In a village meeting in a remote African clan, the village head, called the Oba, was intently addressing a serious issue with his cabinet. Slightly behind him to his side stood his aid whose task was to keep the Oba comfortable, fanning him and fetching him whatever he needed.
As the meeting proceeded, the aid suddenly saw a mosquito perched on the Oba's cheek. He waited for the Oba to become aware of the pest and either kill it or wave it away. However, the Oba was so intent on what he was addressing that he was unaware of the pest sucking away on his cheek with careless abandon.
The aid watched helplessly as this pest sucked away at his dearly beloved Oba's blood. When this had gone on long enough by his estimation and he could no longer take it, he, desperate to rid his Oba of the intruding pest, stretched out his hand and killed the mosquito.
As you can imagine, the meeting came to an abrupt pause as an abomination had just occurred before them. A servant had just given their Oba a dirty slap. Realizing what was going on in the minds of the council members, the terrified aid quickly told them that he was killing a mosquito that had been disrespectfully violating their Oba, and, as a proof of his good intention, showed them the mosquito he had killed.
Unfortunately, as he and others looked at his hand, they didn’t see any mosquito or blood mark. The next place to look was the Oba's cheek and that too was clear. Alas, he had missed the tricky mosquito and was now left standing confused before the council. Well, we won’t spoil your day by telling you what was done to this aid as a suitable deterrent to other would-be mosquito killers. If only they had had bats around!
Did we say bats? Yes, bats! Did you know that bats can eat up to a thousand mosquitoes in an hour? A lot of them actually subsist on a diet of insects, and they can be a great natural solution to clearing your environment of mosquitoes and other pesky insects. Bats more effective than
insect repellants or
mosquito rackets, regardless of the skill you’ve acquired with the racket, or whether you have a
bug zapper hanging in your yard. You cannot beat a bat’s 7,000 mosquitoes per night without any harmful effect to the environment.
All you need to get these effective mosquito- and insect-eaters to work for you is to get them their own bat house. A bat house is a shelter designed to attract and house colonies of bats. These little homes will keep your environment well supplied with these nocturnal creatures so they can always be around to rid your yard of pesky insects. Why bother with insecticides and exterminators when you could have your own little cute ones?
We realize that choosing a bat house that’ll attract bats can be a bit confusing. There are so many choices out in the market and all of them have features that may be difficult to understand. We’ve written this guide to equip you with the knowledge to find the best bat house for you and your environment.
Price
In this economic climate, it’s important to always keep price in mind with all purchases. We understand that as well as you do! That’s why we took our time to conduct thorough research to bring you bat houses that have value justifying their prices. On thing that is great about getting a house for bats is that once you invest the money, you won’t have to keep buying another one like you will with insect repellants.
During our research, we discovered that bat house prices are determined by such factors as their size, their housing capacity, and the materials that they’re made from. We found that a good bat house can be purchased for about $20 to $90. The ones within our assortment are neither the most expensive nor the cheapest. They reflect a range we think will offer more people an opportunity to own a good bat house. While we intentionally excluded the very expensive models so as to accommodate those on a budget, we also excluded cheap bat houses because we don’t want to bring you anything that will be subpar in quality (lest it negatively affect your wallet!).
Features
A bat house can be that home addition you’ve always needed. Yet finding the specific one that’ll best suit you can be difficult. To help, we’ve listed and explained some features that’ll help you better figure out which house to buy. Here are some of these important features to consider:
- Design
- Custom build
- Housing capacity
- Size and eeight
- Number of chambers
- Materials
- Location
- Clinging surfaces
- Temperature control
- Open bottom
Let’s look at these in detail…
Construction and Design
Some bat houses are designed with bark attached to the exterior to look more natural; some are stained with finish to improve their protection against the weather; some have slanted roofs to better facilitate runoff while it’s raining. These design choices vary from bat house to bat house, and it is up to you to decide which of them will best serve you and the bats you wish to attract.
If you aren’t able to find something you like or that fits your environment, you can also find bat house makers that let the customer decide which features they want included and/or removed. A lot of bat house makers will also design houses for you based on where you live. This can be a great option, as these crafters will use their expertise to make shelters for the specific breeds in your environment.
A very important thing to consider in a bat house is its housing capacity, which is the number of bats that can live in it at any one time. This must be considered based on how many bats you would like potentially hanging out in your yard, but houses can have total capacities from as little as ten to as many as 500.
One way to determine the housing capacity is through the product’s overall size. A bat house’s size and weight are also important to consider when you’re trying to decide where to place it. A big and heavy one will require an appropriately sturdy pole or branch to be mounted on or hung from.
Bat houses often have multiple chambers, which are like rooms for bats. These chambers are usually of equal length and width, and each chamber is an additional space for the bats to live in. This is the second way to determine the size of a particular house. Know that some even have a birthing chamber for the bats to have their young in, which can be a thoughtful addition for your bug-eaters.
The materials houses are made from are essential because they determine whether or not bats will want to live inside them. There are types of wood that are more attractive to bats, like pine and cedar. Bats also don’t always like the smell of certain varnishes or paint, and some materials are simply too unnatural to attract any bats. These materials will also determine how long the house lasts, and how much protection bats have from the elements.
Performance and Ease of Use
Bat houses need to mounted or hung at least 10-12 feet in the air, but 15-20 feet above the ground is even better. If you have a swamp, lake, or other small body of water around your property, mount the house no farther than 15 feet from this area. Some people choose to mount the house on a pole while others decide to attach it to their home. There are also people who like to hang the house underneath large trees for added protection from rain, wind, and sun. Whichever you choose, just make sure that it’s in a spot where your bats will be well-protected.
A bat house must have a suitable surface within it for the bats to cling to. There are usually grooves made on the interior walls of the house for this reason, but clinging surfaces can also be made with bark, mesh and other materials. Without the clinging surface, the bats won’t be able to stay or live inside the bat house.
It’s also important that the house can hold the appropriate temperature for bats. This means that it must be able to provide proper ventilation during warm weather and warmth during colder seasons, which can be done with heat-absorbing finishes, ventilations slits and other such features.
Some bat houses are designed with open bottoms, allowing bats to drop their waste onto the ground and preventing birds from nesting inside it. Most organizations that protect bats, like the OCB, argue that open-bottom houses are significantly better for attracting bats and keeping them long-term.
The best bat house will only be best relative to the owner and their environment. Some people might need a bat house for a large colony of bats while others might need one with a more natural look. Features like these will determine which bat house is best for you, as we have made sure to highlight and explain them for your consideration. Looking at the factors we’ve discussed will help you determine which suits you best!
We’ve said a lot about bat houses here to help you find your perfect one. We hope this information has been helpful so you can get to ordering your new house!
