Vacancy: Cozy, Warm Bat House

Because one bat can eat anywhere from hundreds to one thousand small bugs in an hour, we wanted a bat house in hopes of attracting the critters to our yard to act as natural mosquito control. Our bat house is a single chamber bat house made in the USA by Wildlife’s Choice and was purchased from Wild Bird Center.

The Organization for Bat Conservation has great information on their site on how to select or build a bat house, optimal placement, and more. Following their guidance, we installed our bat house directly against the house on the sunniest side. The sun warms the bricks and box, which makes it a snugglier place for bats to hang out. 15-18 feet above the ground is the optimal height, but we had to factor in our house shape, how trees cast undesireable shadows on the box, and where the guano (bat poo) will fall (i.e. not directly above any windows we keep open).
It can take six months or more for bats to discover the house and take up residence. Though we are nearing six months, our house still seems to be empty. We check for inhabitants by seeing if any guano has collected on the ground under the bat house. Once we get some resident bats, we may plant ornamental grass under the bat house so the guano can fall into that and compost naturally, rather than building up on the playable part of the lawn.

Make Your Own Kitchen Cleaner

Ingredients:
1 t washing soda
2 t borax
½ t shredded castile soap (Shredding tips here. I prepare several bars worth at once.)
2 cups hot water
Essential oils

Supplies:

16 oz spray bottle
Funnel
Skewer
Measuring cup
Measuring spoon (teaspoon)

Directions:
Add dry ingredients to bottle via funnel. Don’t worry about dry ingredients sticking in the funnel at this point. Add the water via the funnel to rinse the dry ingredients down into the bottle. If the mixture clumps and sticks in the funnel, use the skewer to break up the clog. Add the essential oils directly to the bottle, so none is wasted by sticking to the funnel. For the kitchen mix, I like 2 drops tea tree oil, 5-6 drops of sweet orange, and 2-3 of bergamot.

Shake before using. Spray and wipe with a dry cloth. For especially sticky spots, spray and wipe with a cloth saturated with clean, hot water.

Yes, it really works! I have been using this mixture for several years and it was part of The Big Clean when we bought our trashed foreclosure home.

(This recipe is based on the Castile Cleaner recipe found in the fabulous book Green Clean.)