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kent borcherding
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| Joined: | Fri Jan 7th, 2005 |
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| Posts: | 43 |
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Posted: Sun Apr 13th, 2008 08:26 pm |
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Nate ,
The Johnson house was an early Minn. bat house design.
Bats will probably use it the baffles are placed front to back instead , run the narrow way. Difficult to control internal baffle temps this way.
When the baffles run side to side , the long way , inner middle baffles are warmer in cooler weather.
You can make an original rocket box and easily mount it to the snag,
I like the original style rocket box , important to cut the top at a long angle , usually use a sawsall and cut at 55 degree angle.
Without checking my records have between 12 and 15 of the original rocket box design.
When checking bat houses will take digital camera along and take some pics where I have mounted 2 to a mounting post.
There is a Canadian bat house design , Hans Weber design , that is successful. I have several at 2 different sites maternity colonies in them probably 18 years or more.
The Hans Weber design seems to work well in cool climate. Downside is difficult to knock wasps out of.
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IowaNate
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Posted: Sun Apr 13th, 2008 09:20 pm |
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This bat house design would be facing directly East though. The morning hours should warm the East faces of every crevice but as the day draws on the South facing side and crevices would receive the most sun. The North crevice would typically remain cooler after midday since the sun would be to the South of the bat house. But then the whole house would be almost shaded in late afternoon due to the large diameter of the snag on which it is mounted, which would be a great opportunity to try a concrete block in the ceiling to absorb the morning heat and release it slowly into the house as night falls. I realize that "square" houses are difficult to keep temperature differences between chambers, but this design and it being mounted facing East should be an advantage. The 1/4" vent would go around all three sides about 6" from the bottom.
Last edited on Sun Apr 13th, 2008 09:58 pm by IowaNate
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Terry Lobdell
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Posted: Mon Apr 14th, 2008 05:00 am |
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Nate, I mounted a bat house to the side of a huge old beech snag in August of 2007. As of that fall there were no signs of occupancy. I expect at least a few bachelors this year because a building a few feet away has both little and big browns roosting in the attic.
I've pondered cutting slots in snags with a chainsaw to make some quick crevices but have never actually tried it.
I've also thought about covering some snags with sheet metal or tar paper over spacers for a quick and easy bat shelter but have yet to do that either. I think the bat house builder's handbook has pictures of it.
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IowaNate
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Posted: Tue Apr 15th, 2008 03:04 am |
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Cutting slots into the snag itself would be a great idea, but I don't think the Nature Center would allow me to do that. I might just put two of the 5/8" crevice Pipistrelle houses on this snag facing Southeast and Northeast and seeing what happens...I just need to get off my bum and get out there with my new ladder. It's seems like just getting an hour of free time away from the house has been difficult lately, but the six houses in my basement aren't going to hang themselves! 
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IowaNate
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 10:11 pm |
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It's April 16th and I checked both houses today and the big brown had moved to the attic vent on the Nature Center (if it was the same bat). But, I have a little brown that took his place in the East house! I almost forgot how small they actually were after seeing only big browns the last two weeks. It definately seems like an early return for a little brown, but hopefully it's a sign of my houses being even more successful this year.
The temperature got into the mid 70's today and I have seen lots of insects, so the bats that are out of hibernation should be actively feeding tonight. The next week is forcasted mid 60's during the day and mid 40's at night, hopefully a few more little browns will return soon.
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IowaNate
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Posted: Mon Apr 21st, 2008 10:46 pm |
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I checked the houses tonight after work, and I had hoped that a few more little browns had returned... I counted 60 little browns in the West house and 40 in the East house! Granted some of the bats were in tight clusters and I can only assume that there was more bats behind them, so the actual numbers were probably around 80 and 50 without doing an exit count. About 1/3 of the bats I saw were using the wrap-around chamber!
I am already at 25% of my highest occupancy (400 bats) for the former houses that sat in their spots and it's only April 21st. I am currently working about 3 miles from the Nature Center, so I will try to check the houses at least twice a week and keep up with the numbers of returning bats.
Nate
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Terry Lobdell
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Posted: Tue Apr 22nd, 2008 02:48 am |
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| Nate that is exciting news! I've got around 40 total bats at my home, and approx. 20 big browns at my Uncle's.
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IowaNate
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Posted: Tue Apr 22nd, 2008 10:43 pm |
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Excellent news Terry! I checked the houses tonight and had about 40 in the East house and over 130 (I lost count after that) in the West house. The number increased by probably 50 bats overnight.
The bats are definately using the wrap-around chamber (about 1/3 of the total). Most of them that were in that chamber were on the sunlit side getting the most warmth.
By the end of the first week of May I expect the houses to have most of the mothers back, and will do an exit count on both houses with my fiance.
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IowaNate
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Posted: Sat Apr 26th, 2008 01:39 pm |
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As of April 25 there were approximately 200 bats in the West house, and the East house dropped to 20 bats. I don't know why they seem to be favoring the West house being as though they are built identical, receive the same amount of sun, and are only 20 feet apart.
The temperature at night will be in the low 40's for the next few days, so I am putting off doing an exit count untill the night temps get back up to 60.
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Terry Lobdell
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Posted: Sat Apr 26th, 2008 05:02 pm |
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Nate, I have 2 back to back houses facing east and west where the little browns seem to prefer the west house. I would have thought in the mornings they would all be in the east house but there has always been much more guano under the west house. I'm not sure why either.
On the subject of exit counts, I think bats may exit a little bit earlier when temps are going to drop during the night. Maybe they want to get some feeding in while insects are still active. I noticed this a couple times in 2007.
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kent borcherding
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| Joined: | Fri Jan 7th, 2005 |
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| Posts: | 43 |
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Posted: Sun Apr 27th, 2008 12:50 am |
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Bats tend to stay in the west facing bat house, especially in cooler weather ,the material bat house is constructed will be warmer because of the warmth from the afternoon sun.
When the summer temps rise bats will usually use a east or south facing bat house , returning in the dawn swarm.
Bats do not move about much in the morning , one of natures mysterys , afternoons will move about in the roost or change roost.
This is main reason I prefer a 2 inch inner roof , makes a good heat well.
About the time you think you have things figured out , bats do entirely something different. Keeps bat house construction from becoming boring.
Trying not to stray from original post , several years ago a researcher published a paper in "Bat Rearch News " about bats prefering locusts trees to roost on or in.
The density of black locust acts as very good heat well to prolong daytime heat.
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IowaNate
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Posted: Thu May 1st, 2008 12:41 am |
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Here is a photo of the front wrap-around chamber showing numerous little browns. It's not the highest quality photo, but you can see that they are packed tight. The numbers are still around 200 for this house and the nighttime temperatures have been in the low 30's for the last 3 nights.
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Terry Lobdell
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Posted: Thu May 1st, 2008 01:01 am |
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| Nate, that is amazing that you have 200 little browns in the wrap around house already! I may have to try that design here in Pa!
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IowaNate
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Posted: Thu May 1st, 2008 03:51 pm |
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Terry, I am also planning a design that has two wrap-around chambers as well as the standard 4 chamber nursery in the middle. Although I can see a house like this weighing in the 50 pound range.
I checked the houses this morning and found that more bats had moved in last night. The West house has the top 1/4 of every chamber packed tight with bats, and the East house has about 30 bats total. I would have to estimate the numbers close to 300 between the two houses.
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Terry Lobdell
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Posted: Fri May 2nd, 2008 01:54 am |
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| Wow, that is outstanding! And it's still early enough I would think you'll get even more little browns in there. My little browns are usually all back by middle May. Does the Nature Center do any programs about your bat houses in the summer?
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