bat palace

[roger wiegand]

This week's project was not exactly fine woodworking, but with the encouragement of SWMBO I finally built a bat house for our meadow. In the spirit of "if it's worth doing it's worth overdoing" I constructed fairly palatial establishment. Design is the four chamber nursery house from Merlin Tuttle's "Bat House Builder's Handbook", with two mounted back to back to provide a range of temperatures. Getting it up in the air was challenging.


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[John K Jordan]

This week's project was not exactly fine woodworking, but with the encouragement of SWMBO I finally built a bat house for our meadow. In the spirit of "if it's worth doing it's worth overdoing" I constructed fairly palatial establishment. Design is the four chamber nursery house from Merlin Tuttle's "Bat House Builder's Handbook", with two mounted back to back to provide a range of temperatures. Getting it up in the air was challenging.


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That's wonderful! The bats need all the help they can get. After being absent for a while bats started coming around the farm here again last year.

[Lee Schierer]

Nice project, be sure to let us know if/when you get bats.

[John K Jordan]

Nice project, be sure to let us know if/when you get bats.

I've been "planning" to build a pair like that for years now. Maybe I'll finally do it.

One book cautioned that it might be a couple of years before bats found the house and moved in.

I have a PDF copy of that same bat house builder's handbook Roger referenced. It used to be available for free download at batcon.org but I see it's not now. It's supposed to be for sale at the Univ of Texas but they say it's out of print and not available. https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/tutb2p
I see the handbook is available on Amazon but some are asking insane prices, $500-$1000 for what was a free publication. Worse than trying to buy hand sanitizer.

Some info here: http://www.batcon.org/resources/getting-involved/bat-houses/build

There was an excellent short article with plans in American Woodworker, August 1995, pg 48/49
I don't have that issue now but I did save the article.
I see Google Books has it:
https://books.google.com/books?id=u_YDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=american+woodworker+aug+1995&source=bl&ots=Tk_kJ9cvp-&sig=ACfU3U04pkQPrE80YXiqeMS3gIjfiwTjow&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwisudDJpIbpAhWQW80KHas1CEIQ6AEwE3oECBUQA Q#v=onepage&q=american%20woodworker%20aug%201995&f=false

JKJ

[Frederick Skelly]

Roger, what does attracting bats do for you? Do they keep insects down or something?
Fred

[Jim Becker]

Roger, what does attracting bats do for you? Do they keep insects down or something?
Fred
Bats are VORACIOUS eaters of mosquitos and other pests...they are a major benefit to have around and keep happy.

[Mel Fulks]

The bats did great work around here on the mosquitos , then they got some kind of "white nose disease" that killed
a lot of them. I remember reading about an experiment with bats. They filled a room with a wire maze of sorts, had just
enough room between the wires for bats to get through. Had a light or buzzer that turned on if they hit one. They didn't
hit them!

[roger wiegand]

The builders handbook is still available for free from Tuttle's website: https://www.merlintuttle.org/bat-house-builders-handbook/

In addition to what Jim said about their practical benefits, they are fascinating critters! We've done a lot to destroy their habitat, a little bit of help for them seems reasonable.

I'm unfortunately aware that it may take a while to get bats, I wanted to get it up ASAP because now is when they choose roosting sites here. I was disappointed that no one had moved in overnight.

[John K Jordan]

The builders handbook is still available for free from Tuttle's website: https://www.merlintuttle.org/bat-house-builders-handbook/

In addition to what Jim said about their practical benefits, they are fascinating critters! We've done a lot to destroy their habitat, a little bit of help for them seems reasonable.

I'm unfortunately aware that it may take a while to get bats, I wanted to get it up ASAP because now is when they choose roosting sites here. I was disappointed that no one had moved in overnight.

I love to watch them cavort over the fields at the farm here, especially when there are 5 or 6. We also used to feed them - catch some moths or other bugs and shoot them up with a slingshot or throw them out a 2nd story window at our previous house.

JKJ

[roger wiegand]

I love to watch them cavort over the fields at the farm here, especially when there are 5 or 6. We also used to feed them - catch some moths or other bugs and shoot them up with a slingshot or throw them out a 2nd story window at our previous house.

JKJ

That's wonderful! Would love to be able to do that. We're not real close to water (perhaps 1500 ft, much closer to wetland (like the bottom end of the meadow), so they may take some enticing. I have an old sunken foundation, about 9x9 ft that I'm going to put a plastic liner in and try to create a tiny pond. I don't know if that will be enough to interest them.

My other interest is trying to generate a source of mud so the barn swallows who used to nest here when there were horses might come back. (and to encourage the orchard mason bees) There's a big herd of deer and if they use it for a watering hole that should generate mud.

[John K Jordan]

That's wonderful! Would love to be able to do that. We're not real close to water (perhaps 1500 ft, much closer to wetland (like the bottom end of the meadow), so they may take some enticing. I have an old sunken foundation, about 9x9 ft that I'm going to put a plastic liner in and try to create a tiny pond. I don't know if that will be enough to interest them.

My other interest is trying to generate a source of mud so the barn swallows who used to nest here when there were horses might come back. (and to encourage the orchard mason bees) There's a big herd of deer and if they use it for a watering hole that should generate mud.

Many of bats I see are in above my horse pasture with no water nearby. One field has a little mudhole at the bottom and they do dive bomb it.

Do you have a tractor, skid steer, or a 4wd truck? Those can stir up huge amounts of mud in a low spot!

[Curt Harms]

Article from a local source.

https://heritageconservancy.org/heritage-conservancys-preserved-durham-bat-hibernaculum-wiped-out-due-to-white-nose-syndrome/

[Mel Fulks]

Curt ,thanks for posting
The article has some good news, says the bats have been DECIMATED! That means 90 percent are still alive !

[Adam Herman]

great work.

we opted for one of these. its been up one full season, hopefully we will have some move in this year. it can take several years for them to find the house. we love to watch teh bats at dusk around our fruit trees.

https://batmanagement.com/products/universal-four-chamber-premium-bat-house

[Curt Harms]

Curt ,thanks for posting
The article has some good news, says the bats have been DECIMATED! That means 90 percent are still alive !

If only. I don't know if there are ANY bats left there.

[michael langman]

Thanks for posting the site for building a bat house Roger. I have been meaning to make some for some time now.

When we moved into our house, I opened an upper cupboard that had the vent for the stovetop running through it. A brown bat had made it's way into a container in the cabinet, from the vent outlet outside, and had flattened itself down into a comfortable position, inside the container. I stood there for a minute thinking to myself, what the hell, before I realized what it was. I grabbed the container and put it outside with the bat flapping inside.

The wife was not impressed, because it brought up the memory of the bats flying around her bedroom while she was sleeping, with the door closed. I heard her screaming after waking up, and I had to seal the door off that went to the attic where they liked to roost.

But we do enjoy watchnig the bats at dusk out on the deck. They have been back for a few years now since their downturn.

[John K Jordan]

... A brown bat had made it's way into a container in the cabinet, ...

I have found bats in the oddest places. One had crawled up into the folds of a deck table umbrella, found it when I cranked open the umbrella. I've seen hundreds clinging to the walls in tight places when exploring caves in Tennessee, some a few inches from my arms. They were watching me but never acted disturbed. (This was a half century ago when bats were abundant.)

But my most memorable bat experience was in a narrow abandoned mine tunnel in the highlands of Central Mexico, near Moctezuma. A missionary friend took a few of us exploring and hunting for gold. The passageway was tall, just over my head, and maybe 2' wide. There was a deep pit up ahead that was apparently full of bats and someone in our party must have disturbed them. I heard the sound and felt a wave of wind pressure and looked ahead with my light to see a solid wall of bats coming down the passageway towards me! It was amazing - I stood still and the cloud of bats headed straight for me. A few inches away the cloud split and some went left and right and some into the space over my head. The sound and wind from the wings inches from my head was so incredible. I have no idea how many bats there were but the exodus went on for what seemed like several minutes. 10s or 100s of thousands, millions? Then in an instant they were past and all I could hear was shrieking from a girl further back in the tunnel.

That was odd, could it be that some people don't like a cloud of bats flying past their face? :)

JKJ

[John Goodin]

My mother in law is terrified of bats. I might have to build one and put it in the front yard.

When the city built a bridge over the river the underside turned out to be a perfect for bats. Every summer it is home to 1.5 million Mexican free tailed bats. Quite a site to see flying off in the evening.

[michael langman]

I have found bats in the oddest places. One had crawled up into the folds of a deck table umbrella, found it when I cranked open the umbrella. I've seen hundreds clinging to the walls in tight places when exploring caves in Tennessee, some a few inches from my arms. They were watching me but never acted disturbed. (This was a half century ago when bats were abundant.)

But my most memorable bat experience was in a narrow abandoned mine tunnel in the highlands of Central Mexico, near Moctezuma. A missionary friend took a few of us exploring and hunting for gold. The passageway was tall, just over my head, and maybe 2' wide. There was a deep pit up ahead that was apparently full of bats and someone in our party must have disturbed them. I heard the sound and felt a wave of wind pressure and looked ahead with my light to see a solid wall of bats coming down the passageway towards me! It was amazing - I stood still and the cloud of bats headed straight for me. A few inches away the cloud split and some went left and right and some into the space over my head. The sound and wind from the wings inches from my head was so incredible. I have no idea how many bats there were but the exodus went on for what seemed like several minutes. 10s or 100s of thousands, millions? Then in an instant they were past and all I could hear was shrieking from a girl further back in the tunnel.

That was odd, could it be that some people don't like a cloud of bats flying past their face? :)

JKJ


I think I could maybe handle one or two flying around but any more and I'm outa there! That must have been incredible.

I remember being at a lake in texas many years ago out in the middle of nowhere. When I pulled up in my car and got out thousands of ducks and geese took off in flight at the same time.
The sound was so loud, that I was dumbfounded,and standing there with my mouth open in awe of what was happening. I was thinking to myself, Did I just cause this and scare all these birds away.

[John K Jordan]

... thousands of ducks and geese took off in flight at the same time. The sound was so loud, that I was dumbfounded,and standing there with my mouth open in awe of what was happening. I was thinking to myself, Did I just cause this and scare all these birds away.

Incredible!

I did that once. But cormorants, instead of ducks. I was surf fishing at the Outer Banks in the winter of 2000 when I went around the south end of Okracoke island and saw the biggest group of birds I've ever seen in my life.

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I stopped and got out of the jeep and took photos. You know how you get a rough estimate of something - look for a group of about 10, ok 10 of those would be about 100, 10 of those 1000, etc.? I estimated 50,000 cormorants in that spot, all standing on the beach facing the same direction! I took some incredible photos then they suddenly took flight. The flock circled around and went up the coast. There were so many the sun was completely blocked for a while! Literally awesome. I suspected they were just enjoying a quiet afternoon with a few friends until I showed up and crashed the party. :(

JKJ

[David Utterback]

NC Wildlife monthly has a good article on bats. Says the next 3 months are rearing season so recommends to let them stay where they are until end of July.

https://www.ncwildlife.org/News/wildlife-commission-urges-public-to-be-bat-friendly-during-bat-pup-rearing-season