I like bats. They keep the skeeters down.
Here is a pick of one of a number of bat houses I made and placed around the property. The 16' post is made of white oak and the actual house was made from scrap aspen. The cuts in the post provide roosting spots. The house sits out from the post 3/4" all around and is fastened using 3/4" spacers. The house is 3' tall.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/Bat%20Houses%20Opt14.jpg)
Good Design and awareness for bats.
OWW, are they used quite a bit? Can you post a close up of the house? Thanks, BWW
BW I can't say much about the ocupancy yet as I just put them up a couple weeks ago.
Here is the site I got my plans from. This should be better than a pic :P
http://www.southernregion.fs.fed.us/boone/bat.htm
I've read that it can take up to 1 1/2 - 2 years, for bats to start useing a house.
Was kinda wondering what to do with some of the aspen I just got, now I know! ;) Thanks!
Any idas on how to get the bats to roost? I've had one up for 4 years and no luck. I had bats before I put up they're house. :(
Did ya follow all the rules for placement of the house???
If not, do a google search and try a new placement.
If ya did, throw out the rules and make up a few of your own! ;)
Really, is it high enough? Is it painted? Might just try a different spot for it. Ya may not be close enough to water and bugs, oh DanG, huh? ;D
Bats often require a year or two to find a new house. Chances of early occupancy can be increased if houses are placed before the last week of July when young bats are starting to fly.
Don't place the houses near existing barn buildings etc.
We often leave cavity trees for bats in our timber sale operations where local food supplies are adaquate near rivers, lakes, bogs or marshes where insect populations are high.
First off I'm no expert here on bats.
But, I think if you place your bat house under the shade of trees and up into the canopy a bit, if its a tree like boxelder that send branches down low. I hardly see a bat around my place, but the first of the month I saw two in the eves of my old grainery. My yard isn't too bad for flies anyway, dunno maybe they've helped that. At my uncles however, there are many flies and all kinds of bats through the summer, till mid september. He lives close to the river.
I was in VA 3 years ago and went to see some limestone caves, and those little brown bats, we have, where over wintering in those caves. They are so tiny, the wing is the biggest part of'em.
My uncle showed me where a bat had been staying this summer in his attic over the kitchen, it was leaving droppings in front of the entry door. He was scoop'n them up with the shop vac. ::) :D :D
In New Brunswick:
QuoteThe only terrestrial mammal species that ranked as Sensitive were all bats: little brown bat, northern long-eared bat, and eastern pippistrelle. These three bat species all hibernate during winter in caves or abandoned mines. The little brown bat and northern long-eared bat are relatively common. In fact, the little brown bat is the familiar species that often inhabits attics or old buildings during summer, sometimes reaching very high numbers in especially good locations. These species are considered Sensitive because of the low number of suitable winter hibernation sites, and because there is potential for these sites to be disturbed by people interested in cave exploration.
From NBDNRE statistics.
Click Me (http://www.unbf.ca/forestry/centers/fundy/bat_community_structure.htm)
Guys; My bathouse is by the letter in all respects, except it is white cedar. That may be a problem? Seems I'm assuming that oak and pine, and popple might be the better choices?
A wildlife control guy I was talking with said to get some bat poop and place it inside. He's going to get me some and I'll see if that helps. It's starting to get cooler now, so should I wait till spring?
Don't worry about the cedar, all the ones you buy at our local stores are made from cedar.
Oak and pine may or may not be the better choice, don't know. I do know the bats NEED a rough surface to hold on to.
Just becase you have bats flying around your yard, does not mean they like to roost in the area.
Did you have bats in the house or barn or anything like that before?
Spring might be a good idea, can ya save the dung??? ;D
Furby; When I had the bats, I had no house, barn, or anything other than a traveltrailer on the property. I wonder if maybe they were roosting in one of the many dead trees I have. I did lose one in a big wind, and now that I think of it, I haven't seen the bats since.
I don't think I could save bat poop till next spring, but since the wildlife guy removes bats fom houses, barns, and garages off and on, I'll most likely have a supply in the spring also.
At any rate, next year these ideas WILL be tried. I always thought it was great to see them flying around.
I think one of the best bat attractors are yard lights on a pole.They attract bugs at night, bat magnets. Either an incandescent or Mercury light. I remember dad going from Mercury to sodium and the bats seemed to disappear.
Jeff, was that in the same summer?
Sometimes bats aren't a good thing as in this case:
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/politics/9979879.htm
Jason
Not good at all. Too bad some folks never told the girl about rabies and vaccines at an earlier age. But, she didn't expect to be bitten in church I suppose.
I'd like to know how she got bitten in the first place.
I know it goes against what the movies like to show, but most bats DON'T fly around looking for people to bite. ::)
Interesting enough, I found several years ago the the chances or odds of having or carrying rabies is pretty uniform through out ALL mammals. That includes humans.
Some animals just get a bad rap because one or two animals were found with rabies and the press made a big deal about it, so ALL of that speices MUST carry it. :-/ ::)
I've been in caves with roosting bats and they're quite docile. At least the little brown bat. They look like a butterfly pupa with their wings wraped around them. My uncle is terrified of them, you'de think they were going to turn into vampires the way he carries on. He thinks every bat has rabies and there is no convincing him otherwise. ::) :D
Thank the movies and old wives tales! :-/
Furby, thank whoever ya want! I'm right up there with SwampDonkeys Uncle!!!!!!!!!! AND, tain't gonna be convinced otherwise!!!!!! ::)
Brown bat hybernating in the Dixie Caverns, Virginia
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/brown-bat.jpg)
I took this shot in 2001, while travelling with a friend in Virginia near Blacksburgh-Roanoke area. This was in mid october with summer-like temperatures.
White Nose Syndrome Threatens Bats in the Northeast
During the winter of 2007, at least 8,000 bats died in four caves within a 12 km circle about 20 km west of Albany, N.Y. In 2008, the problem exploded, with white nose syndrome found in Vermont and everywhere in New York that has been thoroughly checked. It is apparently killing every bat in the cave. Based on what the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has found, it appears the problem is spread in part by humans. If so, it is extremely easy to transfer from site to site. The syndrome is a threat to all bats including the endangered Indiana bat. Forest Service Eastern Region Endangered Species Program Manager Steve Mighton is looking into a closure order for all caves and mines on National Forest System land that are used by bats as hibernating sites until the situation is understood. Eastern Region forests are encouraging the public not to visit the caves in the meantime.
I hope I get bats to the house I put up for them last year. A dang bear thought the post tasted good last fall and left his teeth marks in the post. Found a tuft of hair on a supporting brace. ::)
Bat Houses placed along edge of Proud Lake Campground, one of Michigan's State Parks, 6/12
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/100_2857.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/100_2859.JPG)