EcoSolutions Bat Box Design
The following designs are for those who wish to build their own bat box. If you looked at these plans and decided you would rather purchase a bat box, please remember the EcoSolutions bat boxes are constructed using recycled wood, treated with a non toxic, lead free wood sealant. Delivery and installation is included in the R470.
Figure 1: Front view of the bat house (single or double
chamber design). The bats can enter or exit the bat house from the
bottom underneath the front panel.
Figure 2: Side views inside 4 different options of the bat
house design. From left to right: double chamber mounted under eave of
roof; single chamber mounted under eave of roof; double chamber without
shelter of roof; single chamber without shelter of roof. The longer
back panel are mounted against a wall, with the entrances facing
downwards. Make sure the wooden panels or spacers covering the sides of
the bat house extend all the way down towards the entrance. All living
chambers must be 20mm crevices, thus the spacers used to separate the
back, middle and front panels must be 20mm thick.
Figure 3: Back panel of the bat house that would be mounted
against a wall. The horizontal spacer at the top may be replaced or
covered with a wooden roof board if desired. The V-shaped spacers are
each 15cm long, spaced ±1cm at the notch of the “V”, and angled at
±30°. The two “V” shapes are positioned roughly at one third vertical
divisions of the back panel. Make sure the plastic mesh is behind the
“V” shape spacers.
Figure 4: The middle wooden panel serving as the divider
between the two chambers of the double chamber design. The 2 spacers
are only placed on the front side of this panel, and roughly in the
middle of the panel. Each them are 15cm long, ±1cm from each other and
at an angle of ±30°. The movement gaps are roughly 10cm wide and 5cm
high in the corners of the panel, which is grooved on both sides for
grip. Grooving is cheaper than plastic mesh and doesn’t waste space in
the living chambers.
Some important
pointers regarding this bat house:
- No leaks or draughts should be present, but try to avoid the use of silicone sealers with strong obnoxious smells that may repel bats.
- Stain or paint the outside of the house black or dark grey to attract heat to the house, bats like it hot.
- It should be mounted against a wall receiving at least 6 hours of sun daily, ideally less in summer and more in winter. In the southern hemisphere a wall facing northwardly may achieve this; morning sun is also a good idea.
- When mounted under the eave of a roof care should be taken that the roof doesn’t overhang too far and thereby blocking the sun for the bat house.
- Enough space should be available around the bat house for bats to manoeuvre freely, trees and other obscuring structures closer than 2m to the bat house may hinder bats.
- The entrance of the bat house must be at least 2m from the ground.
- When checking on the bat house to see if bats moved in, it should
be done quietly by shining a flashlight up into the house. Don’t check
on the house more than once a week, it may disturb the bats and they
may abandon the bat house.
Holy flying fox! It's a nursery for orphaned bats
