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Bats
are a great addition to any backyard! Not only are their nightly aerial
acrobatics fun to watch during the summer, they are also an excellent source of
pest control and will kill loads of those pesky mosquitoes!
One
of the best ways to attract bats to your yard, if you don’t have any of their
preferred dead trees, is to build (or buy) a bat house! During the summer,
there are a couple of species of bats in Iowa that roost in large colonies; the
Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) and
Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus).
Females form maternity colonies where they birth their pups and males form
bachelor colonies in different locations. These colonies need a place to form
and bat boxes in the right location are ideal for this.
 Bat Conservation International has conducted research on and tested hundreds of bat houses which resulted in three different box designs that can
accommodate 14 different species of North American Bats, including the nine we
have in Iowa. Check out their website
to determine which design is best for you. If you would rather buy your own, visit this page
to find vendors whose boxes have earned the Bat Approved certification.
Once you have your bat box mount it on wooden posts, steel
poles, pivot poles, or on the sides of a building depending on the style of the
bat house and the specific conditions of the site where you are putting your
bat house. Don’t mount your house on any trees though. Bat houses mounted on
trees receive less sun among the branches, make the bats are more vulnerable to
predators, and the obstructions like branches and vegetation can make it more
difficult for bats to drop into flight. Bat houses are also easier for bats to
find if they are mounted on poles or buildings at least 20-30 feet from tree
branches. To set up the ideal bat home, mount the bat box with a southern or
southeast facing orientation, with little shade, so the spot gets the 6-8 hours
of direct sunlight that is preferred. The roosting bats like it warm! Make sure
to mount your bat house at least 10 feet off the ground but 12-20 feet is even
better.
It may take bats a while to find your bat house,
but don’t get discouraged! Your chances will be increased if you mount your box
on a building, particularly one that already has a bat colony, and if your site
is within ¼ mile of water. But once they find the house the bats will return
year after year.
To learn more about the bats of Iowa, download the Iowa Bats infographic.
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