THE HUNTSVILLE BAT HOUSE PROJECT
Huntsville, Alabama
The Huntsville BatHouse Project was created in 2015 to bring attention to the need for bat houses due to White Nose Syndrome (WNS), destruction of homes in trees and forests, and the removal of bats from buildings. WNS is causing massive death to cave bats across the Eastern U.S., and is spreading westward. In Alabama, some bat colonies that a
re hibernating in local WNS infested caves during the winter and/or living in the caves with their young during the warmer seasons are being wiped out. In some WNS-infected populations, up to 99% of the bats die within only a few years. Local construction, destruction due to weather, want of bat removal, and tree removal are other reasons we are here. Some bats live and hibernate in trees and building; wrap themselves in dry leaves, go into logs or dead trees to hibernate. Bat houses provide new hibernation and summer homes for bats without the dampness needed for the WNS virus to spread. Bat houses also are excellent warm, safe homes for 1000’s of bats at one time! Huntsville BatHouse Project builds single chamber bat houses with flat tops. We work along with Bat Conservation International (BCI) and the Organization for Bat Conservation, among other groups, to build bat houses that have been researched and designed in order to promote an 80% occupancy rate, weather/heat and predator protection, best maneuverability inside and while landing. Our bat houses have flat tops, just for ease of building, and a slanted top can be added by owner. It is suggested to leaving the bat houses neutral rather than painting the wood. At www.batcon.org you can see BCI’s options and costs of bat houses. In this area, the bats we are hoping to roost in these bat houses are:
Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus focus) – Most commonly live in caves, but also rafter spaces in roofs, between walls, chimneys, barns, doghouses, under leaves, in loose bark, in hollow logs. Eat mosquitoes, moths, June Bugs, beetles, stink bugs, grasshoppers. Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis) – Live near forested areas and watercourses; live in hollow trees, attics and other man-made structure when natural ones are not available. Eat flying insects such as flying ants, mosquitoes, moths, spittle bugs, June Bugs, Japanese beetles, & pomac flies. Mexican Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensil) – Live in caves, under bridges, tunnels, mines, old wells, houses. Eat moths, ground beetles, leaf chafers, weevils, green blow flies, flying antsleafhoppers, mosquitoes.
*Southern Bat (Myotis austroripaius) – Live in caves or old buildings. Eat moths, mosquitoes, midges, flies. (Large cockroaches prey on newborn that fall onto the groung….)
*Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) – Cave dweller, but also under bridges or behind siding. This is the most abundant bat in the US. Eat water larval stage insects, moths, mosquitoes, gnats, beetles, gnats, crane flies, wasps.
*Tri-Colored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus) – Live in caves, mines, houses, hollow trees. Eat mosquitoes, flies, beetles, leafhoppers, moths, flying ants. May catch an insect every 2 seconds!
*these bats are endangered. The Little Brown Bat and Southern Bat have been on the endangered list since or before 2008, and in 2022 the Tri- colored Bat was finally added to the endangered list. In 2015, 120 bat houses were made to give away at October 31’s “Build A Bat House Day.” We were kindly sponsored by: Stan Brockway, Lewter Hardware, Lowe Mill, Lowes Hardware on University Dr., Wilson Lumber, and an anonymous food donor for the day. We spent almost $600 out of pocket on wood and other supplies. The bat houses are made out of cedar wood and treated wood, per instructions to Build A Bat House and a few side increases. The tops, sides and inner boards are cedar wood:
Top Board: 14”x 1.25” x 0.75”
2 Side Boards: 18” x 1.25” x 0.75”
Inner Board: 12.5” x 0.25” x 0.75”
The back and front were exterior treated plywood:
2 sheets: 18” x 14” x 0.75”, with one sheet cut in half 2/3 of the way down to make an air vent
You can view the finishing product in our Photo Albums Bathouse World. In 2023 Huntsville Bat House Project is looking for Sponsors and volunteers to help make bat house kits for people in the future. Thank you to those who helped me this year in 2022!�
Melanie Felker (Huntsville, AL)
