So, after you build this Bat Roost, how do you tell the local bat population that you're open for business .. asking for .. a friend, purely for .. educational purposes.

[–] IMongoose@lemmy.world 71 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Bats are incredibly picky about their roosts. People have done this and attracted 0 bats lol.

[–] Pirasp@lemmy.world 45 points 5 months ago

And other people just have a million bats living in their attic

[–] Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website 24 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It helps if you actually live near bats.

I came home to a small ball of fluff and wings wrapped up in the corner of my porch one day, so for gits and shiggles I put up a small bat box on a post against the trees nearby.

It took a week or two but I noticed it was in use when I went outside one night and saw one pop out of it.

Protip: be very careful about what you use to stain/paint it. Apparently they don't like the smell of those things. I didn't paint mine.

Bats need a real estate agent...

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

It helps if you actually live near bats

So you SHOULDN'T expect thousands of bats to travel thousands of miles for your roost? Good to know!

crosses "build bat roost by Greenland vacation house" from to-do list

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 22 points 5 months ago (1 children)

A friend of mine loves being in his backyard but hates the mosquitoes. He heard about this bat roost thing and installed one about 5 years ago. It has not attracted a single bat.

[–] Pretzilla@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

It's important to build the right kind of roost.

Check https://www.batcon.org/ for guidance and inspiration

[–] pelya@lemmy.world 27 points 5 months ago

I guess like any other animals, bats will seek places with other bats, or where bats lived before. The best option would be to procure a pair of domesticated bats and put them into the roost, I'm not sure if it's even legal. The next best choice is to acquire a few kilograms of bat shit, and spray it all over and inside your roost, so it smells like bat.

[–] randombullet@programming.dev 7 points 5 months ago

If you build it, they will come.

We've built a little urban utopia for our pollinator friends. The little guys just started popping up when the flowers started blooming.