Tips for Putting Up a Bat House

A few days ago, I put up a post about how we just installed our first bat house. I made the bat house back when we were in Ohio, so it had been waiting a long time to be put up in the proper location. You can read that post here.

Today, I want to tell you a few things you might want to consider when putting up a bat house. The last thing you want to do is just choose a random spot and put your bat house there. There are many things you should consider when installing a bat house on your land. Here are a few tips:

Choose a South-Facing Location

If your compass points north, turn around for the proper orientation.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, you are going to want to choose a location for your bat house that faces towards the south. Bats are big fans of a warm environment, and the southern exposure will help maximize that on cooler days.

Of course, if you are in the southern hemisphere (as some of you Steemians are), then face your bat house to the north.

Choose Your Paint Color Wisely

In many locations in the United States, you will want to paint your bat house black. That, again, will help it absorb the most heat from the sun to help keep your bats toasty (they like it between 80 and 100 degrees on the inside). However, not everyone should paint the house black. If you are in a very hot climate with lots of sun (think the American Southwest), you could paint it white so that it does not overheat. Here is a map of the United States with recommended colors:

Area 1 - Black
Area 2 - Dark or Medium Color
Area 3 - Medium Color
Area 4 - White or Light Color

This website is where you can find even more information on bat house color. It is also where I got the above map from.

Choose the Correct Height

Most bat experts recommend placing the bat house at least 12 feet off of the ground. You can put it on the front of a building or on a pole (like we did). Attaching it to the side of a building is probably easier than putting it on a round pole or post, but where there is a will, there is a way!

However, it is actually NOT recommended to put it on a tree. The tree can cause the bat house to be too cool (because of shading from the leaves).

Decide on How Many Chambers You Need

Many bat houses have only a single chamber. This is fine for several bats, but if you want a large colony, you might want to add extra layers. Ours has two:

Keep in mind one thing though! The more layers you add, the heavier your bat house will become. This just makes it trickier to install. Remember that you will be at least 12 feet up on a ladder, so if you have a heavy and awkwardly-shaped bat house in your arms, be extra careful. It is not something that I really took into account when I was designing ours.

Make Sure to Roughen the Inside Surface

Smooth wood on the inside is a no-no. Bats like a nice rough surface with some grippy texture to it so that they can grab it easily and climb up the vertical surface. There are different ways of accomplishing this. In many bat houses, people will attach screening to the wooden interior to give the bats something to grab onto. I chose not to do this as I did not want any plastic in my house. I just roughened up the surface really well with a saw before putting it all together (you can see the grooves in the above picture).

Seal It Well

Bats do not like a drafty or drippy bat house. If water is able to get at the inside of your house, or if there are cracks that let air in, bats are not very likely to choose your house. For my bat house, I used caulk to seal all the joints between the wood and then painted it.

Place It Near Water

Bats also need access to water. Just like all mammals, they need a good drink. In addition to that, many of their favorite foods require water to lay eggs and mature through a larval phase (think mosquitoes).

Anything Else?

Well, that is about all I can think of off of the top of my head. Is there anything else you can think of that should be considered when putting up a bat house? Let me know in the comments below!