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Ok so I got a bat box for my birthday from a well meaning gift giver. I'm not sure its of the best construction and if I have even the slightest chance of attracting bats to it if I put it up in my parents suburban back yard. HERE is a link to the box I got. I have the receipt and am thinking I should just return it. What do you guys think?

It's a gift. Just hang it up outside and see what happens. A lot of research went into the bat house builders handbook, but sometimes those wacky bats surprise everyone and use those prefab ones.

how do i know if there are even bats in my area tho??

it looks ok, are the entry slats up underneath?

i know folks put them up on the side of the house if the hosue is 2 floors, I hear the best mounting places are either up on a tall pole or tree, i'd think at least 20' up

Hey Tallgirl,

At the least, it's decorative. I think you should just put it up and see what happens.

Here's a link to "where to put bat houses" Just look around and pick the best spot you can.

http://www.batconservation.org/content/ ... house.html

I built a bat house about 4 years ago and mounted it to my chimney, about 25 ft. high. I always see bats flying around my house at dusk, so I just assume I have some living in there.
Might as well just put it on your folks' chimney and see what happens.

tallgirl wrote:how do i know if there are even bats in my area tho??

What part of VA are you in?

I use to live in Northern Virginia and would go to the Pine Crest golf course (Braddock and Little River Turnpike) at night and watch the bats over one of the ponds all the time. We'd toss pebbles to try and get the bats to swoop towards their "prey". Some would, but they all figured out it wasn't an insect and would abort the swoop. Jep.

hmmm just realized that i havent mentioned putting it up to my folks.... lol

ok so the south/east of my parents house is the front of it so i might run into trouble with the home owners association lol... also wondering if it might be cruel to my neighbors with their huge butterfly bushes lol

tallgirl wrote:how do i know if there are even bats in my area tho??

I've seen bats in every part of Virginia I've ever been in at night, even the cities and suburbs. I suppose there might be a few small areas they don't frequent often, but the maps I found here: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/?t=2
say that the common ones have at least been spotted in all counties in VA.

Cal Butchkoski of the PA Game Commission was the primary researcher who worked out the design for the best bat boxes in the northeast (with other contributors, obviously), and I worked with him for years on this stuff so figured I would chime in.

First, that's a spiffy looking bat house, as in it would look nice in a wooded garden. As for bats, a different story. Pretty much all the bat house research has been focused on getting a summer maternity colony of bats, ie the women, and ignores the males as they have fewer roost requirements and really don't contribute anything to the next generation of bats beyond the previous fall's breeding and insemination. The bat house you have seems to me unlikely to host a maternity colony given its design.

So, why not forget about most of the maternity requirements, such as a clear southeast-facing location, and just do as Kome suggests: put it up in a place where it looks good and see if the bats don't just have a go at it anyway. You might get a pile of males or, surprise everyone with a maternity colony. A bat house design known to attract a maternity colony costs far more, so just returning the thing won't get anyone any satisfaction.

I once photographed a colony of eastern pipistrelle bats, a maternity colony, in a barn basement roosting between the wooden ceiling bits and fiberglass insulation. Bats do odd stuff some times, so hammer the bat house onto a tree 10+ feet off the ground and just see what happens.

Good luck,

Keith

Todd wrote:

tallgirl wrote:how do i know if there are even bats in my area tho??

I've seen bats in every part of Virginia I've ever been in at night, even the cities and suburbs. I suppose there might be a few small areas they don't frequent often, but the maps I found here: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/?t=2
say that the common ones have at least been spotted in all counties in VA.

Basically I was going to say unless you live on the coastal parts of Virginia, you have bats.