Tuesday Tools & Products: Bat Houses

Written by Heleigh Bostwick    Tuesday, 01 November 2011

Continuing in the Halloween spirit, today’s topic is bat houses. Why would you want bats around the house? For one simple reason: They have a voracious appetite for mosquitoes and other insects, devouring them at the rate of 500 to 1000 per hour! In addition to providing natural insect control, they also pollinate certain plants. Being night creatures, they need a place to roost during the day and bat houses provide shelter for bats. Bat houses or bat boxes are made from wood such as Western red cedar, teak, or even plywood--bats like a rough finish because it’s more like tree bark. Bat houses can be left “au natural” or treated or colored with a dark color water-based stain or paint. Bats like tight spaces they are quite narrow in depth. A bat house needs to be about 15 feet off the ground. Attach it to the side of the house, to a tree or on a pole. This gorgeous teak bat house is made from wood that is sustainably harvested in Costa Rica. It is weather resistant, turning a beautiful silvery-gray color as it ages. Plow & Hearth has a couple of bat houses as well including this Aromatic Cedar Bat House as well as an Audubon approved bat shelter that measures 16 inches wide x 3.75 deep x 21.75 inches high, has a copper roof, holds about 20 bats, and has been field-tested and approved for bat conservation. For the do-it-yourselfer, The Bat House Builder's Handbook is a must read. Photo source: www.sticksite.com