How do I build a bat observatory. Does anyone have dimensions.?

Question

I've always been interested in bats and have seen them in caves. I would love to help preserve them without harm. I thought If I could buld a home for them maybe more of them would come and we could do away with the need to spray for mosquitos.

Answer 1

That's great you're looking to help out bats. Humans are a big part of the reason so many are endangered - we destroy their habitats, use pesticides (most bats are insectivores, so this poisons bats' food source), and kill them out of ignorance and false beliefs about them. Yay you for helping them instead!

Bat boxes are actually fairly easy to build - I've put them together with children as young as Gr. 1 (with a bit of 'big person help', and the cutting already done for them).

Although there are all kinds of fancier models out there, the boxes (or homes) we build are essentially a 'sandwich' with plywood for the 'bread' and pine 1"x2"s for the 'filling'. We staple on plastic mesh (the kind people use to repair their screen doors) so the bats have something to grip, and use 'zap straps' (the plastic bands the people use to tie up electrical cords) as hangers - just drill two holes in the back and thread the zap strap through. These seem to attract bats (one person told me he had about 30 in his), and are simple, cheap and easy to make.

Try this website for more details about bat box construction for the model I mentioned above: http://www.batcon.org/bhra/economyhouse....

We modified ours so that the backs are 13.5" x 12", the fronts 10.5" x 12" and the rooves 3" x 12". This requires a 12" long furring (1"x2" pine) across the top and an 8" long furring down each side. We also didn't put in the vent, as the boxes were smaller and we're in a colder climate.

Hope that helps.

btw good websites: http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/bats/housebui... (on bat boxes)

and

http://www.bats.org.uk/ (on bats themselves)