Building a Bat House
Building a Bat House for Virginia’s Bats
(804) 729-0046 or toll-free at (888) 824-7383
Virginia Bat Removal and Bat Control Experts in Virginia. AMERICA’S BATS ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART of a healthy environment in Virginia. Nevertheless, many bat species are in alarming decline, largely because of unwarranted human fear and persecution and the loss of natural occurring roost sites. You can help by building a bat house and installing it properly. You’ll benefit directly from having fewer yard pests and will enjoy learning about bats and sharing your knowledge with family, friends and neighbors. Few efforts on behalf of wildlife are more fun or rewarding than helping bats survive.
As primary predators of night-flying insects, bats play a vital role in maintaining the balance of nature. By consuming vast numbers of pests, they rank among humanity’s most valuable allies. Just one little brown bat (myotis) can catch a thousand or more mosquito-sized insects in an hour, and a colony of 150 big brown bats can catch enough cucumber beetles each summer to prevent egg laying that otherwise could infest local gardens with 33 million rootworms. Cucumber and June beetles, stinkbugs, leafhoppers, and cutworm and corn earworm moths – all well-known pests – are just a few of the many insects consumed by these frequent users of bat houses. In addition, many pests flee areas where they hear bat echolocation sounds.
Through the efforts of organizations such as BCI, America’s most widespread bat species are in sufficient numbers to maintain nature’s balance and reduce demands for chemical pesticides. Their efforts involving BCI-sponsored bat house research has benefited 14 species of North American bats, including threatened and endangered species such as the Indiana myotis and Wagner’s bonneted bat. Bat houses are being used from Mexico and the Caribbean to British Columbia and Newfoundland.
Best of all, if you carefully follow instructions recommendations in building a bat house, your odds of success exceed 80 percent. Isn’t it about time to extend a helping hand in exchange for a healthier neighborhood? Go ahead, let’s get started building a bat house for Virginia’s Little Brown Bats and Big Brown Bats.
Key Criteria for Successfully Building a Bat House in Virginia
- Design – The most successful bat houses have roost chambers at least 20 inches tall and at least 14 inches wide. Taller and wider houses are even better.
- Construction – For single-chamber and nursery houses, ½ inch (or thicker) exterior plywood is ideal for fronts, backs and roofs, while 1- or 2-inch-thick boards are best for the sides when building a bat house.
- Wood Treatment – Bats apparently like dry, non-drafty homes as much as we do, so bat houses need to be carefully caulked and painted. Providing sufficient warmth without overheating is a key element in attracting bats.
- Sun Exposure – When choosing a location for your bat house, both sun exposure and heat absorption (based on house color) must be carefully considered. Too little sun exposure is the most important known cause of bat house failure, even in relatively hot climates.
- Bat Habitat – Most nursery colonies choose roosts within a quarter-mile of permanent fresh water, preferably a stream, pond, river or lake. Greatest bat house success has been achieved in areas of diverse habitat, especially where there is a mixture of agricultural use and natural vegetation.
- Mounting Bat Houses – Bats find houses mounted on poles or buildings in less than half the time they typically need to find houses mounted on trees. Tree-mounted houses also appear to be less attractive, as they tend to receive less sun and are more vulnerable to predators.
- Protection from Predators – Safety from predators appears to be a key factor in bats’ choice of bat houses. Those mounted on the sides of buildings or high up on poles provide the best protection.
- Avoiding Uninvited Guests – Bat Houses with open bottoms are far less likely to be occupied by birds, mice, squirrels or parasites, and they do not require removal of accumulated droppings.
- Cleaning and Maintenance of Bat Houses – Cleaning open-bottomed houses is unnecessary unless mud dauber or wasp nests accumulate. Maintenance should not be needed for the first several years for houses that have been carefully caulked and painted before being put up.
- Importance of Local Experiments – We have much to learn about the needs of individual bat species in some areas. Before putting up more than a few houses, you should test for local needs, especially by comparing the occupancy rates of houses with different sun exposures and shades of a color for heat absorption.
Frequently Asked Bat House Questions
Q. WILL ATTRACTING BATS to bat houses in my yard increase the likelihood that they will move into my attic or wall spaces?
A. No. If bats were attracted to your attic or wall spaces and could get into them, they probably would already be living there. The best way to ensure that bats won’t inhabit your home is to keep it in good repair. Bats can enter spaces as small as one-half inch in diameter. Building a bat house may provide an alternative roosting location.
Q. If I have bats living in my attic, but would prefer that they occupy a bat house instead, what should I do?
A. Attics and other parts of buildings often provide ideal bat-roosting sites. In most cases, bats will not voluntarily move from an attic. In such cases, alternative roosts ideally should be provided several months or one season before the desired move.
The bats should be excluded from the attic at a time in the early spring or late fall when flightless young are not present.
Permanently and humanely evicting bats from buildings is usually not particularly difficult, but it requires patience and attention to detail. Exclusions can sometimes be performed by homeowners following guidelines available on our website. You can watch to see where the bats emerge at dusk and use exclusion tubes to create one-way exits.
Q. How many bats can potentially occupy my bat house?
A. Depending on the size and the number of chambers, your bat house might shelter fewer than 50 to as many as several hundred bats. A very large “community bat house” might attract thousands.
Q. Can bats be introduced into areas where they do not already live?
A. If appropriate bat species pass through your general area, putting up a bat house may attract a colony, but there is nothing you can do to introduce them artificially. Bats have strong homing instincts and would probably return to their original roost.
Catching or purchasing bats (which is often illegal) for introduction into a new bat house should not be attempted. At the current time, there are no proven lures or attractants that will entice bats into occupying a bat house.
Q. How can I determine the likelihood of attracting bats?
A. Most North American bats prefer to live within a few hundred yards of fresh water, especially streams, rivers or lakes. In some western areas, even swimming pools or small cattle tanks that provide open water may be sufficient. All bats, especially nursery colonies, require good feeding habitat; riparian areas (along rivers or lakes) are typically best. Exceptionally high bat house success has been achieved in areas that support varied agriculture, especially orchards and natural woodlots or other vegetation near water.
Areas where bats already have attempted to live in buildings are a good bet, and in northern areas, the nearer they are to potential hibernating sites in caves or abandoned mines, the better.
Q. Why might bats not be attracted to my bat house?
A. It may not be well built, which usually means a failure to: 1) provide 3⁄4-inch roosting crevices that are at least 20 inches tall and 14 inches wide; 2) carefully caulk and paint; or 3) include ventilation slots. Also, even well-built houses must be positioned and painted an appropriate color for houses on his Oregon farm. Many insect pests are able to hear the ultrasonic calls of echo locating bats and will avoid areas where bats are active.
Bat biologist John Whitaker documented that a single colony of 150 big brown bats, which could easily live in one bat house, can eliminate 38,000 cucumber beetles, 16,000 June beetles, 19,000 stinkbugs and 50,000 leafhoppers each summer. This conservative estimate does not consider the many other insects these bats eat.
Cucumber beetles are among America’s most costly agricultural pests. Adults attack corn, spinach and various vine plants, but the greatest harm comes from their larvae, known as corn rootworms. Whitaker concluded that by eating 38,000 cucumber beetles, the bats protected local farmers from approximately 33 million rootworm larvae that the beetles would have produced.
To appreciate the incredible impact bats can have, con- sider that the millions of Mexican free-tailed bats that spend summers in Bracken Cave, Texas, consume tons of insects each night while hunting over surrounding towns and croplands. Loss of such bats would leave us increasingly dependent on chemical alternatives that already threaten our personal and environmental health.
Q. How effective are bats in controlling insects?
A. As primary predators of night-flying insects, bats play a key role in the balance of nature. They consume vast quantities of insects, including many agricultural and backyard pests. Bats are excellent predators of moths, which produce such costly larval pests as cutworms, corn earworms and armyworms.
Organic farmer Tony Koch reported a reduction of corn earworms from an average of several per ear of corn to none after he attracted about 2,000 little brown myotis to 24 bat houses on his Oregon farm. Many insect pests are able to hear the ultrasonic calls of echo locating bats and will avoid areas where bats are active.
Bat biologist John Whitaker documented that a single colony of 150 big brown bats, which could easily live in one bat house, can eliminate 38,000 cucumber beetles, 16,000 June beetles, 19,000 stinkbugs and 50,000 leafhoppers each summer. This conservative estimate does not consider the many other insects these bats eat.
Cucumber beetles are among America’s most costly agricultural pests. Adults attack corn, spinach and various vine plants, but the greatest harm comes from their larvae, known as corn rootworms. Whitaker concluded that by eating 38,000 cucumber beetles, the bats protected local farmers from approximately 33 million rootworm larvae that the beetles would have produced.
To appreciate the incredible impact bats can have, consider that the millions of Mexican free-tailed bats that spend summers in Bracken Cave, Texas, consume tons of insects each night while hunting over surrounding towns and croplands. Loss of such bats would leave us increasingly dependent on chemical alternatives that already threaten our personal and environmental health.
Q. Will having bat houses in my yard interfere with attracting birds?
A. No. They rarely compete for food or space. Building a bat house is a great idea.
Q. Will bat droppings pose a health threat to my family?
A. No more so than bird or cat droppings would. Inhalation of dust associated with animal feces of any kind should be avoided.
Q. What are the chances that a sick bat will endanger my family with rabies?
A. Like all mammals, bats can contract rabies, although very few of them do. Unlike many other animals, even rabid bats rarely become aggressive. Infected bats die from the disease, and outbreaks in their colonies are extremely rare. The odds of being harmed by a rabid bat are remote if you simply do not attempt to handle bats or any other wild animal. Any bat that appears easy to catch should be assumed to be sick and left alone. All animals bites should be reported immediately to a medical professional.
From 1951 through 2012, 54 Americans are believed to have contracted rabies from bats in the United States. With or without bats in your yard, the most important action you can take to protect your family from rabies is to vaccinate your family dogs and cats.
Good luck and congratulations on building a bat house to benefit Virginia’s bat populations.
(Source – BCI 2015)
Our Services Areas
We are considered one of Virginia’s best bat removal companies. Bat removal and bat control in Virginia is provided in these VA counties, cities and towns:
Afton, Albemarle County, Alexandria, Amelia County, Annandale, Arlington, Ashburn, Ashland, Barboursville, Bellwood, Belmont, Bensley, Bermuda Hundred, Bon Air, Boyd Tavern, Brandermill, Bumpass, Burke, Central VA, Centreville, Chamberlain, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Chester, Chesterfield County, Colonial Heights, Crozet, Cuckoo, CVille, Dale City, Doswell, Dumbarton, Earlysville, East Highland Park, Enon, Ettrick, Fairfax, Fair Oaks, Ferncliff, Fluvanna County, Fredericksburg, Genito, Glen Allen, Glenora, Goochland County, Gordonsville, Gum Spring, Hadensville, Hampton, Hampton Park, Hanover County, Harrisonburg, Harrogate, Hening, Henrico County, Highland Springs, Hopewell, Innsbrook, Jefferson Davis, Kents Store, Keswick, Lake Anna, Lake Monticello, Lake Ridge, Lakeside, Laurel, Leesburg, Lewiston, Lignum, Locust Grove, Louisa County, Maidens, Manakin, Manakin-Sabot, Manassas, Manchester, McLean, Montrose, Motoaca, Meadowbrook, Mechanicsville, Midlothian,, Mineral, Moseley, Newport News, Norfolk, North Courthouse, North Garden, Oilville, Orange County, Palmyra, Pantops, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Powhatan County, Reams, Reston, Richmond City, Richmond County, Robious, Rockville, Rockwood, RVA, Salisbury, Sandston, Sandy Hook, Scottsville, Shannon Hill, Short Pump, South Rockwood, Spring Run, Staunton, Stoney Point, Suffolk, Tidewater, Troy, Tuckahoe, Va, Varina, Virginia, Virginia Beach, Waynesboro, Williamsburg, Winchester, Winterpock, Woodlake, Wyndham, and the surrounding areas of Virginia.
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Call us at (804) 729-0046 or toll-free at (888) 824-7383 for additional information on Building a Bat House in Virginia or Virginia Bat Removal Services from attics and other locations on your home or business. Visit Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services information on animal removal and animal pest control services that our company provides in VA.