit and charm so that we may be more frequented by your presence. ;) :D

[ray hampton]

[QUOTE=Mike Cruz;1945786]
Ray, they will find wherever they can to crash for the night.

they work night [most bats but not all bats] and crash during the day, we need to think of the places that will keep the bats warm during the winter months and attract the bats to the open house, do bats hibernate in sewer pipes [ big pipes ] or will they prefer a dry location ?

[Larry Edgerton]

Again . . . I grew my hair long again. The photo is from a hiking excursion last month with some gal pals. I should remember to remove the backpack next time. :rolleyes: You haven't seen me post much because no topics have required me to expose my extensive knowledge of everything, or my rapid fire wit. :D

My favorite is still the red polka dotted dress with the big hat.......

Larry

[Mike Cruz]

Um...DDDDDUUUUUUUHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I take that back? That's what I get for typing in a hurry to get out the door. :o Yeah, I meant "DAY" not "NIGHT".

[ray hampton]

Um...DDDDDUUUUUUUHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I take that back? That's what I get for typing in a hurry to get out the door. :o Yeah, I meant "DAY" not "NIGHT".

there is no need to take it back because some species of bats do come out during the day light hours

[Belinda Barfield]

My favorite is still the red polka dotted dress with the big hat.......

Larry

Thank you Larry. That is very kind of you to say. The photo you refer to was taken at a party at a friend's house, a friend I lost to cancer a couple of years ago. It was his favorite dress. I still miss him sorely every time I look at that photo.

Now, back to bats. It is my understanding that here in the south we are going to have a really big bug year. Can bat houses be mounted to trees? When I walk in our neighborhood at dusk I note a number of bats, I would like to attract more.

[ray hampton]

I would like to attract more.

what , you like bats

[Mike Cruz]

Belinda, just use your animal magnatism!!!:D HA! I kill me...

Seriously, I think bats will take up residence wherever they "can". So, I would not be surprised to find them using bat houses attached to trees. Just make sure they aren't trees that are easily climbed by snakes...otherwise, you are just creating an all you can eat buffet.

And yes, that was a great pic, Belinda...

[Bill Cunningham]

I was at a country fair building once and a bat was circling on a landing in a 5' x 8' stairwell. it circled and circled for probably hours, and not once hit anything. Any bird would have crashed into a corner, and huddled on the floor, but the bat was the most graceful flyer I have ever seen. It probably circled until someone entered the stairwell, and forced it to look for a route out. I got bored watching it after 20 minutes or so..

[Dick Strauss]

Mike, try your bat houses on the east side of the building. Bats like morning sun to warm after a cold night but don't like the afternoon sun/heat (DAMHIKT).

[ray hampton]

I was at a country fair building once and a bat was circling on a landing in a 5' x 8' stairwell. it circled and circled for probably hours, and not once hit anything. Any bird would have crashed into a corner, and huddled on the floor, but the bat was the most graceful flyer I have ever seen. It probably circled until someone entered the stairwell, and forced it to look for a route out. I got bored watching it after 20 minutes or so..

I read a story about bats and one fact I remember that bats could be placed in a room doors closed and the bats would fly thru. a exhaust fan that were on slow speed and get out of the room

[Mike Cruz]

Might just try that, Dick...thanks.

[Belinda Barfield]

Belinda, just use your animal magnatism!!!:D HA! I kill me...

Seriously, I think bats will take up residence wherever they "can". So, I would not be surprised to find them using bat houses attached to trees. Just make sure they aren't trees that are easily climbed by snakes...otherwise, you are just creating an all you can eat buffet.

And yes, that was a great pic, Belinda...

HA!! You kill me, too . . .

Hadn't thought about the snake buffet. My two exterior condo walls are full sun all day and that's a bit much for bats I would think, particularly when we regularly see high 90s to 100 temps.

[Don Newman]

For lots of information on bat houses, best locations, height of poles, etc go to batcon.org
(exterior color of bat house depends on average daily temps, dark or medium brown in most parts of US, use flat exterior latex paint,
bat houses are best mounted at least 10 feet above ground, 12-14 is better, poles provide best results in tests)