Going Batty

Web exclusive commentary on Banishing Bats from our editor.

By Demetra Aposporos

	Basic bat houses can blend into any surroundings. For more about bat houses, visit Bat Conservation International www.batcon.com

One of the consequences of a successful bat eviction is that all those of displaced bats—the ones once sheltered in your rafters—will need a new place to live. Installing a bat box on your property makes it easy for them to find one. Bat boxes can come in many shapes and sizes, but all have one thing in common: They are designed to provide cozy quarters for a colony of bats. From the outside, a bat house often looks like a boxy birdhouse on steroids—with one difference, entrance holes are at the bottom. Nonetheless, they can be adorned with clever detailing—we even discovered a bat box with Folk Victorian styling. Inside, all feature several crevices so bats can roost in layers. Installing a bat box in the corner of your yard gives newly excluded critters a place to go, while keeping them close enough to provide major insect control on your property. With a single bat chomping down about 3,000 bugs a night, that's a lot of pest protection for your al fresco dining.

For more information on bat exclusion, see the article Banishing Bats from the Jan/Feb issue of Old-House Journal, Click Here.

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