Bats - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

bn2shy · 03-20-2007, 11:17 PM

Hey...does anyone else have bats? We put up a bat house about
two years ago. Last year we had three bats at the most to use
this bat house. They migrated during winter and now they are
back... I'm assuming the same one's came back, plus they
brought three others with them. I'm hoping they are their mates.
Maybe they will be adding offspring to their little home.

bn2shy · 06-08-2007, 10:38 AM

Just thought I'd let you guys know, our bat house now has plenty of
bats! One evening in May, I counted them as they came out at dark.
I was amazed to see 43 bats drop out in intervals. It was awesome.
The next night I only counted 22. I wondered if they were mates the
night before. Anyway, a few days ago I only saw a few come out, so
after they had been out over an hour....I shined a flashlight up into
the bat house briefly and saw lots of bats still inside. Baby bats?!?!!
It's so cool!!!!!!!

Turn Key · 06-08-2007, 11:12 AM

Interesting critters and I understand their value to the ecosystem. That said, I don't believe I want them THAT close

. I am glad that you enjoy them.

Happy Camping!

srds · 06-09-2007, 04:09 PM

I agree with you Turn Key, They are neat to watch but thats as close as I need.
srds

Have Fun

Kelly_B · 06-11-2007, 08:47 PM

Last 4th we spent at Canyon Lake to see the fireworks. Everyone left to go walk around & I stayed relaxed in my chair between two huge oaks. All of a sudden I started hearing chirping noise & looked up. I saw hundreds of bats just flying overhead! It was such a cool sight to see as the sun was going down.

It was no fun though when I went to SWT in San Marcos & the bats invaded the garages. We weren't allowed to park or walk through it due to all the poop!

Kelly_B · 06-11-2007, 08:50 PM

bn2shy,

I meant to ask whereabouts do you live? Do you live in the country or subdivisions? I read a story about someone putting up a bat house on the furthest part of their fence here in Richardson. The city didn't mind but his neighbors did! *lol* It would be a great way to get rid of these mosquitos!

bn2shy · 06-11-2007, 10:23 PM

We live out in the country, sorta between Lufkin and Nacogdoches.
The bat houses are about a 100 feet out from our front porch. We
secured them to a pole around 15 feet off the ground and at least
15 feet away from other objects...like tree branches.

stingrey · 07-17-2007, 12:07 PM

Any pics or links to your houses? I'd like to get some bats in our area to take up residence... Just not IN our own residence!

Kelly_B · 07-18-2007, 03:14 PM

I know some of our local parks that have a heavy wooded area & are near homes have bat houses around. But I'm sure they were put up by the city though. Maybe talk to your animal control office & see if putting up bat houses is possible.

kg5udale · 08-03-2007, 07:36 PM

Kelly_B,

I read somewhere a year or two ago that TPWD was taking an active role in putting up bat houses in Texas parks. The bat's presence reduces the need for insecticides and other insect limiting/prevention methods.

stingrey,
Check out Bat Conservation International's bat house webpage. They've got a pdf containing bat house construction/installation instructions. There are also a couple of pdf's telling how to attract bats and the criteria for bat houses. http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=47

BCI also publishes a very nice Bat House Builder's Handobook containing a variety of designs for different areas of the country. One thing that does seem to help in attracting bats to a bat house is to have a water course of some sort nearby (sandpit, pond, creek, bayou, river, maybe even a swimming pool--although I've never seen bats around my pool).

regards,

dale