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November 2002

Bat Box Basics - A slot to call home

Did you know that one out of every five types of mammals is a bat? We don't see them much.; they are creatures of the night after all. But they're out there, silently flying around, catching up to 600 mosquitos an hour, 3,000 a night. They're our friends.

There are 16 kinds of bats in British Columbia, 11 found here in Greater Vancouver. But chances are that the little brown bat you may see in your neighbourhood is just that, it really is called the little brown bat. It is the most widespread and common bat in BC. It weighs about 10 grams, tops, about the same as a dime and two nickels. The change in your pocket probably weighs about as much as five of these bats.

After a hard night of acrobatics in the sky, a bat likes to find a cozy, warm spot to crawl into and sleep. In winter, it needs a place to hibernate. Nothing is better than a loose piece of bark, rocky spaces in caves, or attics in old houses.

There aren't many of these around in Greater Vancouver anymore. So, to help them out so they can help us control insects, we can make a bat box for them.

The basic model is two boards (12 x 12 inches is manageable and holds about 15 bats), with 1 ½ inch wood between them at either end and the top. The bats crawl into the slot from the opening below. It helps bats stay warm if you paint it black and put it about 10 feet above ground where it catches the morning sun. Fancier models have two slots with a sloping roof and some nylon window screening tacked onto the slots to make it easier for the bats to crawl in.

A bat box is simple to build and cheap (about $2 of materials for the basic, no frills model). A very manageable project the whole family can enjoy.

For more information contact the Douglas College Institute of Urban Ecology at 604-527-5224 or visit our website www.douglas.bc.ca/iue