Bat Boxes

Norkie

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Jak
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Hi all, I’m going to make three bat boxes from untreated timber. I understand that bats have a sense of smell so what can I treat the boxes with to lengthen the life of the box please..?

Without deterring the bats?
 
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Nothing, as far as I know, The ones I made were just made of pallet timber. Still doing OK 3 years later. Actually, you have reminded me I still need to put one up.

There is an argument that after a few years they are of little use.
 
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Cedar? It's fairly rot resistant.

My local shed firm make their top range out of Cedar and they seem to last pretty well. Smell nice too.
 
OK, cheers. I’m going to cover the slopping roof with roof felt.
 
Nothing. Anything you use may make the bats less inclined to use the boxes and may also harm them. That's from the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB etc. Your timber should be completely untreated and you probably shouldn't felt the roof either (all the how to instructions leave the roof bare timber). Keep an eye on them and if they start falling apart make new ones and replace them while the bats are not in residence. It's illegal to disturb them.
 
Myself and a neighbour are putting up five between us!
we can cover all four points of the compass and differing heights.
We know they are protected.
 
As has already been said I wouldn't even use felt on the roof. I just used a sacrificial extra piece of wood.
 
I wish you success, Jak. Years ago we put up one of these boxes(I'm sure it was a lot cheaper than it is now) - https://www.wildcare.co.uk/schwegler-1fd-bat-box-55-triple-front-panel.html

We had, I think, pipistrelles regularly flying about all summer and a neighbour had a nursery roost (we counted about 35 bats emerging one night) in their roof space one year, but we never got bats in the box even after a good few years, but when we moved the box and hung it on a post about four feet off the ground 'temporarily' a pair of blue tits used it to raise a brood the following year.

Dave
 
Well we live in Norfolk now, so I would like to put some boxes up.

When we lived in Oxfordshire we had three boxes up and had bats after. year, and they never left.

Many thanks for all the help and tips, appreciated.
 
I don't think bats give as much of a hoot as people make out...we've come across one whilst gutting building fast asleep oblivious to the near brush with death the poor little thing has just had because he was hiding behind some hardboard lining we've just been hammering, drilling and crowbarring. There's another one in an outbuilding roof that's full of creosote and other bits to slow the rot till it can be replaced, bat seems happy as larry in there, surrounded by all the things (noise, light, drafts, chemicals) that bats supposedly don't like.

Treat it if you feel the need, the bats will use it if they want and won't if they don't. At the end of the day, you can build a bat a box, but you can't force him to live in it...
 
We're in Norfolk and have a pipistrelle nursery roost in our roof. Last time I counted in 2019 there were >140 leaving at dusk on the hunt.
A "friendly builder" suggested that putting trays of creosote in the loft would force them to leave as they can't stand the smell.
As they're endangered and it's illegal I politely ignored his "advice" and left them alone.
I wish they didn't smell as bad as they do.
I wish they wouldn't find their way into the house when they're young and stupid.
I'd love to be able to use my loft for storage, but you buy an old house with hundreds of summer tenants and you have to make your compromises :)

So I'd suggest nothing that smells inc. roof felt on the top if you want them to use it.
 
AMcUK said:
We're in Norfolk and have a pipistrelle nursery roost in our roof. Last time I counted in 2019 there were >140 leaving at dusk on the hunt.
A "friendly builder" suggested that putting trays of creosote in the loft would force them to leave as they can't stand the smell.
As they're endangered and it's illegal I politely ignored his "advice" and left them alone.
I wish they didn't smell as bad as they do.
I wish they wouldn't find their way into the house when they're young and stupid.
I'd love to be able to use my loft for storage, but you buy an old house with hundreds of summer tenants and you have to make your compromises :)

So I'd suggest nothing that smells inc. roof felt on the top if you want them to use it.
Click to expand...

I also have a nursery roost in my roof, probably pipistrelle. I've also counted upwards of 100 leaving at dusk. My house isn't old (well, about 40 years old now) and is a very ordinary semi detatched bungalow in the middle of a short row of similar semi-d bungalows, so I don't know why they choose my roof, but they've been using the house longer than I have. My bats don't get into the loft. They're not in the cavity as that's insulated so I guess they must be between the tiles and the menbrane laid over the trusses. There's a small bit of pointing missing between the top of the wall and the roof where they get in. Last year they either didn't come or very few came. I kept watch but only ever saw one come out to hunt on one night. I discussed with someone from my local bat group and he said they will move from an established roost if there's something they don't like, but if they do it doesn't mean they're gone for ever. They may well come back. So it may be that after a few years in what must be a very confined space they need to 'let it air' for a while.
 
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