Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for

 

Title

Bat House Construction and Installation

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

January 2006

Comments

Neb Guide 1575
Copyright © 2006, The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska on behalf of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension.
A printable version is online at http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/sendIt/g1575.pdf

Abstract

Bat house construction and installation can be an environmentally friendly and rewarding activity. Putting up a bat house, however, does not guarantee that bats will use it. We don't know exactly why bats dwell in one house and not another, but by following a few recommendations you can increase the likelihood that bats will live in your bat house.

Some bats live in colonies that include tens of thousands of individuals. In Nebraska, the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) and little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) live in colonies of 10 to 200 and are the most likely candidates to occupy your bat house. Both species frequently occupy attics, belfries, barns, and other structures.