Bat house

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Beneficial BatsBackyard Habitat for Wildlife

Bat Facts■ Bats, like

humans aremammals. Batsare the only mammals that can fly.

■ Female bats usually give birth to oneyoung or pup per year.

■ Bats are nocturnal—active at night,resting during the day.

■ Bats have excellent eyesight, and arenever “Blind as a bat!” To find theirway around in the dark, they useecholocation or a built in sonar.

■ Bats can weigh as little as two grams(less than 1/10 of an ounce) or asmuch as two pounds.

Bat FoodAll southeastern bats found in the UnitedStates feed exclusively on insects (theJamaican fruit-eating bat eats insects andfruit). A bat feasting on moths, mosquitos,beetles and other insects can eat one halfof its body weight in one night! Backyardbats will help reduce insect pests thatbother you and your garden plants. Atypical summer colony of 100 bats feeding200 days will consume more than 2200pounds of insects or approximately600,000,000 bugs!

Bats of the SoutheastBig Brown BatSilver-haired BatEastern Red BatHoary BatNorthern Yellow BatSeminole BatSoutheastern BatGrey Bat*Eastern Small-footed BatLittle Brown BatNorthern Long-eared BatIndiana Bat*Evening BatEastern Pipistrelle BatRafinesque’s Big-eared BatVirginia Big-eared BatOzark Big-eared BatFlorida Mastiff BatPallas’ Mastiff BatBrazilian Free-tailed BatJamaican Fruit-eating Bat

*endangered species

Attracting BatsMost eastern bats spend the winterhibernating in caves and move to trees orbuildings for the summer. Some however,spend all year in caves and others (treebats) seldom see a cave, preferring toroost in trees during the warm summersand tree hollows for the cool winters.

As hollow trees are cutdown, bat boxes, such asthe one shown here, areneeded for bats tosurvive. This isespecially true inApril to August whenfemales are looking forsafe and quiet places togive birth and raise theirpups. Both the mothersand newborns are verysensitive to beingdisturbed.

Install a bat box anytimebut late winter and earlyspring is best. Hang thebox at least 10 feet offthe ground, in a spotwhere it can receive sixhours of morning sun.About 100 bats can live in thisbat box.

Building a Bat House■ Using CDX plywood or cedar, cut

all pieces to size.

■ To give the bats something to clingto, space shallow saw kerfs orknife gouges about 1" apart on theplywood baffles or staple plastic(not metal) screening instead.

■ Screw 3/4" x 1" spacer strips onside panels to make slots for thebaffles.

■ Attach front panel to sides. Addroof. Glue baffle edges and dropinto slots. Attach back panel andcaulk.

■ Darken with waterbase stain. Tackor staple tar paper to roof of thebox to increase heat absorption.

13.5"

6"4.

5"

.5"

12"10.5"

29.5

"36

"

9"

24"

28"

29.5

"

22"

24"

.5"

6"

5.5"

5"

slot »

rear È

front

baffles

È

È

caulk

ÇÇ Ç Ç

FRONT

LEFT

Tar paper