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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Tue Aug 12th, 2008 03:48 am |
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I have been selling a few of my bat houses recently of the economy three chamber nursery design. But some people have been wanting a smaller house that is just as well built. So I came up with a design using 1x12's as front and back, 1x6's as sides, and a 1x8 as a roof. The chambers are only 10.5" interior width and 21" tall. These bat houses are identical to the interior size of three houses mounted on my home that are occupied by big browns throughout various times of the year, but the new house is 3/4" wood throughout, whereas my former houses are only 3/8" and 1/2" plywood. The chambers front to back are 3/4", 3/4", and 15/16" with a 1-1/2" hole in the middle of each partition to aid in switching chambers if needed.
I used a router to countersink the front, back, and partitions into the sides. I kinda feel guilty for making and selling a house that is smaller than the reccommended BCI guidelines, but then again this size has been of great success for me with big brown bats. The addition of using only 3/4" solid pine should help tremendously with thermal stability. No screening or saw kerfs were used, just the old standby of three screws through a thin piece of wood scratched across every interior surface.
I hope it's a good compromise for people that are shy about putting up a larger sized bat house but yet want a good chance at attracting a few bats with little effort. My estimates for full occupancy are about 150 bats, but for a smaller house such as this, I would expect 100 bats maximum to be a more realistic number.
I already have three people waiting for this new design and they will be putting the houses up in prime bat habitiat. It will be interesting to see what next summer brings!
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Tue Aug 12th, 2008 03:58 am |
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Here's a photo showing the overall size of the primed house. Sorry about the "grainyness" of the photo, my digital camera was having fits with me.
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Terry Lobdell
Member
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Posted: Tue Aug 12th, 2008 07:04 am |
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Nate, that is a very good design. I mounted one at a neighbor's house a few years ago and found out last summer they had an exit count of 56 little browns!
I think the size is plenty big enough. It is big enough to hold a lot of bats yet small enough to be mounted easily.
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cloudman75
Member
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Posted: Tue Aug 12th, 2008 02:54 pm |
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Nate,
I really like that house for design and size. I believe that a smaller maternity colony of 75 or less would have a need for this design even in warmer climates. My little brown colony started out several years ago with only 17 bats. They are now only 93 this yearwith all pups flying. A small colony ,I think, just cannot regulate the temperature for pups in a larger house in early spring. I hope to make one this winter about that size. I also like the router slots for the front, baffles, and back plus scratching the baffles. Saves a lot of work and produces the same results.
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Sat Aug 16th, 2008 03:59 am |
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This house is by far the fastest and easiest house to make of my designs. And there is no exception on quality... I caulk every exterior seam, use only outdoor grade screws, and prime then paint with two coats of exterior grade paint. The routered sides permit great sealing properties.
Am I draining my pocketbook by selling this house for $40? After seeing some of the $80 to $100 designs online , I have come to believe that this house is a great bargain compared to most houses sold that are not BCI certified.
What do you think this style of house is actually worth? I am thinking this house will last much longer than my former plywood designs. Too bad I can't get it BCI approved since it is only 10.5" inside width.
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Sat Aug 16th, 2008 04:10 am |
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Here's a photo of the finished product.
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Terry Lobdell
Member
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Posted: Sun Aug 17th, 2008 02:02 am |
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| Nate, yes $40 is a fair price for that box. I have had good luck with boxes of that size. I found out about one recently that had an exit count of 56 little browns that I made a few years ago. It had an almost identical design as yours. I think Cloudman is right about bats sometimes preferring a smaller box so they can cram in for each other's body heat.
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IowaNate
Member
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Posted: Fri Aug 29th, 2008 02:43 am |
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I gave the first of this design to land steward at the Nature Center for her yard. It was the least I could do for her being so gracious in allowing me basically take over the bat house project and mount them where I please.
She has a great acreage just 1/2 mile from the Nature Center, and is mounting the house 12 feet up on the SE side of her barn (added thermal stability). The nearest water is the wetland area which happens to be about 200 yards away. Her main yard is a 1/2 acre open area surrounded by a heavily wooded area of mature oak and maple trees.
Hopefully it gets occupied next Spring!
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