Question: I was given a bat house as a gift. I live in town and have a two story house. My plan was to mount it on the house 20 feet (6 meters) up. The instructions say it’s okay but I’ve seen other sources say it needs to be on a free standing pole near water. The only nearby water is the pool. I really wanted to encourage bats to my yard to eat up the mosquitoes. Now I’m wondering if I should put it up. What is your opinion on bat box’s in a subdivision? I live in Indiana. My lot is 3/4 of an acre. Thank you.
Hi, Thanks for writing. Putting the bat house 20 feet (6 meters) up on your house should be fine. In fact, Bat Conservation International says mounting your box on a house is even better than on a pole. If you go to their page How Bat Houses Are Mounted, you’ll find great tips, including this paragraph:
“Mounting your bat houses on poles is better than mounting them on trees, and mounting bat houses on human houses is even better than mounting them on poles. Trees can block bats’ entry and exit with branches and clutter, and they can give predators, like owls, easy access to the bat house. Poles solve these problems, but houses on poles are not as well insulated as houses built against the wall of a human home.”
The Bat Guys website suggests mounting bat houses over gable end roof vents, so that the air from your attic flows through the bat house. I have not tried that, but it’s an interesting idea.
The photo on this post is one of two bat houses mounted to two different sides of my house. Both have been occupied at times. I will say that it takes a while. I think it was two years before my bat houses were used.
One thing to think about is that bats will poop inside the house and it falls out the bottom. As you can see in my photo, that might leave guano markings on your house.
Having said all that, I’m not sure bats help that much with mosquitos in your yard. They will fly off to search for their best sources of food and come back to roost in the bat house. They may well get some mosquitos in your yard on their way out and back, but they aren’t likely to just hover over your yard on mosquito duty. And mosquitos are relatively small prey. Bats are usually after insects with more bulk.
Good luck! Let me know if you get bats eventually. Tom
