Attract bats to your garden with DIY bat boxes | Gardening for wildlife | Gardening Australia

There are over 83 species of micro-bat found in Australia, some weigh as little as 3 grams – you would be forgiven for thinking they were a moth! Although you may never have seen one, they make up 20% of all mammal species in the world.

Most are insect eaters, devouring about 1/3 of their own body weight in mozzies, lawn grub moths, beetles, weevils, and midges every night. About half of all micro bat species roost in tree-hollows which only occur in mature species like Eucalyptus, after about 80-100 years. But, big old trees are becoming scarce, particularly in urban environments so microbats are turning to man-made structures to for shelter.

Retaining old trees is the best thing we can do for the microbats and of course, planting more trees to create hollows in the future. However, creating a small nesting box like this can cater for lots of bats, because they will huddle together to maintain warmth and humidity.

INSTRUCTIONS

To create a bat box, you’re essentially trying to mimic the natural conditions. Millie makes two types up.

The Timber Box

You will need:

Rough, untreated timber. Recycled off cuts are perfect.
Screws
Two hinges
Linseed oil
Hooks
Heavy duty wire
Old hose
Some basic tools – saw, screwdriver, plane or the power tool equivalent to save time

Method

Cut the timber into lengths, allowing a longer piece for the back board approximately 250mm long, about 150mm wide, and 100mm deep sides.

To give the bats a good grip on the internal part of the box, cut a series of grooves about 3mm deep & 5mm apart on the backing board.

Screw the sides onto the backboard & attach the front of the box.

For the entrance leave a small gap between the base of the box and the back board for the bats to climb in. Anywhere from 12mm – 20mm will cater for different species of bats.

Attach a lid with hinges so you can inspect the box and get access to it if needed.

Brush on some linseed oil to the outside only of the box to preserve the timber.

Attach some hooks and wire for hanging. Thread the wire into some old hose to protect the bark of the tree, and ensure the wire can be extended as the tree grows.

Hang in a tree 3m-20m off the ground

PVC Tubes

You will need:

A PVC offcut
2 x PVC cap
Shade cloth or old fly screen
Construction adhesive
Paint

Method

Cut the PVC tube’s base on an angle to provide a landing pad
Line the inside with flyscreen mesh and secure with some construction adhesive
Cut the edge off one of the caps to make a gap large enough for the microbats to get access and put on the bottom of the PVC pipe
Put the other cap on the top
Paint the tube a similar colour to your background
Mount between 3m and 20m off the ground

TIPS

Clear away any branches or growth within 3m to ensure a clear flight to the box as the bats swoop to get a great run up to the box.
Monitor your B’n’B visually from the ground. If bats are home, leave them alone!

If ants invade the box, carefully lift the lid and leave open for 1-2 weeks to expose them sunlight.

IMPORTANT NOTE: NEVER HANDLE BATS

Bats are potential vectors for a number of serious diseases.

For more information visit:
Australasian Bat Society Website
Australian Government Health Guidelines


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[rickershomesteadahobbyfarm]

I like the PVC bat house. I could make a bunch of those pretty cheap and start attaching them to random trees on my property.

[rachelhmua]

We had a microbat living in our garage behind an old picture frame hanging on the wall. We just left the side door open for him to come and go.

[Learnlinkio]

I cannot wait! I hope I can get some microbats into my garden, I can probably only do the PVC pipe option so please let us know how it goes!

[MikeJones-jflx]

I really enjoyed the video, so inspiring....I'm making both! Did the PVC Bat house work?

[karenhart]

I have the Kooloonbung Creek reserve behind my home with our local bat colony ( Port Macquarie NSW ) 🥰👌we already have bats in our gardens great pollinators 🤩👌🙌 great video gardening Australia ! 🧤👒🦘🐨🇦🇺

[AndrewJulianPhotography]

I need to make a box so they can eat all my mosquitoes 🦟

[kelradford]

Hey Millie, I can't remember in any episode how your bat bnb got on. I really hope they went gang busters. Thanks for all the hard work you and the whole team put into bring us all a glimmer of knowledge to enable us to grow beauty and nourishment. That goes for everyone upfront and behind the cameras. For me it gives me something to focus on until I'm able to do it myself. Thanks to everyone, and Tino, keep telling those bad jokes mate. 😊

[tkcaapi]

How to attract white-tail spiders and funnelwebs to your wardrobes😁👍

[sxefv]

Next vidéo... attract pangolins.
Just kidding, I love bats

[diannerose]

Oo i live next to the river! I need this

[bradhienzachary]

Makes you wonder how they find those hollows!!

[EdurtreG]

I allways understood NOT to check bat houses. Once scared or disturbed, they will not return.
How are they holding up?

[OOOO]

Does this actually work? Or is it limited by location?

[dr.andreww.mintojnr.]

OK I've got my bat box in a good location but no bats - so how do I attract bats to their new home???

[dfeeney]

I’m curious why you wouldn’t want to use treated lumber but using pvc is okay? I would think the chemicals in pvc would be just as bad if not worse than treated lumber?

[thanhthaonguyen]

The bat ate all my fruits from my fruit tree, so "No, Go Away Bat, Do Not come to my garden "

[learnmore]

Attract bats to your garden with DIY bat boxes | Gardening for wildlife | Gardening Australia

[medicopedia]

Flamethrower --> Bats = No more Coronaviruses --> No more Lockdown.