Bat Box - How to Get Bats to Live in a Bat House

What is a bat box? For the most part, bats are seen as scary creatures but it is wise to remember that they have a good side too. Before you look at extreme methods to remove these flying creatures from your home, it is wise to remember that they bring good stuff to the eco-system surrounding where you live, and on top of that, it is actually illegal to try and harm them. When you bear this in mind, it is wise to look to the professionals to remove your bad problem for you.

Bats are, in fact, very helpful to the ecological system around you. In the rainforests, for example, bats are responsible for reforestation, and banana plants and certain cacti actually rely on the bats to become pollinated too. When you think of it this way, bats don’t seem quite so scary, do they?

Bearing this in mind, one of the best options that you can turn to when you seem to have a reoccurring bat problem is to use a bat box. The good thing about having bats around, especially during the warmer months, is that they love to eat the insects that would otherwise cause a nuisance to you. The birds eat the insects during the day and the bats eat them at night – it is like the perfect little eco-system.

The reason that many bats are now turning to houses and residential properties to build their roosts is because their favorite spots – hollowed out trees, old houses and barns, are fast disappearing. This means that they are having to adapt to living with human beings in order to survive. This is where the idea of the bat box actually works – you are giving the bats a place to live that doesn’t include your property. It seems to kill both birds with one stone, so to speak, and is definitely worth a closer inspection.

Bat houses or bat boxes need to meet rather specific criteria in order to make them look as appealing as possible. The bottom, for example, needs a narrow crevice into which the bats will crawl. The inside of the bat box should be relative rough and have something for the bats to hold onto. Ideally kept around 10 to 15 feet away from the ground to avoid predators, the bat box should be cozy enough to keep the bats warm and dry from the external weather. You should also take great care to ensure that bats are going to come into contact with anything else while he or she is trying to fly into the bat box. This means that you shouldn’t put it into dense trees or in the way of power lines or similar. Near a spot of water is good for the bats through – the water attracts the insects and the bats love to eat these.

A bat box is basically a miniature home that you create (or buy in kits) that is placed on your property, yet away from your house, in a bid to lure the animals into somewhere new that they can call their home. You still get the benefits of the bats eating the insects, but without the hassle of them making noise, destroying your houses foundations, and leaving poop lying all around the place. This poop alone can carry with it nasty diseases.

When building a bat box, you will find plenty of templates online that you can use and you should always ensure that you use untreated wood as the animals can be rather sensitive to chemicals. You can either create a cylindrical box that is designed to be hung from a tree, or a brick-like formation that can be attached to the sides of walls and other flat fixtures. You are going to have more luck with them if you place them near to the areas that they were dwelling in your home, and you will need to be patient. They aren’t just going to want to jump right on in straight away!

Go back to the main Bat Removal page for more information about bat boxes.