1993. Reminder to Owners of Unsuccessful Bat Houses . The Bat House Researcher. Vol 1, No 1:3-4

TITLE---[ Reminder to Owners of Unsuccessful Bat Houses ]
AUTHOR---[ ]
SUBTITLE---[ ]
VOLUME---[ 1 ]
NUMBER---[ 1 ]
ISSUE---[ FALL ]
YEAR---[ 1993 ]
START PAGE--[ 3 ]
END PAGE---[ 4 ]


Reminder to Owners of Unsuccessful Bat Houses IF AFTER AT LEAST ONE active season, your bat house remains unoccupied, try moving it to a new location where it receives more or less sun. Reports thus far indicate that most successful bat houses are occupied within the first year, and that most failure results from too little exposure to sun. A house that fails at first, but is occupied after a move, may provide especially enlightening information on what local bats need. If your houses are mounted on poles, try rotating them from a north/south exposure to sun to east/west. Since houses seem to be too cool more often than too warm, this may help. If your houses are insulated and empty, try removing the insulation to permit greater heat gain. You also can try painting houses a different color, most often darker. Attaching nursery houses back-to-back on poles may reduce extremes of temperature fluctuations Such houses in the hottest climates may benefit from tin roofs with enough overhang on the east and west sides to reduce solar heating during mid-day. Ventilation slots, like those used by Lisa Williams, are also a good idea. © Bat Conservation International, Inc., 2002. Absolutely no rights of distribution by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease or lending, preparation of derivitive works, or reproduction, in whole or in part, is granted. No text, graphics or photos may be downloaded and used on another Internet site, without express permission of BCI. BCI reserves the rights to actively protect against infringement.

Reminder to Owners of Unsuccessful Bat Houses

IF AFTER AT LEAST ONE active season, your bat house remains unoccupied, try moving it to a new location where it receives more or less sun. Reports thus far indicate that most successful bat houses are occupied within the first year, and that most failure results from too little exposure to sun. A house that fails at first, but is occupied after a move, may provide especially enlightening information on what local bats need.

If your houses are mounted on poles, try rotating them from a north/south exposure to sun to east/west. Since houses seem to be too cool more often than too warm, this may help. If your houses are insulated and empty, try removing the insulation to permit greater heat gain. You also can try painting houses a different color, most often darker. Attaching nursery houses back-to-back on poles may reduce extremes of temperature fluctuations Such houses in the hottest climates may benefit from tin roofs with enough overhang on the east and west sides to reduce solar heating during mid-day. Ventilation slots, like those used by Lisa Williams, are also a good idea.

© Bat Conservation International, Inc., 2002. Absolutely no rights of distribution by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease or lending, preparation of derivitive works, or reproduction, in whole or in part, is granted. No text, graphics or photos may be downloaded and used on another Internet site, without express permission of BCI. BCI reserves the rights to actively protect against infringement.