Bat Habitats and Bat Houses Placement

Bats live and thrive in most habitats around the world with of course differing species in each location. With the majority of bats having a diet of insects, they are more active when and where there are said insects to eat, and become dormant, hibernate, in areas that go through a cold winter season. In some tropical areas where bats are eating fruit, there are plants that rely totally on bats to spread their seed,survive and multiply. 

Because of the bats ferocious appetite for insects, they are welcome in many backyards and gardens as a mosquito control. The best way to bring bats into your yard is to supply a bat house or two. The bat houses placement plays a vital role in getting the house occupied quickly, so following are a few guidelines.

We will cover here the bats habitats for the USA and into Canada.

Placement of Bat Box

All bat houses/boxes should be placed at a height of between 15 feet and 20 feet, above 20 feet is better than below 15 feet.

All bat houses should be placed as to receive the warmth of the morning sun, so they should face a south to southeasterly direction.

Your first best choice as to what to hang your bat house on is a stone building, second best choice is a wood building, third best choice is a pole and lastly, your forth choice would be a tree. 

In the Northeastern USA and the Northwestern USA into Canada, the bat houses should be painted or stained a dark color.

In the Southeastern USA and the Southwestern USA, the bat houses may be painted or stained white OR left their natural color.

The one difference between the Northern USA and the Southern USA is that in the North the houses need to get 6-8 hours of sunlight, in the South different species of bat will occupy houses that are placed in the sun, part sun or even shade, so in the South there is certainly more flexibility as to where the bat house is placed, if you wish to attract a particular bat and you live in the Southern USA more research than we offer here may be needed.

 

 

 

 

Bat Boxes. #110-2

Item #110-2

Price $31.95 



 
Bat Houses. #112-1

Item #112-1

Price $44.00 



    

What does it take to make a good bat house?

More than a dozen species of bats are known to use bat boxes, given that the number of bats are declining in population, it  behooves you and I to supply a box or two (or three) on our property if we are able, but what makes a good bat box? what should you look for when buying a house? because all boxes are not created equal. Many retailers of bat houses do not offer all the information they should.(in our opinion) What we endevour to do here at WestWindBH, is give you enough information so you can purchase a bat house and get the results you expect. For instance we have all seen the small bat boxes offered by various outlets, what you need to know is that the occupancy rate of small, single chamber bat houses that may not be the right color for your area, is maybe 15%-20% and if you put that house on a pole or tree the % go down.If you purchase one of these bat houses, put it on a wood, brick or masonary building, put it in a sunny location and have reasonable expectations. If in the future you can add another house, your odds of occupancy increase, then if you are able to install a large house, that becomes a nursery while the smaller houses become homes for the single males.
* A good bat house should be caulked, bats appear not to like draughts, so a well sealed box is important.
* A good bat house should have a rough interior OR mesh or netting tightly secured to the walls of the chambers.
* A good bat house should be offered with the option of having it painted or stained a dark color. If your average July tempreatures are mid 90's or below, the house should be a dark color, that's most area's.
* A good bat house should be painted or stained with water based products IF painted or stained at all.
* A good bat house should have a sloped roof.
* A good bat house should have a landing area below the chambers. 
  All our bat houses follow these criteria

Bats that will occupy bat houses
 
Northeast 
 
Little Brown Bat
Big Brown Bat
 
Northwest
 
Little Brown Bat
Big Brown Bat
Yuma Myotis Bat
Pallid Bat
Mexican Free Tailed Bat
 
Southeast
 
Southeastern Bat
Big Brown Bat
Mexican Free Tailed Bat
Evening Pipistrelle
Evening Bat
 
Southwest
 
Evening Bat
Big Brown Bat
Little Brown Bat
Yuma Myotis
Pallid Bat
Mexican Free Tailed Bat. 

BirdHouses HomeBirdHouses and Feeders for SaleEastern Bluebird House PlacementEastern Screech Owl FactsPosition your BirdHouses.All About ChickadeesAll About TitmiceChickadee BirdHouse PlacementBats habitat and houses placementAttracting BirdsPole Bird FeedersBird Suet RecipesMaine BirdHousesProduct Details and CareShipping/PoliciesAbout UsContact UsWholesale InfoLinks

Bat House Placement and Bat Habitats