I have bats !!

[Anonymous Poster]

For the past few years we have been attacked by thousands of mosquitos any time my family went into the back yard. Last spring ( 2001 ) I installed a bat house on the back of my shop. The book that came with it said that it usually took 2 or 3 years for bats to come to a new house. On the 4th of July we had about 35 people come over and not a single person was bothered by mosquitos. At that time I didn't think much about it but late this afternoon I saw about a dozen bats flying around the yard. I didn't actually see any go to the house but I am hoping.

Anybody else installing bat houses? The little fella are supposed to eat more mosquitos than martins ever thought about, plus they do their work at night. Anybody know how to attract them? How to keep them happy?

 

[Ozarker]

I don't have bats but I have seen those bat houses and thought about getting a couple myself. Guess it's working for you.

 

[RobS]

<font color=blue>Anybody know how to attract them? How to keep them happy? </font color=blue>

How about how to keep them out of the attic?

Seriously, I like the idea of bats for mosquito control but once established can/do they become pests themselves? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[looch]

I'm all ears too. I must have over 200 of them living between the metal siding and the sheathing on my barn. You can hear them screeching their claws on the siding during the day. It won't be long before I'll be putting some rabbits and chickens in the barn - and all that guano is a serious health problem.

 

[weedsportpete]

We've got bats in the barn also.. it seems to help take a bite out of the mosquito population, but same problem - all the crop on the barn floor is depressing. We want to start using the barn for storage, workshop, etc.

Has anyone successfully moved bats out of a barn and into something like a bat house??

Pete

 

[looch]

A word of warning. You should wear a gas mask with purple filters when dealing with that stuff. It can cause a very serious respiratory infection.

 

[gws]

I dont have a bat house, but I have bats. The barn swallows keep the bugs down during the day and the bats do the work at night. Add a couple of purple martin houses next year to help with the day time bugs.

 

[Golfgar4]

Here's a link to <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.batcon.org/>Bats Conservation International </A> that can probably answer any question about bats that is floating around in your belfry! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[weedsportpete]

Great link. Go in there, click on Publications, then click on Read our Featured Article, and then in there you can do a search on past issues. There is an article called Bats: A Farmers Best Friend, and another called Bat Houses as Alternate Roosts. Good reading, includes a little on the design of the bat houses.