Congradulations bakemom. Don't know if your bat found the batbox, but you've given it possiblities.

I love bats. I use to sit outside at dusk just to watch them, but since we've moved to the country I haven't had any.

I wonder what's up with that?

I hope your new buddy stays around. Maybe clues in his friends to a new welcomed stash of bugs and housing.

Bats are such a great addition to any outdoor area. - those little squeeter eating machines! That's wonderful! They come out at dusk...that's the best time to see them.

We used to have some near us that emerged from I don't know where. I haven't seen (or noticed) them this year.

How great that your kids got you a bathouse.

Enjoy!

...Beverly

Color me envious! I've always wanted some bats hanging around!!! I rescued one once--named her Frieda, nursed her back to health, and set her free. Everybody thought I was insane.

To answer your question, though, I have no idea what time they start to come out.

Congratulations on the new addition to your garden!!
Gina

Don't worry Gina. We did the same thing with a robin named Pecker.

Frieda's favorite treats were tiny bits of orange. She looked SO cute when she ate. Wait....wait....I can almost feel my mom shuddering from 100+ miles away at that thought. :)

That's impressive that you were able to nurse a bird back to health. Did Pecker stick around at all? Do you ever see him/her?

Pecker was a little pink blob in the middle of the street in Oklahoma in 106 degree weather. Not a tree around. I started feeding him mealworms and then catfood. You should have seen me teaching him to fly! Yes, I flapped.

He was still young when I moved back to Columbus, so he drove across the country with me, two drunk cats (tranqs just made em rowdy), two iguanas, and two hedgehogs. Little by little Pecker got used to flying around the yard and stayed out longer and longer learning to feed himself, etc. Then one day he stood on the fence, looked around and took off.

We still have pictures of him taking a bath in the sink, singing for his breakfast, and riding around on my kids' heads.

Bats are cool to everybody! (Or they should be.)

Several years ago, I made my father a bat box for Father's Day. (We share a "thing" about bats.) Unfortunately, nobody ever moved in. Attracting bats seems very hit or miss, and there was no large water source nearby.

The box was broken when they took out the tree it was nailed to. But it maybe time for a new one; the neighbors have put in a pool.....

I think I just solved my Father's Day dilemna!

I too have bat boxes! I just need to put them up!
I have read lots of things on bat boxes, though.
Bakemom, some things you may want to check to see if your bat box is being used is- are there droppings underneath of it. That is one sure sign of residents. Also, you can take a high powered flash light and shine up in it just before dusk.

I have read that sometimes it can take a couple years for bats to motice the house. But after a couple years, and no results you might want to try and move it to another location.
Maybe it isn't high enough, or not enough sun, or possibly too much sun.

I have talked to people and read that they had moved their boxes just a few feet and changed the direction in which it is facing, and that encouraged the bats to roost in the boxes.

I don't think mine is inhabited but I can't be sure. I've been looking for guano, but don't see any. I think it's too low and not facing the west enough. I was told to wait two years and it's been four. Maybe time to re-position.

What height is your box at?

Here are some hints I looked up at batmangement.com

Common design/construction problems

Bad designs are simply flawed from the start. They are often too small overall and contain crevices too large. Sometimes a critical detail is omitted, such as a landing plate. Usually these boxes cannot compete with a modern design, even after being upgraded by a creative hobbyist. Bad construction is a different matter, usually the box can be successful after some paint, caulk, extra screws, and extra roughening.

* A single chamber box. Bats simply prefer larger structures which offer more stable temperatures.
* Factory smooth interior crevices. All interior wood must be roughened for bats to readily cling to. Some commercial boxes staple screening to the inside of the box which may eventually fall off. A box seen for sale at a major hardware store has only one groove on the "landing plate"; this is totally unacceptable.
* Unprotected roof. Roofs without shingles may last only a few seasons, once the roof is compromised the box will be incapable of retaining heat and fall into disuse.
* Nailed together with unsealed seams. This type of box will warp and separate at the seams allowing unwanted ventilation and disuse.
* Unpainted, unprotected exterior. Some manufacturers insist on leaving bat boxes unpainted. While in certain regions the natural wood color may be a suitable color, there is no good reason for the structure to go unprotected.
* Old design. Bat research has proceeded at a very fast rate, thanks to improved communication among many different hobbyists and researchers. For example, a tall open-bottomed bat house is now prefered over smaller closed bottom designs which tend to attract more parasites.
* Old plans. Bat house plans can be found in a variety of places, which is good. Unfortunately, many posters, books, and flyers were published years ago with now antiquated plans. Frightningly, this information is still distributed by many seemingly reputable sources. A stack of utterly horrid plans obtained from a state wildlife agency were seen distributed at a wildlife program in 2000.
* "Recycled" material. Some people construct bat houses of good design but with lumber salvaged from demolished structures in effort to cut costs. As some pesticides can leave active residues for years, BCM always uses new lumber when constructing bat boxes.

Common placement mistakes

The greatest bat house in the world will never contain a bat unless it is placed properly in the field. In cool climates it is best to avoid shady locations at all costs. Often this limits the mounting options to strategically placed new posts or sunny chimneys. Bad placement includes the following:

* Box is in a shady location, it needs a minimum of seven hours of morning sunlight.
* Box mounted on a tree, rarely will the box receive enough direct sunlight in cool climates.
* Box placed on a structure, directly under the eves. Again, this may be simply too shaded.
* Placed too far from permanent water. Dry, arid locations are less desirable, though bats will drink from swimming pools.
* Located over bright surfaces which reflect light into box. Shiny flashing or even pans to collect guano may deter use at certain times of the season.
* Located near burn barrels or air vents where smoke or strong wind will disturb bats. Beware of air conditioner units which may not be active when installation occurs.
* Erected where the box is prone to vandalism.
* Placed in brightly lighted areas. Avoid mounting where dusk-to-dawn lights shine directly onto the box.
* Erected directly along roads, where bats are vulnerable to automobile traffic during their dawn return.
* No maintenance. Some mounting solutions make a quick yearly inspection into a difficult and even dangerous ordeal. Bat houses do require minor wasp and seam inspection, otherwise bats will begin to abandon the box. Be alert for a hornet invasion as well; bats will immediately abandon a bat house until these agressive insects are removed.

karen- which direction does your box face? I seem to recall I was told to put it on the east side of the tree/house/shed, so that bats would have the morning sun to warm them up.

I think that's part of my problem. It's facing the west sort of.

We had two bats back when we had a pool. It was so cool to float in the pool at dusk and have them zipping around overhead. Sometimes they flew a little low and you had to duck under the water. My daughter named them Chrissy and Stacy (the Barbie Batgirl factor). When the pool deteriorated beyond use I justified the West Nile virus breeding ground it became as a haven for two West Nile virus predators.
The bats were around at the beginning of the summer but have moved on now the pool is gone. I seem to remember that they came out when the sky got just enough of a darker blue that you weren't totally sure you'd seen them. Around 9 at midsummer, maybe? Of course that changes through the summer.

I belong to a lodge whose two story building is over 100 years old. We have meetings 2 times a month on the ground floor, our upstairs is storage. We have to cover everything stored because of the bat guano. I've gone upstairs to scoop the poop during the day and stirred up the bats. They come and go through an old flue, we don't make any effort to attract them. They're protected by state law and it costs a small fortune to hire someone to trap and release them, so we just live with them a few hours a month. I wonder if we could file as a bat sanctuary, LOL.

The newest issue of Backyard living has an article on bat boxes. It also has a detailed materials list for building, and I belive it also has colour cordinations for particular zones.

Thanks, Jasonmntman - that is some great information you gave us.Thanks.. I have seen bats this summer recently. Even though we are in a subdivision, there's a creek nearby and it's a good water source for them. I've always wanted a bat box. Oo...maybe Santa will bring me one.

...Beverly

Mine was a do it yourself kit from Wildbirds Unlimited. It's that place on 33 just north of Hayden Run. Then we stenciled two bats on it (like the bats needed a clue or something). I'm wondering if that small amount of paint contributed to the problem.

Depends on what the paint is. But I know the instructions I had recommended painting the box black (or covering it with dark shingles) in order to hold the heat.

I think that was the thing that surprised me the most, was that you really need to make the box warm -- even hot. I would worry about baking the little bats, but they apparently like it as warm as possible.

(I remember Chrissy and Stacy.....)