My friend has had a bat house for a few years but have not had any success in attracting occupants. If you have housed bats, I would like to know what your experience was, be it positive or negative. Do the bats have a noticeable impact in the surrounding area?
I know birdhouses, "insect houses", but I've never heard of bat houses. Here, in summer, we can see them at sunset. When having a barbecue, we throw small pieces of meat in the air, and very often they catch them. It's fun ;-) I can't see any visible impact on the environment, but I like them because they eat mosquitoes!
https://usfwsnortheast.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/bat-house-plans9-5-13.pdf Bat species of Canada | Neighbourhood Bat Watch. As for my bat house experience...much like Junglekeeper's friend, I had one up for several unoccupied years. I kept hoping, though. Back when the property behind my house was an open field, I used to see bats often, at dusk. Alas, no more. Houses now cover the entire area, including one almost IN my backyard. I prefer the previous arrangement!
About 15 years ago a carpenter friend took it upon himself to build us a bat house and 'bachelors' quarters' partly because we had trees in just the right position to attach them to. He found directions on the web and followed them carefully. No bats have ever taken up residence although we have seen plenty of bats flying around at dusk. Perhaps there are enough trees to satisfy them or maybe our friend didn't use plans especially for little brown bats. I know there is a woman not too far away who has a corrugated-type metal roof with access to all the channels where literally hundreds of bats live. She gave a talk about her success last year and how amazing it looks when they all fly away. We haven't seen as many bats the past couple of years as we used to and worry that that white nose syndrome is now afflicting bats in this area.
It's sad to hear that the population of a useful being in the natural chain of life is dwindling... But there are other places where they thrive, not the same species though. Here it's Pipistrellus pipistrellus, the common pipistrelle. I had a cat that would sometimes bring us one. I wonder how she did it...
Cats are a mysterious kind of folk. There is more passing in their minds than we are aware of. ---Sir Walter Scott
I suppose you all know about the BC Bats website, but I've just come across it. It has a few pages on bat boxes at Bat boxes - BC BATS. From another page, it seems that all the bats have moved into Burvilla House: This is the source of that quote: Big bat colony makes Delta heritage house home - Delta Optimist (delta-optimist.com), but I got a nasty pop-up about this page being infected. I hit the back button and it went away, so it makes me anxious about linking to it, but it was an interesting article, and the link was posted in Nature Vancouver's weekly email, so shouldn't it be ok?
My friend lives close to but yet some distance away from the Fraser River. Perhaps the bats prefer a home closer to the river where food and water would be more abundant. I also wonder if they prefer to live in a place that can house a large number of bats.
On Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, the Biden administration declared the northern long-eared bat endangered, a last-ditch effort to save a species driven to the brink of extinction by a deadly fungus. This is the third species of bat recommended for the designation this year due to white-nose syndrome. US bat species devastated by fungus now listed as endangered White-Nose Syndrome White-nose syndrome is a serious threat to hibernating bats in North America. Since 2006, it has steadily spread south and west from New York State. Millions of bats, up to 100 percent of some populations, have died due to this fungal disease. White-Nose Syndrome Bats are the second most diverse order of mammals with about 1,400 species worldwide. Currently, there are 150 species of bats recognized in North America, including 138 that are found in Mexico, 47 in the United States, and 17 in Canada. Some species of bats are also important pollinators of native and commercial plants. Over 500 different types of tropical plants are pollinated by bats every year. https://www.nabatmonitoring.org/why-are-bats-important
Bats like to sleep inside our firewood pile or wood shed. Several times we woke em up, when bringing in some wood for oven. Sometimes they occupy bird house for blackbirds. Most of them are living in theattic of a local small carpentry workshop. They seem to prefer smaller nest opening.
Fake shutters are suitable. Also gaps formed by subsiding house foundations pulling away from brick chimneys. Don't ask how I know these two things!
