I love seeing the bats coming out at night in the summer; I can see them in the front clearing, swooping around after moths. I’ve got a bat house, but I think that it’s been vacant for years; I need to find a better way to attract them to my home.
Knock one of the screens out of your attic and they’ll set up permanent residency in there. But, and this is a big but, they’ll shit all over the place, you’ll hear them crawling around, and many counties prevent you from doing anything to remove them or lock them out once they’re in.
Source: was accidentally in this situation a few years ago. Our solution was to move. Okay, that’s not really why we moved, but moving solved the problem. Enjoy the bats, new residents!
I suspected that they don’t, so I asked ChatGPT and this is what it said:
Bats generally avoid cedar houses because of the natural oils in cedar wood, which have a strong scent that many insects (including those bats feed on) and animals find unpleasant. The aromatic oils in cedar can act as a deterrent, so while cedar is commonly used to keep moths away, it often has the unintended effect of discouraging bats from roosting as well.
If you’re considering a bat house, pine or plywood are usually better choices since these are more neutral in scent and bats find them more inviting for roosting.
I’ll keep that in mind. I live at a high enough altitude that I’m literally in the clouds pretty often (e.g., when it’s overcast everywhere else, I’m in pea-soup fog), so cedar is one of the prime choices for anything that’s going to be outside, just to keep it from rotting.
I love seeing the bats coming out at night in the summer; I can see them in the front clearing, swooping around after moths. I’ve got a bat house, but I think that it’s been vacant for years; I need to find a better way to attract them to my home.
Knock one of the screens out of your attic and they’ll set up permanent residency in there. But, and this is a big but, they’ll shit all over the place, you’ll hear them crawling around, and many counties prevent you from doing anything to remove them or lock them out once they’re in.
Source: was accidentally in this situation a few years ago. Our solution was to move. Okay, that’s not really why we moved, but moving solved the problem. Enjoy the bats, new residents!
Sadly: no attic. I need try making an attractive bat roost for them. I wonder how bats feel about cedar, since cedar is rot resistant?
I suspected that they don’t, so I asked ChatGPT and this is what it said:
Bats generally avoid cedar houses because of the natural oils in cedar wood, which have a strong scent that many insects (including those bats feed on) and animals find unpleasant. The aromatic oils in cedar can act as a deterrent, so while cedar is commonly used to keep moths away, it often has the unintended effect of discouraging bats from roosting as well.
If you’re considering a bat house, pine or plywood are usually better choices since these are more neutral in scent and bats find them more inviting for roosting.
I’ll keep that in mind. I live at a high enough altitude that I’m literally in the clouds pretty often (e.g., when it’s overcast everywhere else, I’m in pea-soup fog), so cedar is one of the prime choices for anything that’s going to be outside, just to keep it from rotting.