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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Fri May 2nd, 2008 02:37 am |
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Terry, I am really hoping that more than 400 bats move in this year between the two houses. Given how small the little browns are and how many are already in the houses, I am thinking that each house could hold over 700 bats safely. I was able to measure two bats today by sliding my tape measure beside them as they slept, and they are about 1.125" wide and 2.25" long. So if my houses were jampacked with bats shoulder to shoulder and nose to "bum", the houses could hold about 970 bats. But I always take that number times 75% to give a less crowded maximum capacity rating.
Given that these houses are within 100 yards of a large creek and 1/8 mile from a very large river, prairie grasslands and deciduous/conifer woodlands are all in the immediate area, and some small apple and pear orchards within 2 miles...I think the little brown population will continue to grow as long as I keep putting up bat houses...the question is, when do I stop? 
The Nature Center has asked me in past to do seminars on bats and bat houses, but I have turned them down due to my schedule and the fact that I get nervous speaking in front of large groups of people that I don't know.
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Sat May 3rd, 2008 05:19 pm |
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The West house has exploded with bats. The rear chamber is packed full down to the last 4" and the rest of the chambers are about 1/3 full. I estimate the number to be around 350, I counted about 200 faces so the number could even be higher than 350...an exit count will be done this weekend!
The East house had 25 bats, still an extremely low number but I am not worried.
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Terry Lobdell
Member
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Posted: Sat May 3rd, 2008 10:57 pm |
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| Nate, I am looking forward to the results of your exit count! It's been pouring down rain here but has just stopped so I'm hoping to do a count myself tonight!
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Sun May 4th, 2008 07:30 pm |
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Got the new nursery house mounted on the South side of the Nature Center. I didn't get it as high as I wanted, but it is still 14-15' from the ground (former plans were 17-19'). I expect occupation within the week and perhaps even tonight.
Below is the view of all three bat houses
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Tue May 6th, 2008 09:35 pm |
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Ugh, I still haven't gotten to the bat houses at dusk to do an exit count, but the West house appears to be 75% full. Every chamber is packed tightly with bats down to the bottom 4" of the partitions. The number could be as high as 500-600 bats. The East house got a few more residents putting the number around 60. But the newest house hung on the building itself hasn't seen any use yet in the two nights it has been up.
I certainly didn't expect my colony to grow this much in the first season with the new houses, and especially not by the first week of May!
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Terry Lobdell
Member
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Posted: Wed May 7th, 2008 01:55 am |
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| Nate, you have got a hot location there! That is a lot of bats given the size of those houses.........Are you going to mount anymore boxes on poles? I am up to around 60 little browns at my home.........I haven't checked my other 2 little brown colonies yet.
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 11:57 pm |
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I am doing an exit count tonight with my fiance and kids. I plan on being at the bat houses by 8:15 pm since the sky is pretty much too dark to see any bats flying by 9:15 pm. The temperature will be about 60 degrees at 8:30 tonight. I should have the count posted here by 10 pm tonight!
And yes, I am very surprised that there are so many bats given that the houses are 20" wide and 24" tall (without the landing pad) and 7.5" deep. Perhaps a two larger houses will be needed in the next ten years, but since the East house is less than 15% full I think that many of them will occupy that house as the West house fills...also the new smaller nursery on the building only 15 feet away.
Last edited on Sat May 10th, 2008 12:07 am by IowaNate
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Sat May 10th, 2008 02:37 am |
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The West house wasn't as full as it was a few days ago, but the East house had approximately 100 bats in it when viewed from the bottom. I did an exit count on the West house and there was 326 bats that emerged over the course of a half hour, and I flashed a light into the house and found three straglers left bring the number for the West house to 329 bats.
So approximately 430 bats between the two houses, which I expect was less than a few days ago when the temperature was about 10 degrees higher and the West house appeared much fuller than it was tonight.
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Terry Lobdell
Member
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Posted: Sat May 10th, 2008 03:31 am |
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| Nate, I am really looking forward to what your peak numbers end up at for those houses! A lot of people ask me how many bats can fit in a bat house. I have yet to have any of mine fill up that much.........These 2 houses.........are they both the wrap around design?
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Sat May 10th, 2008 07:20 pm |
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Yes Terry, these are my two wrap-around houses. I think this design has huge potential...and with a double wrap-around chamber/standard nursery house that I am currently designing, I feel that it will be able to provide a vast range of temperatures and I should be able to keep the weight at 50 pounds or less.
I have seen the use of the front and side slots as the bats switched chambers, so I will be incorporating access to every chamber without bats having to leave the house in the new design. Current planned exterior dimensions for the new house are 24.5" wide, 33" tall, and 9" deep. Eventually this design will replace the originals at the Nature Center if the colony continues to grow.
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