Bat House Forum

[wworker]

Hi folks. I just hung my house today in my backyard, and I could use a little reassurance. It is a small-medium two chamber made of red oak and mounted on a pole 13' at the bottom. It was built to spec and I have bats flying around at night, the height is right and the direction. The problem is the whole direct sunlight thing.... I live in an old suburban neighborhood. The lots are smallish (1/3-1/2 acre), and the trees are large and numerous. In short, I have a "hole" roughly 6o degrees all the way around where sun comes through. It might get 4-5 hours of direct noon-midafternoon sun during hard summer, but the rest will be diffused through trees. So I am just a bit nervous about the whole thing. The one thing that makes me feel better is that several years ago my buddy's folks had a colony of bats living under the siding of their barn. That barn faced due west on a HEAVILY wooded lot on a light gray vinyl sided barn, and there were a couple of hundred bats living in there. So if they can have such luck...mine doesn't seem hopeless does it?? Yeah I know this can't really be answered and time will tell, but do any of you have populated houses in less than ideal conditions?

Thanks,

Matt

[cloudman75]

Matt,
I had a house for two years located 12 ft above my carport slab under the eves of my house facing east. I also have large trees so that the house received about 2 or 3 hours of direct sunlight. The purpose of sunlight as you know is to give the house warmth especially for nursery colonies. You did not say where you lived. My bats in the Atlanta GA area got so hot they came down to the landing board of the three chamber house. I would say that if your house is warm enough that the sun duration you mentioned is plenty for a successful installation. BTW. they were great photos and your house looks
like any bat would be proud to live in it. Good luck and keep us posted.

Frank

[Joe Spencer]

Matt, looks great. That house is a bare minimum house thermal mass wise to be located on a pole/post. As cloudman mentioned, if you could let us know what state or area you're in, it would help. Thanks for photos which look great!

[wworker]

Thanks cloudman and Joe.

I am located in Griffin, GA(CM, we are neighbors!), and it gets pretty darn hot in the summer. I guess I will just monitor it and see what happens.

Joe, I didn't even think about the larger sizes holding and maintaining heat more efficiently. MIne is about 23X18X4.

We will just see then.

Oh, Cloudman, are your bats back this year, if so, how long?

[cloudman75]

Matt,
I had 74 little brown bats on April 6 this year total for two houses. My 5 chamber large house is painted a lighter color of blue. My highest count was 82. Most roost in the larger house with maybe 20 or so in the smaller one.
My three chamber is cedar and not painted. I counted bats on exit this week and only had 48 total. The little browns come and go with the weather. There are several bat caves in Bartow county just up the road about 25 miles or so and I believe they go back there when the storms come or the weather cools. I don't know, just guessing as they sure leave here in numbers and come back when it gets hot. I get bats with pups about the second week of June if the weather is warm. My bats start drifting back about the second week of March in small numbers. Then a large group usually shows up in April. There is a big pile of droppings under the house at that time and that's how I know. I have three houses but one I put up in the winter of 2007 is still vacant. None of my houses look as nice as yours. Since you painted it dark in Griffin, GA. it will most certainly be warm enough for a maternity colony with little sun in my opinion. I have a small bat that spends the winter with me, but have not been able to identify it. If I can be of help to answer local questions you have, send me a private email if you like. Welcome to the forum.

Frank

[jbker]

Matt,

I think you are getting plenty of sun for the bats. My first bat house ( see the moabjen post on hot bats to see a pic of bats hanging out on the landing deck} . This house was located for 2 years on the east side of my hangar 12 feet up with no trees.
Also no bats When the bats started using the vinyl corner which was open at the bottom on our house, I moved my bat house there. It was on the north side under a 2 foot eave. It was painted grey ( my other 2 houses are unpainted recycled CDX ply) and the bats were too hot.

Your house looks great. Give it 2 years and if it doesn't get residents, try something different at that point.

bernie

[wworker]

Thanks Frank and Bernie.

Matt

[Terry Lobdell]

Matt, your house looks great! How far away was the colony is the barn?

[wworker]

Thanks Terry. That colony was several miles away from my house. I just saw a couple flitting around the other night though, so I know I still have them in my neighborhood.

Oh, that is a pretty good stack of lumber you have dry stacked on your property. What are your plans for it?

[Terry Lobdell]

Well, much of it I have been donating for various wildlife projects. I gave some to the state game commission to build 2 bat condos. The first one we did last year I have pictures of on this forum. I have also used a lot of it for smaller bat houses. I may use some of it to build a garage later on, I'm not sure yet.