Subject: Re: Bat houses?

From: [email-masked] (JoelDi)
Date: 6 Aug 1994 09:55:03 -0400

I have had 2 bat houses up for about 3 years. They were from a design from
Bat Conservation International, their smallest house. This year we finally
had a bat in one. I think they have a new book, called "The Bat House
Builder's Handbook" or something like that. It describes what has worked
well for people and what doesn't matter. As I recall, painting didn't seem
to make much of a difference, nor did spreading guano on them. There are
also several new designs in it. BCI can be reached at:

P.O. Box 162603
Austin, TX 78716

Joel DiGirolamo   [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Aaron Morris)
Date: Mon, 08 Aug 94 07:57:53 EDT

In article <[email-masked]>
[email-masked] (Katherine Hess) writes:
>We made a bat house a couple of years ago.  For months, it was sitting on
>the ground.  As might be expected, no bats.  (Lots of black widows, but
>they're all over in the Sacramento Valley)  Our house is attached on the
>east-side, so we didn't have a east eave to mount it on.  It was attached
>to the east side of a trellis for quite a while, but didn't attract
>anything but more spiders.
 
Like a good restaurant, it's location, location, location.  As I understand
it, and I'm no expert, the 'best' location for a bat house is one that
raises the temperatures in the late afternoon.  The late afternoon sun
gets the bats warmed up for their evening bug feast.  Another factor to
consider in locating a bat house is noise pollution, or so I have read.
Supposedly bats like it quiet.  Although I saw Traffic at an open air
theater (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) last week and along with a
fantastic show, I really enjoyed watching the bats pick out insects that
were attracted to the stage lights.  So much for liking quiet!  Perhaps
the bats had ear plugs?
 
I've had a bat house up for two years (western exposure but near a
busy street).  Still don't know if it's inhabited or not, as it's too
high to easily check.  The guano thread gives me the idea to check
for droppings, which will be easy enough.  I can't testyify whether
guano attracts other bats or not, although I'm sceptical.
 
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!