Bat House Forum

[Christoph]

I recently bought my house (not bat house) and realized I have an insect problem. More recently I've found mosquitoes are hanging around. I kill them anytime I see them, but they always show up the next day. The only reason I can think of is my backyard holds moisture for at least 24 hrs after any amount of rain falls. So I'm thinking of getting a bat house to feast on these annoying mosquitoes. At first I thought I could mount the bat house on my wooden shed, but it's only 10 or 11 ft. tall at it's highest point which would put the bottom of the bat house at 9 or 10 ft. off the ground. I don't think bats like lawn mowers, do they? So the shed is out as an option. What about mounting it to my wooden garage? It faces directly south and is taller than my shed. Or should I get a pole to mount it to? I live at the dead end of my street which is in the southern tip of the metro Louisville area. There's a couple open acres to the right of my backyard so the bats would have plenty of sun in the summer. My concern is how much bats like urban areas? I've seen bats flying around in other parts of the city although I can't tell what bats they are as they fly so quickly.

[Joe Spencer]

BAt houses that face south can over heat quite easily if not painted correctly (color wise) for the region. Big brown bats abandon roosts at 95 degrees. Little browns can tolerate it slightly hotter especially nursery colonies. What color is your south facing garage? We can then go from there and recommend the correct color for the bat house(s). My neighbor has a southwest facing bat house that I built mounted on a dark brick home. The big browns love the bat house until July at which time they abandon it only to return in late AUg-Sept for a couple more months before leaving for hibernation. Temperature probes indicate temperatures exceeding 95 in the lowest areas of the house even though it is painted dark on top and white on the bottom with ventilation. The exposed brick was getting too hot on sunny days and with ambient temps outside already at 90 degrees it was too much for them. Ironically buildings in most cases help to buffer temperature extremes but in some cases there are exceptions. Had this house attracted little browns it may have been perfect year round until hibernation. Ideally east or south east mounting of bat houses on buildings is ideal but south can be fine if building substrate and color is known. Also rocket boxes mounted on posts/poles out in the open in fields and built large enough give bats many temperature options due to 360 degree exposure and enabling internal movement and adjustment by bats.

[Christoph]

My garage is an off white color.

[Joe Spencer]

Yes there are urban bats and the color of your garage is fine given your area. You can paint the bat house a darker shade somewhere in the dark brown range should be fine. Also if you mount two bat houses side by side separated by a couple feet painting one lighter than the other it gives bats even more temperature options during summer extremes. Getting the bat house mounted now fall late/fall is perfect for potential spring occupancy. Pictures post mounting would be welcomed here at the forum as well if you can. Good luck.