How do you get bats to move into a new bat house?

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Attracting Bats - http://www.batcon.org/bhra/attracting.html


Bats have to find new roosts on their own. At this time, there are no proven lures or attractants (including bat guano) that can be inserted in or applied to a bat house. Bats will investigate new roosting opportunities while foraging at night. They are quite good at detecting crevices, cracks, nooks, and crannies that offer shelter against the elements and predators. Bat houses installed on buildings or poles are easier for bats to locate, have greater occupancy rates, and are occupied 2.5 times faster than those mounted on trees.

Unlike domestic animals, bats are wild and free-ranging, and it is typically illegal to buy or sell them. Permits to capture and possess bats are normally limited to researchers, zoos, wildlife rehabilitators and certain educational organizations. Catching and relocating bats to new areas is, in any case, highly unlikely to succeed. Bats have good homing instincts, and once released into a bat house, will attempt to return to their former home area. Placing bats in a bat house is therefore not recommended. If a bat house remains unoccupied after two full years, we recommend repositioning the house or making appropriate modifications.

Maintaining proper roost temperatures is probably the single most important factor for bat house success. Temperatures inside a bat house should be warm and as stable as possible (ideally 80º F to 100º F in summer) for mother bats to raise their young. Some species, like the big brown bat, prefer temperatures below 95º F, while others, like the little brown bat, can tolerate temperatures in excess of 100º F. Bachelor bats are less picky, and may use houses with cooler temperatures. Wooden or masonry structures are the best mounting sites, especially in colder climates, as temperatures are more stable than for houses attached to poles or trees.

Bat house temperatures are influenced directly by the exterior color (dark vs. medium vs. light paints/stains), compass orientation (east-, southeast-, or south-facing are generally good bets for single houses in most climates), the amount of sun exposure, how well the house is caulked and vented, and also the mounting substrate and construction materials used. You may have to experiment to get the right placement and temperature range. You can always use a thermometer taped to a pole (check the chambers high and low, and front and back), to see if temperatures are suitable inside the bat house. Where possible, installing multiple houses is advised to provide a wide range of options from which bats can choose. Bats may move from one house to another throughout the year to find more favorable microclimates or to deter predators.

Pick installation sites with great care to avoid having to move a bat house once it becomes occupied. Most bat houses have open bottoms; therefore guano will not accumulate inside. Guano will end up on the ground underneath, however. Avoid placing bat houses directly above windows, doors, decks, or walkways. Bat urine may stain some finishes. Two- or four-inch spacers between a bat house and wall, a large backboard, or a longer landing area below a bat house may reduce excrement collecting on a wall. A potted plant, or a shallow tray or plant saucer, can be placed underneath a bat house to collect bat guano for use as fertilizer in flower beds or gardens. Do not use a bucket or deep container to catch droppings (unless ¼-inch or smaller mesh covers the entire top of the container), as any baby bats that fall will become trapped inside. Some bat species are able to retrieve their pups from the ground.

Once you have attracted bats, as a “bat house landlord” it is your responsibility to maintain the houses in good condition to keep bats coming back year after year. Wasp and mud dauber nests should be cleaned out each winter after bats and wasps have departed. New caulk and paint/stain may be required after three to five years to guard against leaks and drafts. Bat houses should be monitored at least once a month (preferably more often) to detect potential problems such as predators, overheating, wood deterioration, etc. Any repairs or cleaning should be performed when bats are not present....Show more

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It may be worth your while waiting until you can be sure that there are no bats present and getting any spaces sealed up. my colleague is a batworker and said that it is difficult to determine exactly when the area would be empty, so why not get in touch with a local batworker (like a protection society or something) who may be able to advise you. They may be able to give you pointers on where to seal up etc. As for your box, it can take several years for a box to be colonised, so its unlikely that the bats would hop straight from your house into the box, but you never know! But its great to put them up, its becoming the case that there are less and less habitats for these little guys!...Show more

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