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.