Birdhouses are quite nice and all, but isn’t it about time we showed some love to nocturnal flyers? The design for a bat house is much different from the usual bird types –
You might be surprised: bats don’t always live in caves. Some bats spend winter months in caves, but most bats spend summers in trees, under bridges or in old buildings, where they give birth and rear young. Your goal is to make a bat house that mimics the space between bark and a tree trunk. That would be the bats’ ideal nursery. That’s why the space inside a bat house is very narrow, unlike a bird house which would house a nest. Bats like tight spaces. They also need it nice and warm for the babies. That’s why we paint the box a dark color in most climates and why we caulk the sides to keep the heat in. Also, you’ll be using a saw to rough up inside the box. That makes it more like tree bark and easier for the bats to climb up.
And hey, bats can consume 500 – 1,000 mosquitos in an hour. That’s a welcome practice around most woodsy dwellings.
- Bat House(s) on Ben’s world –Link
- Why I Built A Bat House –
National Wildlife Federation –Link - PDF guide, instructions @ Bat Conservation International –Link
Related:
Make Podcast: Weekend Projects – Batometer –Link
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