Holy bat-house Batman. Let's build a bathouse!

In case my blog title leaves some people a little confused, now is a good time to consider building and placing bat houses for our insect eating, night flying friends. Bat houses are very simple in design.

All bats need is an inverted enclosure with places inside where they can grasp with their little feet to hang upside down for some down time (or is that upside down time?) In any case, bats need places to roost and you can help to make it easy for them to find a home. Use this as an opportunity to teach your kids about the true value of bats.

Here is a simple bat house plan that you can print out and keep for your very own. In fact, the publisher, Batworld.org, asks that you consider yourself free to pass this plan around. You should keep in mind that bat houses should be placed where they will get ample sunshine to warm them during the day.

Additionally, in the northern regions bat houses need significant thermal mass to assist in keeping the bats warm enough through their winter semi-sleep. If you live in the regions where winter begins in October and ends in May, you should make your bat house side walls and top twice as thick as indicated on most bat house plans. Bats stay alive through the winter months by gathering close and sharing warmth much like bees do. By providing additional thermal mass to your bat house, the bats won't need to work so hard to stay warm.

Bats have been maligned and misunderstood for a very long time and most people don't understand the great value that bats provide to our ecosystems. Please do yourself and the bats a favor by taking some time to learn a little more about these very valuable creatures.