![]() Interestingly, bats are less attracted to bat houses mounted on trees. ideally a water source nearby (so the mother bat doesn't have to leave her young for too long).at least 15 feet off the ground (to protect against predators) and.I read over the plan and I found that I needed a location with: That just means those houses were made by people less acquainted with bat needs. Have you ever seen bat houses for sale that are smaller or shaped like a bird house? I have. That was not how I had pictured a bat house. (They also have a Bat House Builder’s Handbook available for free in a digital version on their bat house pages.) The big surprise was that this bat house ended up being bigger than I expected: two feet wide and almost three feet tall! According to their website, a successful bat house can be smaller (14 inches wide instead of 24 inches wide), but this one was designed to easily use up a 2 foot by 4 foot piece of plywood with fewer cuts. Ideally they would live in a natural home but we build bat houses to help those who can't find space in a forest.Ī bat house is also is a great way to provide cover for wildlife, as well as a place for wildlife to raise young-two components of becoming a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat site.įirst I printed a bat house construction plan from Bat Conservation International's website. Why can't the bats just find a nice tree? That is the challenge for many bat species as forests are cleared. You might wonder why you need to build a bat house. That makes it more like tree bark and easier for the bats to climb up. Also, you'll be using a saw to rough up inside the box. That's why we paint the box a dark color in most climates and why we caulk the sides to keep the heat in. They also need it nice and warm for the babies. ![]() That's why the space inside a bat house is very narrow, unlike a bird house which would house a nest. Your goal is to make a bat house that mimics the space between bark and a tree trunk. Some bats spend winter months in caves, but most bats spend summers in trees, under bridges or in old buildings, where they give birth and rear young. You might be surprised: bats don't always live in caves. Hopefully this can help even the least handy person build a bat house. This was my first time using a circular saw. Some bats use echolocation, or high pitched chirps which bounce off objects in front of them, to find their way in the dark.īefore I share my bat house building experience, let me say that I am no carpenter.There are more than 1,300 species of bats in the world!.In many ecosystems, they play a key role in pollinating plants. ![]() According to Bat Conservation International, one little brown bat can eat 60 medium-sized moths or over 1,000 mosquito-sized insects in one night! Pesticides can be harmful to mosquitoes’ predators as well as mosquitoes. I love bats because mosquitoes LOVE to bite me. ![]()
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