So why spend time building a bat house? Bats are just blind gross rodents that get tangled up in human hair, feed on blood, nibble on your home siding, and transmit rabies right? So why would you want to attract them on to your property? Well let’s get a couple things straight first; bats are not rodents, they in fact have a skeletal structure very much like our own, their wings are pretty much webbed hands. Bats are not blind, they can’t see color but they can see better at night than humans can; bats’ ability to echolocate also gives them a navigational edge over most nocturnal animals. Bats can detect objects as thin as human hair, so avoiding your hair is quite easy for them. There are bats that consume blood, they don’t suck the blood out though, they lick the blood from small cuts they create. These types of bats rarely target humans and the blood commonly comes from cattle and birds. Blood feeding bats live south of Texas so it’s pretty much impossible to attract blood feeding bats in the U.S. anyway. Bats don’t nibble on home siding and don’t destroy the exterior caulk on windows, why would they wear down their teeth chewing on something that doesn’t feed them? In the past 40 years fewer than 40 U.S. citizens have received rabies from bats, you have a better chance of dying from a bee sting. Well now that I have cleared up a
few misconceptions the question still remains, why do I want to attract bats
to my property? If you are involved in
agriculture or gardening bats will be more than happy to help you out. Perhaps the single most important ecological
service bats can provide us is a safe and effective alternative to the habitual
use of pesticides. Studies have
indicated that just one colony of big brown bats consisting of 150 individuals
can consume enough corn rootworm beetles to prevent roughly 33 million eggs
from being laid within a season. These
magnificent creatures could one day provide ecological services near the scale
of European Honey Bees. A study of bridge
habitat in Texas revealed that roughly 4,250,000 bats spanning 24 species were
living within only 211 structures; the total number of structures amounted to
2,421. The authors suggested
retrofitting existing structures to accommodate more bats. After
discussing the idea with construction companies and engineers, the authors of
the study estimated that the cost of retrofitting existing structures for tax payers would be either very small or nonexistent. Creating more bat habitat would also save a large amount
of money by reducing the amount of money invested in pesticide application. Bats not only aid the agricultural world,
they can have a large positive influence in residential areas as well. An individual bat can consume over 1,000
mosquitoes within an hour, thus reducing the sheer annoyance associated with
mosquitoes as well as the probability of contracting vector borne illnesses
such as West Nile Virus. Some residential
pests will also avoid aggregations of bats, so simply having the bats nearby
can be a great benefit. If you are interested in attracting bats follow the instructions below. Attracting bats is pretty simple, just build them a cozy home to live in. Bats don't mind tight places so all bat houses are pretty much the same, just take two pieces of wood sandwich them together with a gap in between them and viola, you have just made a bat house. My building plans are based off a design by Bat Conservation International, my design also includes a way of viewing the bats inside the bat house. Bats, just like humans, can't see infrared light so if you can put an infrared light and infrared sensitive camera inside the bat house you can see what is going on inside the bat house. In the instructions below I provide step by step instructions on how to build and install your own infrared light and camera rig using a lot of materials you may already have around the house. Once construction of the bat house is complete putting it up on the the south or east sides of your house is best. The south and east sides of a house will expose the bat house to the most sunlight during the day which will warm up the bats. The bat house should also be placed 10' or higher from ground to prevent predators from getting to the bats, more information about placement of bat houses can be found on the Bat Conservation International website. Don't get discouraged if bats don't take to your house right away, bats will probably start using the house in early summer. You may need to have your bat house up for a whole year though before bats take notice of it, so be patient. When your bat house is discovered by bats though, the bat house can provide years of enjoyment and exploration. What you need: Wood: one piece of 2' x 4' x 1/2'' outdoor grade plywood one 1" x 2" x 8' wood board one 1" x 4" x 3' wood board *I found some of the wood for this project in my hardware stores' scrap wood section Paints (all exterior grade and water based): one pint dark stain one pint primer one quart dark paint (colder climates require darker colors, Bat Conservation International has a temperature map indicating the best color to use depending on the where you live) Caulk: one tube latex caulk (darkest color you can find) Hardware: about 30 1" deck screws Electronics (all of these electronic parts can be purchased at radio shack, just tell them what you want and they should help you out): web camera (old ones lying around the house will work, you don't need to go out and buy a new one for this project) infrared LED (you could acquire these from things like old remote controls as well, it's what remotes use for data communication) 220 ohm resistor wire (just a couple of inches) solder (enough for a couple solder joints) Misc: latex glove silica gel Tools: multimeter circular saw cutting surface pliers paintbrush drill wood spade Dremel solder iron hot glue gun problem solving skills! Assembly: |