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Proto
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Posted: Mon Mar 17th, 2003 03:36 pm |
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I have about 30 brown bats that live in my barn during the warm months here in the Detroit MI area. They roost in the top beams and leave a mess all over the barn, which I use on a daily basis for my workshop and classic car storage. I also use the barn as a hangout when ever we entertain. It is a 60' x 40' structure built in 1917 and has WAY TOO MANY little crevices and and such to seal up totally.
My question is this. If I put a couple of bat houses on the south (Gable end) of the barn, under the eaves, will they tend to roost there? ANy feedback is greatly appreciated.
Craig
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Joe Spencer
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| Joined: | Mon Feb 11th, 2002 |
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Posted: Wed Mar 19th, 2003 02:28 am |
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Craig welcome and yes there is a good possiblility that the bats will choose to roost there. Since you intend on putting the bat houses on the south side which is the hottest I recommend painting one a light shade and one dark mounting them beside each other separated by 2-3 ft. Having two different colors will give the bats more temp. options. Species identification helps too. Big brown bats don't like temps above approx. 95 degrees F. Little brown bats have higher tolerances. Try to determine which species you have. If unknown it is likely you have little or big browns. Check out my guano link to assist you below and hope you consider registering here at the forum which gives you a confidential email notification when someone replies to your topic. GUANO LINK here:
http://batnic.tripod.com/guano.html 
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Posted: Thu Mar 20th, 2003 05:39 pm |
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Proto,
Have you ever considered a false ceiling several feet below the existing roof. The bat quano would fall onto the false ceiling instead of on the cars and making a mess on the floor.
If you would be able to do this , there are probably used lumber dealers or people who tear down builings in your area. The material to make the false ceiling would be much more reassonable by buying from them.
Make the false ceiling sturdy enough so a person could walk on it. Lay some plastic or cheap tarps on it. This way the quano and urine will not soak onto the wood and cause odor problems. Also you can use the quano to for fertilizing lawn ,flowers or garden. Guano is an excellent fertilizer. "Bats" magazine published by BCI had an excellent article titled
"Quano: Bats Gift to Gardeners" the article is in the Vol.14 no.3 Spring 1996 issue of "Bats".
You can read the article by going to BCI website and bringing up back issues of Bats.
Placing bat houses on the gables should help ,but bat houses do not offer the temperature gradients the barn does.
It is possible to make the bats move to certain areas of the barn by shining bright lights in areas you donot want the bats to roost. Also you can place fans to blow in the areaes you don't want the bats roosting. The lights and fans could be on a timer. Best times to set timers for the lights are fans is 4 - 8 am. This way the bats will be discouraged when they return from dawn feeding. Set timers again for 12 noon to 2 pm bats tend to move around after 12 noon.
The other alternative is putting windows in the roof of barn and making the areas bright from sunlight. Some bat excluders do this when there are to many entrances to seal to keep bats out.
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Proto
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| Joined: | Fri Mar 21st, 2003 |
| Location: | Clarkston, MI |
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Posted: Fri Mar 21st, 2003 07:01 pm |
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Hi and thanks for replying.
I am pretty sure I have small browns. They have about a 10 inch wingspan on average. Had a couple flying around last weekend (hit 70F for an early thaw), but have not seen any signs of them since. Poked around on this site and related links and found some plans for bat houses, and plan on a father/sons project this weekend. Joe, thanks for the input on colors and proximity. I will certainly keep you all posted with results.
Kent, regarding the false ceiling. Yes, I have installed a false ceiling in the form of a giant tarp system over a 20' x 40' end of the barn that I keep the cars in. I do have a storage area and workshop on the other end of the barn, with the entrance and drive thru being in the middle 20' section. I really like the "open" feeling that the barn has and i really do use it as a family room type hangout, kinda like New Yankee Workshop meets Monster Garage (popular Cable shows in my area). I really just finished the workshop area and planned on putting a permanent roof structure over it this past winter, but ran out of time/budget/energy. I definately plan on finishing that part of it soon, and if all the bats don't move out, I guess I can live with it. I must say, I have never been bitten by an insect in the barn!. :grin:
Will check back soon!
Thanks again.
Craig
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