Bat House Forum

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is a slanted baffle house after I stained the front a dark brown. Interior baffles were stained with a home made mixture of walnut husk juice and water. The walnut husk stain does not fill in the grain. The baffles are rough sawn red pine. The top baffle has the walnut stain.

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is a view of the top. I did not fit the baffles tight to the top just for ease of construction. I am going to make a removable roof to clean out wasp nests if neccessary. I have not vented it yet. The sides are in 2 pieces of 1X5" so the crack between may serve as ventilation. This should be a good house for big browns and I am going to mount it on the east side of my house. Big browns really seem to like that morning sun from the east.

[IowaNate]

 Nice looking house Terry! It definately has the fully functional "shutter" look to it. And since the baffles aren't aggressively slanted you got alot more roosting height from the rear chambers.

  I will be looking forward to occupancy observations!

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is another view. The angles of the baffles are fairly steep to allow guano to fall away. I will post more pictures when I finish the roof and have it mounted.

[Terry Lobdell]

Nate, yes it has a suprising amount of roosting space. The finished baffle width is 12". And it has 5 &1/2 linear feet of slanted baffles. The bats can also roost in back on the wafer board.

[IowaNate]

 I predict it will get some good use from your nursing big browns this year!

   Do you have a photo from the bottom of the house? I'd love to see how the rear baffles are arranged.

[Terry Lobdell]

 

Here is a view from the bottom. I had just got done staining it. There was almost enough room in back for one more small baffle but I didn't bother with it. I uploaded this last night then tonight it was gone! I reposted it tonight.......hope it stays!




 

[Joe Spencer]

Looks great!  I agree with Nate in that experimentation with aggressive to non-aggresive slanting degrees should provide invaluable data as long as enough people try the variations.  I'm planning on getting one of these up this year too!  I have noticed slight preferences with big browns favoring houses mounted east over west in my area since warm days coupled with western exposure often results in internal bat house temperatures exceeding 95 degrees in smaller or inproperly designed or painted houses.  Of course the latter depends on the geographical location.  Thank you for the pics.  They're great.....  

[Terry Lobdell]

Thanks Joe. I'm thinking this design might be good in an area that does not already have a colony. All those crevices have got to look inviting to the bats. It's also fairly easy to build since no saw kerfing is required due to the angle of the baffles.

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is a view of the slanted baffle box mounted before I put the roof on. It faces east.

[Terry Lobdell]

Here it is with the roof of asphalt shingles over plywood on. It just slips over the box like a lid. Can be easily taken off to clean out wasp nests. The lid/roof is made of 2 pieces of 3/8" plywood sandwiched around a thin piece of foam. The outside edges are 1x2" larch.

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is a view from further back. The bottom is 10 feet off the ground. Another advantage of this design is the higher exit point the top baffles allow. Might be a good design to put on the side of a small garden shed. It shades the houses next to it but they are only used by bachelors. As you can see I have a lot of bat houses mounted to my home. My home is barely visible from the road so I don't worry about the appearance. Bats are more important anyways!



 

[Joe Spencer]

Great photos thanks!  About the only immediate concern (no biggie) I have about the slanted baffle design is urine buildup.  If you look at Nate's Indian Creek Nature Center former bat houses he took apart, you can see the abundance of urine and crystalized urine.  This slanted design may likely result in even more buildup.  In a plywood baffle house with screening you could always paint the dividers or line them with tarp paper prior stapling the mesh and this would prevent urine infiltration into the wood.  I guess the easiest thing to do would be to spray these rough baffle dividers/chambers out with water or a pressure washer every two years or so after the bats leave for hibernation.  This might also dislodge any wasp nests which may be inside as well.   Terry your baffles in this design are partially painted however, what percentage of each baffle remains unpainted or does the walnut husk juice prevent  potential urine absorption over time? What do you guys think about this potential situation?

[Terry Lobdell]

Joe, I agree that with usage there will be a build up of urine saturation. Long term usage may not be feasible with this design. I think the main advantages of this design are as a good roost for big browns in very hot weather and as a first bat box to initially attract bats.

The baffles are stained just on the exterior with a latex chocolate brown stain. All interior sections of the baffles have the walnut husk stain. The homemade walnut stain was very thin and would not stop the urine at all.

If I do get a lot of usage from this house I may just replace it with another of similar design then move this one to an area where I am having trouble attracting bats. The urine soaked wood may help in attracting bats.

[Terry Lobdell]

Well, tonight I had 2 bats inside the slanted baffle house the 2nd crevice down and one bat roosting behind! I did not expect occupancy this soon. The pair appeared to be the mystery bats I've had all spring that are always roosting tight together. They have very small ears. I'm guessing they must be little browns......I may try to get a closer look one of these night........

The last couple nights my little browns have really started splitting up and moving around..........I had bats in at least 12 of my 28 bat houses tonight. And judging from guano they've been investigating all of them. My records indicate similar behavior last year. Maybe the mothers are evaluating all the bat houses before they give birth?