Bat houses

[jonw]

I love bats. Not in some weird teenage goth way (no offence to teenage gothers), but because I have a lot of empathy for our fellow earthlings that have no agency, and especially a lot of empathy for the cute ones. Not all bats are “cute”, but there are many that look like tiny dogs with big leather wings that definitely fall into that territory.

I’m thinking of building a bat house on my property. I start searching around, as one does, and was really pleased to see a set of really detailed instructions to do so. Even so detailed that there are different styles depending on whether we’re housing nursing bats or not. Yes, I want to house nursing bats because the only thing cuter than a flying fox is a baby flying fox.

I’m still not totally sure what bats are in my area. I read that there are something like 17 known species on this island, but two or so have only been identified audibly and not yet seen.

I am aware that there are bird house cams that people put inside bird houses to watch their activities. I plan to do the same with my bat house.

We will all learn together whether we indeed attract some bats and if so, their antics. Stay tuned!

Does anyone else have any experience with bats or bat houses?