Bat House Q&A with Dr. Merlin Tuttle
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
- Have any questions about bat houses? We were very fortunate that Dr. Merlin Tuttle joined us to answer these common bat house questions!
In this Q&A, we discus choosing a good location for your bat house, how to attract bats to it, what features make a good quality bat house, address guano concerns, and more!
0:00 Introduction
1:59 Are there bats in my area?
2:54 Do bats live in urban areas?
3:28 How can I attract bats to my bat house?
4:03 Will my bat house work?
4:30 Where should I put my bat house?
5:19 Orientation?
5:32 How many bat houses?
6:37 Single or dual chamber?
9:30 Will bats get in your house?
10:40 Hang on building, pole, or tree?
12:35 Will other animals use it?
13:07 Will wasps move in?
14:18 Do bats hibernate in bat houses?
15:42 Is bat guano dangerous?
18:04 Guano as fertiliser?
22:07 Will noise disturb the bats?
23:15 Can COVID come from bats?
25:19 What type of wood for my bat box?
27:36 Does light pollution affect bats?
29:04 Will bats eat mosquitoes?
31:00 Qualities of a good bat house
32:10 Most important factor for bat house success
35:39 How long until I get bats?
37:15 Bat fact
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Do you have any bat house questions we did not cover? Write them in the comments below or send us an email at support@batbnb.com!
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Merlin Tuttle is the man!
He is indeed! :) We've been so honored to work with him!
It's 3am, the bats continue to knock on my window. "Join us fren" they call like the sweet sirens of yore. "Leave me foul beast!" I exclaim. "I do not wish to swim across the moonlight and partake in your pagan tome". Neverless they come. They watch. They knock upon my window.
Me when Insomnia kicks in.
This is a great video! I watched Merlin on JRE today and it really inspires me into bat conservation. I’m going to start building bat houses ASAP! I have a creek in my backyard that in the spring and summer is KILLER with mayflies, mosquitoes, etc. This will be so much better for both the bats and the me! At least lower the number!
This is so great to hear! Welcome to the batty club!
I saw that video today.🤣
I told my husband about the Bumblebee Bats dive-bombing Dr. Tuttle's nose for meal worms. He immediately compared it to how our cat boops our noses with hers to get treats. This is now one of my favorite animal stories :)
Love this story so much!
i’m looking to install bat houses on my property to cut down on insects and this was extremely helpful information.
So glad to hear this, thanks John. Feel free to check out our hanging guide for all of the tips and tricks for best bat house placement!
www.batbnb.com/hanging-guide
Merlin Tuttle is a legend! Wow! Thanks for this awesome video !!!
Absolutely! He has incredible expertise.
Excelent video guys, fun and educational😊
Thank you so much Alan!
Great video thanks very much. Perfect Q&A I have to check out that smart little bee video. How cool is that 😅😅😅 I can only imagine!!! 🦇🦇🦇
We appreciated this comment so much!
I am sixs blocks from a river and 8 city blocks from 4 lakes. there is a colony in the attic . I keep bee's , I feed birds and have a running bird foutain. I am placing a large bat box on the second story south side of my home.
Excellent! Best of luck!
NERDY BAT LADY??? You should rename yourself "The Bat Babe"! What an extremely attractive young lady!!! GREAT video, Dr. Tuttle is AMAZING. LOVED him on the JRE! I learned a lot about bat houses and will definitely check out your site for some. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
Thanks for watching!
I plan to put a bat house over my compost pile. Shouldn't be any worry of pathogens, and my garden will love it.
That's a great idea!
Here in Iowa I have a 55 ft tall concrete silo on my farm property, this silo has the rebar hopps that surround the silo
I've installed two bat houses last week...
Also this silo has, a vine that is growing around it about 40 percent covered.
That's great! Good luck with the bat houses, let us know how it goes.
Just read his book ❤
I've lived here for 8 years (Far north Texas) and had a bat house in some form or another up the entire time with no luck. Based on this video, I just placed an order for two single chamber houses, so we will see if quality of house makes a difference. I SOOOOO want bats on my little 10 acres here. Wish me luck. Merlin, if you find yourself in the Sherman Denison, TX area, stop by and help me understand what I'm doing wrong.
Thanks for taking the time to comment! We hear that a lot from people that buy bat houses, they don't all live up to the bat's standards. That's why we worked with the wonderful Merlin Tuttle to design bat houses that meet the needs of the animal. Check out our hanging guide to get all the tips and tricks for best placement, and always feel free to contact us with specific questions. Best of luck with these new BatBnBs!
www.batbnb.com/hanging-guide
Thank you for this. It was very informative.
I'm starting in beekeeping, and the wax moths and hive beetles that can infest bee hives are nocturanl flying insects that can cause issues for the bees. There really isnt a whole lot of options for controlling them effectively, that won't cause some degree of harm or issue for the bees themselves. Most forms of control are things like oil traps, swiffer sheets, mint candies, etc. All reactive measures rather than proactive measures to prevent them from growing to the point of becoming a problem, or to reduce the numbers before they gain entrance. A strong colony can manage them on their own, but a weaker or newer colony, or a colony with a heavy infestation, are typically at the greatest risk of being wiped out.
I'm rather surprised that I wasnt able to find any information/study on the potential symbiotic relationship between bees and bats. Bats are a flying, forest dwelling isectivorous mammal. While bees are a diurnal forest dwelling insect that suffers from insects that are nocturnal. Both are social creatures that seem to prefer a small colony, in most cases; as opposed to a solitary lifestyle with only 1 bat per nest site. And their habitat preferences are almost identical in the various ecosystems they inhabit.
Over the years I've noticed a reduction in bat populations, or at least how often I'm able to see any. And can't help but wonder if the prevalence of 4G, 5G, WiFi, cell towers and other forms of UHF/VHF radio frequencies and forms of EMF might be having an effect on both populations of bees and bats. Or if it's more a case of habitat loss (less wildflowers/"weeds" and more HOA picture perfect lawns), insecticides, herbicides, pesticides, etc. A reduction in conducive habitats and diversity in plant life, which reduces diversity in insect life, can have a "trickle UP effect that impacts the density and diversity of larger species on up the food chain.
In any regard... getting into beekeeping; I'm interested in possibly improving the ecosystem in other ways. Such as measures to foster native bees and butterflies, hornets/wasps, birds, owels, etc So I've been considering making bat boxes out of pallets to put up.
My question being... would thicker outter walls, such as 2 or 4 inch, be better or worse? seeing that it acts as an insulator and heat sink, to provide more stable temperatures, would hold in the bats body heat, absorb more heat during the day, radiate or help stablize night time and winter temperatures, etc.
My limited understanding would be that the better insulation and ability for it to act as a heat sink would be better. But it may have an opposite effect; if the batts body heat wouldn't be enough to heat the space.
I have an old wooden shed.Inside is stacked a 4 ft x 8 ft x 4 ft stack of old ruff cut lumber covered with an old tarp. It is home to hundreds of bats.
Wow! Well if you ever need to move the lumber, definitely check into a bat house for the current residents 😉
I love big brown bats as far as I know they are the only bats in North Carolina.
Big brown bats are amazing! They and the little brown bats are the most common bat house users in North America. North Carolina actually has 8 different species of bats! :)
Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)
Tri-colored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus)
Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis)
Eastern Small-footed Myotis (Myotis leibii)
Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis)
Gray Myotis (Myotis grisescens)
Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus)
Indiana Myotis (Myotis sodalis)
I've found bats hibernating in my wood piles in the dead of winter, in Michigan.
Wow, that is interesting. They could have been Little brown bats. That species has been known to hibernate in wood piles.
👍👍👋
Mr Charles B told my father about a tunnel they were cutting through a mountain in West Virginia. They couldn't make much progress on the project as he was hauling out bat guano day and night with a front end loader. He was also one of the biggest liars I have ever known.
😂
These bat houses seem pretty awesome!! I have only seen big brown bats around here in Northern Kentucky. They seem like they are pretty large/thick bodied bats. If I get a bat bnb will it have large enough chambers for them to tuck into?? What are your thoughts and advice on the big brown bat and the biggest bat bnb?? Also do you all have plans for a three, four or maybe five chamber houses?? Thank you in advance for your advice, thoughts and future news.
Hi Shawn, Great questions! The Big brown bat is a very common visitor to bat houses, and our BatBnBs are all large enough to fit them. All of our designs are suitable for Big brown bats. That's a great thought to have even larger bat houses with more chambers, you'll have to follow along with us for the next couple of years! :)
@@batbnbsupport9506 absolutely will do.
just came across this video and Im now obsessed! To help ease my husband's concerns of my new obsession. Is it safe to have a bat house around family and animals since we like to hang out by the garden at night?
Yes, it's safe. Bats don't mess with people/pets. Even when they have rabies they rarely become aggressive and more than likely lose their ability to fly. I've got goats, donkeys, horses, chickens, dogs, and kids running around my homestead with probably tens of thousands of bats in the area and never had any problem with the bat house.
@@holocaust_2.0 Thank you for this response!
It is safe. There's never been a chase of issues happening with bats occupying a bat house. You'll want to make sure that animals and family members aren't easily and continuously coming into contact with the droppings (just like with an wild animals), so I'd recommend placing the bat house in a lower-trafficked area.
@@BatBnB the droppings make for insanely good fertilizer if you collect them in buckets under the bat houses. Though always wear proper gloves and respirator (I use the kind with swappable cartridges, but I have a lot more droppings than just bat to clean up).
@@holocaust_2.0 Exactly!
awesome . thank you. i was in Vallarta Mexico. at night i saw bats eatind insects . and saw other typr of bats eating fish. i google it, and they are only 2 types of bat thar eat fish. i love bats. im going to build bat houses . have tons of cedars boards
That is so exciting that you saw the fish-eating bats! What an experience! Feel free to check out the hanging guide under resources at batbnb.com for placement tips.
I'm just here to tell people to get bat houses. Bats are intrinsic members of our ecosystem. If you can't make your own, buy one. I'm just a simple chicken farmer who raises a couple goats on a shabby farm in Florida, and I've got bat houses and owl houses all over my property.
This is so great, thank you.
Do you think it can work if i block the entrance to opening between roof tiles to prevent bats from getting in there? They make a lot of noise at night from 8 pm to 5 am NON STOP.
You can definitely try to block the roof tiles, adding a bat house nearby could help keep them away from the roof. The fall is a good time to block those openings since the bats are on their way to their winter location. You wouldn't want to do this in the spring/summer when there could be babies. They must take breaks on your roof, they are usually out looking for bugs at that time.
In upstate NY I have a bat living under my roof drip edge near my chimney. Will he leave when it gets very cold? Should I assist in covering his area so he doesn’t freeze? Should I build a bat house next to his area?
Thank you for caring about this bat! In NY, the bats will go to an overwintering site, so this little one should be around much longer. If it is then you could call Wild Things Sanctuary to determine if the bat needs to be seen by a professional rehabilitator. A bat house is a great option since you know you have bats around, it can help give them a safe option, and a place to stay warm, but bats do not usually overwinter in a bat house anyway. It would be more of their summer home.
I live next to the ocean. So I have a constant breeze. I also have many street lights. Do bats like the ocean?
Bats are found all up and down coasts, absolutely! If there are bugs, there are probably bats. There have even been bats found miles offshore.
Moving my bats from behind my shutters into two bath houses. Any tips?
Choosing the best location for the bat house is everything! Here's our tips: www.batbnb.com/hanging-guide
Can bats be moved? Can I call a pest control company and ask them if I can get the bats during a removal?
I want to line the entire eaves of my barn , all around the entire building, with built in bat houses.
You'll have to contact bat removal professionals. You can always reach out to local wildlife biologists to see who they recommend. You want to make sure the bats will not be harmed. You can then line the eaves. Putting up a bat house before the bats are removed and the eaves are lined, will give the bats somewhere else to go.
Is there a healthy or unhealthy population level for Bats? Can I attract enough Bats to be harmful to other animals that rely on Insects?
can a bat be installed on the side of a martin house
I would recommend giving each of them their own space if possible.
Hi! My landlord hung a bat house on the side of my garage- it’s about 10 feet up, and I noticed it has become really loaded with guano. And I’ve seen some dead ones that I believe are babies on the ground underneath. There is a lot of 💩 on the side of my garage which I feel may be unhealthy. How do I move this bat house since it is inhabited? I would like it moved away from my house.
Once bats are established there it's a challenge to move it, especially with babies there. You'd have to contact a local wildlife expert about the protocol to move bat colonies. If you move it at night the babies may still be in there and the moms may not find them again. You can also contact a local wildlife rehabilitation for help with the ones falling out.
@@BatBnB thanks! I’ve contacted a wildlife place through their website and waiting to hear back. I wouldn’t move them without professional help - I don’t want to disturb their colony. 🦇
@@AmethystHypnotherapy Thank you so much for caring for the bats, you are so great!
I want you to eat the dead baby bats and mix it thoroughly with the guano.
Bats don’t like cedar smell ?
They have no problem with cedar, especially when it's been dried out. Cedarwood essential oil has a more concentrated smell, so that's why some people think that cedar is a problem when it is actually one of the more successful woods for a bat house.