A Bat House for our Home
You might be aware that we have been renovating our 100 year old Craftsman house for the past several years. One important project in our plans, once we finally got the outside of the house painted, was the installation of a bat house. You might wonder why I appreciate bats…and I will be glad to tell you!
Bats are some of the most misunderstood animals we have around our homes. They are not pretty. They accidentally get inside. They are subject to many long-held misconceptions, such as getting caught in your hair or sucking blood (they do neither). But in truth, bats are highly efficient bug eaters and much more ecologically friendly than pesticides.
Many of the more than 1,300 bat species consume vast amounts of insects, including some of the most damaging agricultural pests. Others pollinate many valuable plants, ensuring the production of fruits that support local economies, as well as diverse animal populations. Fruit-eating bats in the tropics disperse seeds that are critical to restoring cleared or damaged rainforests. Even bat droppings (called guano) are valuable as a rich natural fertilizer. – Bat Conservation International
The bat population is declining rapidly due to habitat destruction, environmental changes, pesticide use and White-nose Syndrome. We hope that by providing a safe home for some of our local bats they will continue to thrive in our locality and help us keep our mosquito and garden bug populations down.
We installed a single chamber Organization for Bat Conservation Bat House on the south facing 2nd story side of the house. This design has a nylon interior mesh for bats to hold to, a sealed slanted roof, and a proven 80% occupation rate. Sounds perfect! This little box can be home to 100 of these tiny little animals if they decide that they like the location. Their new home has morning sun so the bats will be warm when they get back from their night hunting.
So now we wait and watch. I know we have local bats because I see them flying around the trees in the evenings. We can expect our bat house to become occupied within one to three years. If we don’t have tenants after three years, we need to move the box to a different location. Wish me luck! I will keep you updated as time goes on!
If you want to read more about bat conservation, here are some great web sites:
Bat Conservation International
Organization for Bat Conservation
The old house I lived in had bats living in the walls…ugh!! It was awful and every so often they would get lose in the house!! Boy was that an adventure!! Id much prefer for them to stay outside!! Do love all the mosquitoes they eat though 😉
Bats are very useful critters. The botanic gardens has several bat houses around the grounds.
Interesting idea and informative post. I feel like animals have a use it’s just that I don’t want some in or near my home, but they can be very important to the ecosystem and living. Good for you, but I admit I wouldn’t want to do it. I say go for it if that interests you.
How interesting. My parents had issues with a bat population in their chimney before. I’m sure the bats will move into the bat house really quick!
My sister bought an old Grange Hall to turn into a house. It had over 6000 aware feet upstairs was on open whole room. But they had Hundreds of bats and thousands of bees. We had to seal the holes up at night when the bats went out. There were several old barns in the area where they could go to
The bees were taken out by a bee wrangler. But when the bees left wasps came in they needed the exterminator. They started the renovation someone else finished it into a three car garage with 4 bedrooms and 4 baths. Great house but saved the bats and bees.
So cool, and such a great (and unique) post! If I remember correctly (my memory is awf… what was I saying again? :p ), I learned a bit about bats / bat caves in the BBC… Oh, let me grab it from the shelf up there. …The BBC’s “Planet Earth” DVD box set, narrated by David Attenborough. (VERY highly recommended!) So fascinating!
Side note: I didn’t know that you were in the process of renovating! Good on you. Also, it gives me some kind of comfort to know that I’m not the only one who lives in a 100-year-old house! :p