Would you install a bat box?

Question

A bat will eat around 3,000 mosquitoes or gnats night

Answer 1

trust me it's sweet

Answer 2

Yes.

Answer 3

Yes, but round here are more the fruit bat kind.

Answer 4

I do have bats that frequent my yard..I watch them a lot at night...however I do not get enough sunlight (live in a forested area) to install a box..although I would love to. Take a look at my blog on my 360 page to see more info about bats.

Answer 5

bats are great and the chance of rabies is very slim. House pets have a higher rate of carrying rabies then bats

Answer 6

you are asking all these "Would you do this and that" questions....do you have all of these things crowding around your home?

i don't want rabid bats near me or my family.

Answer 7

sounds like a neat idea  and you'll be the hit of the neighborhood on Halloween ;-)

see the link for some good info on the topic

Answer 8

Helped my dad build and mount a few, but that was years ago.  I would love to put a couple up where I live now.

Answer 9

I have no real fear of rabies, but no, I will not put up a bat box.

Our area has a large number of swallows, wasps and spiders, so very little food for a bat colony. Where bats succeed is in places with low populations of other insectivores, particularly swallows.

Answer 10

YOU BETCHYA, ..i have 29 bats that live in my chimney and they can stay as long as they want.

i live in the southeastern ma. area....near the water....and 2 years ago my neighbor and i noticed one night how we had no mosquitos....in the yard at all , at sunset ..and it was shortly after we discovered the bats in my chimney. I've put up several bat houses and we have them all over the state in certain areas.....Bats are one of the most beneficial mammals on earth in many ways....and people dont know it.

They DONT bite and suck blood   , they DONT get stuck in hair, AND LESS THAN 1 PERCENT carry rabies....but so many people think ALL bats carry rabies....

....so many people are ignorant to animal and wildlife facts....

...so yes put up the bat houses, everywhere !

..oh and new england cable news wants to do a story in the spring on my bats....

Answer 11

Yep, already did & its marvelous

Answer 12

Bats are great, just watch for Rabies!

Answer 13

sure bats are great insect eaters however university studies have revealed that the main diet does not include mosquitoes infact less than 3% of insect remains in there gauno was that of mosquitoes and most remains were that of moths and larger night flying insects,the mosquitoe diet is more of an urban myth.Bats are great to have around but thier droppings can carry the Histoplasmosyis fungus wich if inhaled is deadly to man so be careful if you have a colony in an enclosed space {attic} do not disturb the droppings

Answer 14

Yes, thy are a good idea, but I saw one for sale in Petsmart that said it could take up to 3 years to get up and going

Answer 15

10,000 mosquitos a night! They are great, and please take note that bats ARE NOT RODENTS! Many people think they are.

Answer 16

Living in Minnesota it is a great idea to provide a home for any creature that eats loads of mosquitos during the night.

Plus, if you give them a home, they won't come and live in your home.

Answer 17

thats what she said!

Answer 18

Guano is good

Answer 19

I plan to.  We don't have a good water source yet, but we will.  I love bat boxes!

Answer 20

Yes, we are going build and install one this summer.  

I was watching one of those reality house flipping shows and the buyer actually installed a bat house as part of the flip. I thought that was rather cool.

Some info and free single layer bat house plans(PDF):

http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idP...

Answer 21

Sure, I love bats. They are great little creatures. We never had a mosquito problem despite living in a wooded area in VA. Once the 17 acres were developed with homes and the bats were displaced the mosquitoes were terrible. I've heard it can take up to 2 or 3 years for the bats to take to the box initially.