BAT BOXES

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With a decline in suitable roof spaces and other habitats, it is increasingly important to provide additional habitat for bats by putting up bat boxes on site. Bats may inhabit boxes for summer roosts or for winter hibernation.

Bat boxes differ in construction for bird boxes and are readily available to buy.  The entrance to the box should comprise of a slit measuring 2 cm and be located on the bottom, at the back. The rear interior should have rough grooves cut into it to allow the bats to hang easily.

You can easily make them yourselves with sawn timber.  Use untreated, rough sawn timber more than 15 mm thick by 1 metre long to construct. The thicker the wood the better as this provides better insulation from too much cold and heat inside the box. 

Position the bat boxes high off the ground, up to 5 m in height. Remove any crowding vegetation to allow  bats a clear flight path in and out.  Use multiple boxes to allow the bats to move from one box to another as the temperature changes.  Clustering three boxes together around a single tree trunk, all facing different directions, can be very successful but they can be placed under eaves and on walls of buildings.

Bat boxes
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