Bat House Forum

[kh67]

This was the first house we put up.  This is the view to the west.  The lady who lives in the house on the right (our immediate neighbor to the west) seems angry at us.  We aren't social with our neighbors, so I can't say for sure, but when we stand out in the back yard watching the bats at night and she's been out tending to her yard, she slams the doors on her way in.  She probably thinks we're going to attract them to her attic.  Luckily, I've heard the people in the other house out at night making remarks about the bats flying around, saying how fun they are to watch.    If you look carefully, you can see the orange extension cord coming down at an angle from the pole.  I've attached a wireless IR nanny cam to the post with the receiver hooked up to the TV so I can watch at night to see who comes and goes.  Unfortunately, I can only see all of the way up one chamber due to the narrowness and angle.  Its not an outdoor cam, so I have to unplug it if its going to rain.






This one has a guest for the day.    Hope my camera flash doesn't scare him into not coming back tonight.  Last year we usually had 2 or 3 bats in it at a time, but so far this year we are lucky to have 1 or 2 bats at a time.



This is our experimental house, made by "winging it."  Sorry, couldn't resist.  ;)  Its only one chamber and hasn't appeared to have been occupied yet this season, but it was used regularly last year, usually by 2 bats at a time.  It faces south.



And finally, the location of the next post in relation to the existing pole.  We're still waiting for the cement to set.  It will be the pivot pole post from http://www.batcon.org/bhresearcher/bv5n2-4.html  Its hard to tell from the picture, but it will have clear access from the north or the south.  The existing house on the metal pole has access from the east and west.  Tried turning it to see if that helped occupancy rates and it remained completely empty, so we turned it back.  Yes, the metal pole is crooked.  Happened after a storm.  We need to tighten up the guy wires to make it straight again, though the bats don't seem to care.

[IowaNate]

  The bat houses on the pole look great! They definately could house a good sized nursery colony. I would keep those up for sure, but I see that rather large tree that might be giving them a bit too much shade at times..that could possibly be a factor in not attracting a large number of bats.

    The species of bat appears to be a big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) from the face and estimated size using the chamber width as a rough guideline (which I assume is about 3/4").

[kh67]

Wow!  Big brown?  Really?  I've always assumed they were little browns, judging by the guano I saw last year.  With only the occasional visitor and the grass around the post, its hard to find a sample to judge by.  I'll have to look into that some more.

As far as the tree goes, we had 11 trees in our yard when that post was put up, and it was very difficult to find a suitable spot.  We're going to be cutting down 3 trees in the next few weeks, which should help considerably, though the one I believe you are referring to has to stay.  The smaller tree up there by the pole is half dead from a lightning strike, so its coming down.

[IowaNate]

 My big browns have been acting very strange this year at my home. I usually had a few roost throughout the summer between the houses, but they left the bat houses in the early spring, and now two of them are roosting in my attic gable vent instead of using the houses. The last 7 months have proved very interesting observing my big browns and the times they occupy the houses...I haven't been able to figure them out yet.

[Terry Lobdell]

Very nice! Yes, definitely appears to be a big brown in the picture........your neighbor probably just needs some educating..........it takes patience to convince some people of the value and importance of bats but it's worth it. I've had many discussions with people who initially made a face when I mentioned bat houses.........gradually most of them become more accepting of bats........it takes all of us to educate others!

[Joe Spencer]

KH67, guano and species identification via guano size between the two most likely bat house occupant species in 2/3 of the U.S. and canada:


http://batnic.tripod.com/guano95w.jpg

[kh67]

Joe,

That picture is the same one I had used last year to decide which type of bat we had, and there is no doubt in my mind that it was the little brown's guano I saw.  Of course, that doesn't mean that we have little browns again this year.  I should know better than to assume.    The grass around the base of the pole makes it nearly impossible to find the guano, given that we've only ever had a few bats at a time and there isn't much to find.  I have some craft foam, a sheet about 8x10" from Walmart, that I think I will cut a hole in and put it around the pole at ground level and see what I find.  I did notice on the video camera one night when a bat landed and scooted in to roost that it seemed like a much tighter fit than before.  I guess if he was a big brown, that would explain it.

[kent borcherding]

kh67 ,

Regarding the metal pipe leaning due to a storm , if you can use a 1" inside diameter pipe and place a length of 3/4" outside diameter pipe inside helps stabilize the metal post.

The 3/4" pipe inside does not have to be same length as outside pipe. 6 -8 ft. should work , because pipe will usually bend near the base.

This way guy wires are unnecessary.

When setting bat house posts I have began using " Quikrete " a fast drying concrete mix. Make sure everything is straight when you pour the water on the " Quikrete " in the hole because it will set in approx. 10 minutes. Be sure to get the "Quikrete for setting posts , there are 2 mixtures one is cheaper but is not for setting posts.

Another good site for mounting bat houses with metal poles is Marvin Maberry's website , www.maberrybat.com , also other useful info .

Marvin has done much to educate people about bats , he is also a very nice person.

[Joe Spencer]

To expand on what Kent recommended:  I have found that you can get a stabler post or pole ground base by tapering the hole like an umbrella base such as below.  Just dig one ft. down and then taper the bottom to the top by digging out the bottom wider by hand or using small garden tool as much as possible without caving it in.  Put your post or swivel post in and then fill it with quickrete.  It is amazingly stable especially in sandy, softer and damp/wet clay soils.