Side project - Bats and Owls

[woodlandfarms]

Put together a few bat boxes and barn owl boxes. Now hoping they find the darn things.

Neighbors say an elk herd has moved in above us. I have not heard nor seen them. Wondering how I convince them to move onto our place.

I will use a tractor to mount on the trees and poles so it kinda qualifies for TBN

Carl

 

[20 20]

Thanks for the post/pictures. I have a bat house out by our pond, we really enjoy them. It was sad when they got white nose, like losing a pet, but they say they should be making a decent come back within the next 4-5yrs{??} sure hope so. I do want to make another bat house and a couple of owl houses. Is there a site you used for the plans on your owl house?

 

[Baby Grand]

Nice work! Yes, please share any info or links you may have on the owl & bat boxes as we could use all the help we can get with our mice and mosquitos.

 

[Kyle241]

Definitely if you can post any tips, plans, etc. I would be interested. I have a bat house that I built last summer but we did not paint the interior black so it never got put together. Would love to entice some barn owls to my property as well plus wood ducks!

 

[jonyyuma]

I am interested in making Owl house and bat house too...Plan to paint them black..

 

[Arkaybee]

Here are a couple of links to information about raptor housing & perches.

Wild WIng Company Nest Boxes and Perches


Birds of Prey Assist Farmers (SA Fall, 1992 (v5n1))

Love the raptors. If not for them the mice would take over everything.

HTH

Arkaybee

 

[woodlandfarms]

I have only seen owl boxes in CA. They are quite successful so this is the plan I used.

http://www.scvas.org/pdf/cbrp/BuildingBarnOwlBoxes.pdf

The only thing I don't like is the possible water leak in the top, but I think I will just put some old shingle up there and that will fix it.

Bat Boxes... there are tons of plans online

https://www.google.com/search?q=bat...D4n02QWi4sCLAg&ved=0CF0QsAQ&biw=1638&bih=1079

I got a book from a friend and used that plan, but read a lot on the internet and made some changes.

I understand taller and narrower is more desirable. I have not painted mine yet and am on the fence about it. I do know the big thing is that most of the builders are getting away from the mesh interior and just going with roughing up the inside box.

There are oils that are supposed to attract them

At the end of the day I feel this is a hit or miss proposition. As we are not them, and don't think like them, you have a 50.50 chance of this working.

But I am thrilled none the less. Hoping it pays off handsomely.

 

[whiskywizard]

I'd love to add some owl boxes and encourage more owls to stick around. Does the increased presence of owls scare off all the other birds?

 

[ch47dpilot]

Got an odd question but maybe someone reading this forum knows the answer. I've heard tails of owls and eagles taking small dogs from back yards. I have a mini Chihuahua. We have a big barn owl(I think) that hangs around always afraid something will grab her. She's about the size of a rabbit. Always hangs around our Black Lab and Black Lab/Pit Bull so she's well protected but at times she does wonder off on her own.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

We have an owl that hangs around somewhere in my neighborhood. I hear him/her often at night. I think the owl is cool, but there's a negative side, too. We've had a lot of kittens that just disappear without a trace. A few small dogs have also come up missing.