Bat-house, Mark-one

 

Looking at the loose-assembled bat-house from the bottom

The baffles are loosely laid in to check for fit. Each baffle has a 0.75'-by-0.75" ski on each side. The bottom baffle is 2" longer than the others to give the flying bats a "landing-pad".

Two-inch diameter holes are drilled through each baffle centered 5" from the top and the holes are staggered left-right-left-right. The holes are port-holes for bat travel and to spill heat (and ventilation) from cavity-to-cavity. My current plan is to vent out the back panel.

I still have to staple mesh to the sides of the baffles and make some decisions about how I am going pin the baffles into place. I am leaning toward drilling a 1/2" through-hole and simply pinning them. 

I also have to make a decision about what to do with the 1/2" air-space between the front of the house (not installed in the picture) and the top baffle. The options are to leave it open as a duct to generate and move warm air or to fill it with insulation. I am leaning toward "duct" or just open air-space. That will provided the most rapid heating during the morning.

The current plan is to coat the exterior with dark, solid deck-stain and then a coat of Thompson's WaterSeal. The roof will be corrugated metal with an air-space between the top of the bat-house and the bottom of the metal. I expect to have the metal extend 4" or 6" beyond the top of the bat-house. I intend to mount two of them back-to-back.

As you can see, this house is much smaller than the one shown in the earlier post. I don't think we get bat-colonies NEARLY as large as southern states. I will be thrilled if I get a dozen bats at each location: Eaton Rapids and The Property. Since bats have a slow rate of reproduction, that might take several years.