House Sparrows
Feb 28, 2020Placing Nesting Boxes
Feb 29, 2020
Getting Started
Bats
Why attract bats? Consider this: one bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes every hour! That’s right, they’re nature’s summertime insecticide – without the scary chemicals.
Pick the Right Placement
Don’t mount bat houses to trees. That makes it too easy for predators to get inside. Plus, trees cast way too much. Bats like it hot, usually between 85 and 100 degrees F inside bat houses. So, place your bat house facing to the south or southeast in an area where it will get unobstructed sunlight during the day.
Choose a Pole
Mount your bat house on a sturdy metal or PVC pole. Or use a 2x2 or 4x4 wooden post. Make sure you place your bat house AT LEAST 20 feet off the ground. Why? Bats take flight by dropping out of the house at night, kind of like a skydiver. It can take them as much as 15 feet to catch air in their wings and fly away. So mounting houses at least 20 feet up will ensure “bat” doesn’t mean “splat.”
Water!
Like birds, bats need a steady water source. They can lose as much as 50% of their body weight in water during just one day. So, add a bird bath if you don’t have one and make sure it’s filled at night for the bats...and in the day for the birds. Trust me, it’ll be a big hit with both!
Bat Garden
Try mixing night-blooming plants, as well as aromatic flowers and herbs into your garden. They’ll bring in insects at night which will – you guessed it – pull in the bats!
Be Patient
It can take as long as two seasons for bats to find the home you’re placed for them. They won’t take to it nearly as fast as birds take to their nesting boxes. But stick with it, use the tips above and pretty soon your bats will find their happy new lodgings!