So, you have built your bat box, painted it and now ready for installation. The information I am sharing with you pertains to Western Australian conditions. It may not be suitable for your local location. You may have to experiment to find out what works for you.
Download the attached PDF to start the process.
Have a good long look at this image and tell me what is wrong with it? I’m talking about the installation location.
If you were a bat why wouldn’t you claim this box as your own?? Figured it out yet???
Well, micro bats are not monkeys. They do not land on branches and climb up into the boxes. Yet, time and time again I see people install bat boxes with obstructions directly below it. They might build a beautiful and long-lasting box but it is a complete waste of time if the bats can’t fly into it. People do not understand that bats are like little aeroplanes, they need space directly below the boxes to take off and land.
So, if you can’t do it right, give up and throw your money elsewhere…….
For those who like to build their own bat box don’t use galvanised mesh as a landing pad. After 10 years of solid use the bats urine completely rust the mesh. Including steel staples. The metal turns into barbed wire projections causing the bats to abandon the box. I now use stainless steel mesh.
Link for the mesh: https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-190mm-x-4m-stainless-steel-ember-mesh-ultra_p3041135
Ever wanted to see the microbats up close and personnal? Well, City of South Perth & the City of Cockburn are running bat tours. Give them a call, sign up and I will bring the bats down to you as we view the bat boxes. You get to see how beautiful these little fragile critters are.
It’s a great wildlife experience like no other….
Opportunities arise in life all the time. You just have to be open to them. I had one recently. Now, I’m trialing a new home for bats because of it. Simple concept. Mother nature provides the home. I just modify it to make it attractive for microbats. I talking about Bamboo. Two are already in place at Bibra Lake awaiting new residents. It might take awhile but it will be worth it.
Check out the video.
In Western Australia we have a huge issue of feral bees invading nest boxes all of descriptions including bat boxes. Even the small “wedge” shaped design is under attack. The ferals have found them and even though the volume is minute they persist. In the war against these Natsync Environmental has changed the design to try and keep one step ahead of them. At this early stage it appears to be successful although time will tell in the long term.
After spending 10 years of research and design the holy grail of bat boxes has been found. Well…sort of. Micro bats are extremely fussy in choosing their homes or roosts as it is known. Using sophisticated temperature & humidity loggers in local natural roosts we carefully analysed what makes the roost special. Then the challenge was to replicate these conditions in man-made artificial homes. We also used Flir and Pulsar thermal imaging devices to study the effects on solar radiation on the actual surfaces of the homes.
Also thanks to the involvement of the City of Cockburn, a survey was conducted to assess the many bat boxes that are currently located throughout their municipality. The data gathered highlighted the various attributes that the bats were searching for. A new model was born out of this research. Within 17 days the bats have found and have started to occupy the new designed boxes.
We want the Cockburn Wetlands Centre to become bat central in Western Australia. This would be an opportunity for visitors to bring a deck chair, sip some wine & munch on cheese, then watch the microbats streaming out of the many boxes that are located there.
To help achieve the numbers for a massive flyout an “Bat Rocket” box was installed. This has the potential to hold 150 bats. More are planned for the future.
So stand by and get ready for blast off…..
Another exciting bat box workshop was conducted on the last weekend gone. This time something new was added. Now I have Pyrography pens in action. These allow you to burn patterns or just your name onto the finished bat boxes. The participants loved them. It adds a personal touch to your creation.
If you would love to attend one of these fun and interesting workshops please contact me and I will give you an idea of where and when the next ones are held. They are very popular and regularly booked out.
Write with fire
Come and visit our display at the Lake Claremont Festival this Sunday 18th September. We have exciting new bat homes to view. Learn how to construct a simple bat box perfect for the garden.
Come talk about bats, bats and more bats.
Ever wonder how researchers study bats? Then come and see a Thermal imaging scope in action. This detects the body heat of bats at 300 metres.
GoBatty 