Bat and Owl houses

[Holladay]

Has any one ever tried to attract them?

My Dad made a Bat house and I tried for a few years...no go.

I live out in the country and I do have bats and owls around. I thought it would be fun to have a house around the place so I can watch them better.

I know placement is important, from what I have read. Both ~12' up and be on a pole.

Bats facing s/se for the sun, open area with no branches.

Owls can be in a tree, I guess. Open area next to a field.

That is about all I got...

[Rain Man]

If a house serves both species, should we call it a bowel house?

[frozenchief]

Built an owl house about 15 years ago at our old house but no owl claimed habitation. Could be because of the # of people around. I tried for a Saw-whet owl and followed instructions but didn't get attract any owls.

Now, I have chickens and I have to say that the number of things that kill chickens is a rather lengthy list and that list includes owls. In fact, this year, we had several chickens killed during the winter by what we believe to be a great horned owl based upon when they died, the condition of the bodies, the limited access to the coop, etc.

I think it would be really cool to have an owl on our property, especially now that we have a much bigger piece of property but I don't want owls that would kill my chickens. A Northern Boreal owl is not large enough to kill chickens, I don't believe, so I might make a bird house and put it way on the back part of my property. And since great horned owls take over nests left by larger birds, such as crows or ravens, I wouldn't be inviting them onto my property. My next door neighbors have a large open field so that might work out well. If I do this, I'll update.

[Holladay]

Up the road an owl landed on a power pole and shut down the electrical area. He was dead at the bottom of the pole. I didn't look real close, but the wing span was ~4-5 '. My guess a Horned Owl. So it seems we have some around.

It was too late last night to climb a ladder. I did scope the locations for all 4 house though. I am guessing this is one of the most important issues so I wanted to take my time.

[ThyKingdomCome15]

I shall rename my man cave to bat cave.

[Holladay]

Funny you mention this. 20 yrs ago I completed a 20x30 basement. I sat in the concrete room on the floor with sidewalk chalk trying to figure out a layout. The only limitation was the sump pump in the corner thus restricting the location for the wet bar.

It flited through my head TO make a bat cave. Kinda like the make stuff in an amusement park...chicken wire, mortar mix. It would have been fun, but just ended up being a boring man cave...125g fish tank built into the wall, large flat screen, big damn bar. I wasn't able to fit in a pool table though

[Stewie]

I remember reading that owls are the sole predator of skunks. That could be helpful.

[Holladay]

Well, then, I don't know if I want owls near my property

We got skunks, deer, coyotes, bald eagles, turkeys, bobcats, badgers, toads, snakes alas no tigers.

I got all of them up. Did I mention, I hate ladders. Thus they are up at ~10' not the suggested +12'. We shall see.

I don't think goats like owls.

[Holladay]

As to goats...

I just heard about "Black Vultures". They are a bane to ranchers and goat herders. I always thought the were natures garbage men. Clean up the mess on aisle 13. Those are Turkey Vultures.

The black ones go after calves, piglets, small goats (goatlets?) attacking their soft spots...eyes, ears etc and cost ranchers a bunch of money. They are banned from killing due to the "Migritory Bird" restriction. You can get a permit though.

Dunno. my bats and owls will scare them away

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by TLO

Just don't eat the bats.

That is about all I got.

They are actually protected here in the Ozarks from what I understand.

A friend of mine had to spend over $20,000 to have his roof removed and a special company come in to remove the bats from the attic of his lake home.

I guess their smell is atrocious.

That only worked for a couple for a couple years and he had to have the company come back. They ended up taking bats off of their itinerary and didn't want to ever deal with them again.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Yeah I don't really wanna attract bats to my place

Owls yes, bats no

This! We have Eagles and they are fun to watch.

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Yeah I don't really wanna attract bats to my place

Owls yes, bats no

They eat a lot of bugs including mosquitoes, so not horrible to have around the backyard , keeping them out of my old ass house is the problem.

[Radar Chief]

Originally Posted by Monticore

They eat a lot of bugs including mosquitoes, so not horrible to have around the backyard , keeping them out of my old ass house is the problem.

This one time Welder buddy and I were night fishing on a local state lake.
In my boat, anchored in a cove fishing the bottom for catfish. This particular evening also happened find us in the middle of a mayfly hatch, so I had all the lights turned off because they would swarm us as soon as I turned them on. And they were fresh out of the larval stage so they were soft and squishy, trying to fly into mouth and eyes, up nose, just not a pleasant thing so we fished by moonlight. After several minutes of sitting in the dark a bat flew between us. Since Welder buddy's night vision is screwed from a couple decades of watching high current electricity melt steel he couldn't see them but bats were flying all around us feeding on the mayflies. He ducked and yelled, "WTF WAS THAT!?" I laughed a little and said, "it's just a bat, dude, calm down". After a few more minutes a bat came at us from his left, did a 180 around his head then flew between us headed back the same direction it came from. That was enough for Welder buddy, he threw his pole down and exclaimed "That's it! I'm done!" So we packed up and headed out, fish weren't biting for shit anyway, but you'll be glad to know that I still give him a ration of shit for it.

[srvy]

Do you want Bats then dig a Tunnel or quarry mine. If you just want to see them stand at a mine opening at dusk.

My old party chief when I was starting out surveying hated bats. We did a lot of mine face surveys for Quarrys around the area. For tax purposes and mineral rights to the above landowners. They would shut down for a weekend and we would locate the new rock face and determine the volume removed. My chief would spotlight the bats hanging in crevices at face near the ceiling and break out a can of Airvoe fluorescent marking paint and his Bic lighter. This would make a pretty decent flame thrower with 8 to 10-foot flame with ease. Instant fried bat. I thought it was mean and a good way to burn yourself but good. He never did and just said you had to be in Nam to understand.

[Rainbarrel]

The owl walk should be a TD celebration

[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

They are actually protected here in the Ozarks from what I understand.

A friend of mine had to spend over $20,000 to have his roof removed and a special company come in to remove the bats from the attic of his lake home.

I guess their smell is atrocious.

That only worked for a couple for a couple years and he had to have the company come back. They ended up taking bats off of their itinerary and didn't want to ever deal with them again.

I used to work in a cave as an overnight security guard when I was in college. I don't know if it's their diet or what but bat shit has this strong ammonia note to it that is stomach-turning. Different that any other droppings I have smelled. Plus they are disease carriers. I won't go near them.