If you hang up a bat box correctly, you can look forward to lively visits from beneficial insects. Important criteria are suspension height, location, direction and attachment. The five most frequently asked questions about attaching bat boxes are given a comprehensible answer here.

A bat box should hang at least two meters high

How high does a bat box have to hang?

During the excursion, bats first have to let themselves fall a little. The sociable bats like to swarm in front of their house for a while before they go hunting for insects together at night. The suspension height should take these habits into account. How to do it right:

  • Hang the bat box at least 2 m high, ideally 5 to 10 m
  • Free approach path without disturbing branches and twigs
  • Rule of thumb for free space: 1 m in front of the entry hole, 2 m on each side and downwards

Bats and birds are suffering from a massive housing shortage. Properly suspended bat quarters are highly competitive. To reduce the competitive pressure, please hang several bat boxes and birdhouses at different heights.

Where to hang bat boxes?

If bats had a say, you would advocate a bat box in a quiet, partially shaded location protected from wind and rain, far away from artificial light sources. According to observations by bat experts, the following places are suitable at home and in the garden:

  • On trees in the garden, park or forest (favorable: wayside, clearing, slope, bank area)
  • On house facades (cheap: in building corners, under a canopy)
  • On bridges, sheds, silos, high-rise buildings
  • Do not hang over windows, balconies, house entrances or seating areas

When choosing a location, please take into account that you can carry out visual checks from the ground.

Which direction is correct?

Each bat species has its own special climatic preferences. For this reason, there are different variants for the alignment:

  • Optimal orientation: Southeast to Northwest
  • Alternate option: Northwest to East
  • Rule of thumb: bright, neither in the blazing sun nor in full shade

No cold wind should whistle through the entrance of the bat box. Drafts are dangerous for the delicate bats.

How do you hang a bat box?

A bat box must not wobble. Either the residents don't move in at all, or the unstable box becomes a death trap. In the case of box models for house facades, the appropriate fastening material is usually included in the scope of delivery.

When hanging a bat box on the tree, please use sheathed wire and rustproof screws or nails. A tree should not suffer with bark injuries if it is chosen as a refuge for bats.

Is my bat box inhabited?

That is the exciting question after all efforts to protect bats in a way that is appropriate to their species. There is an unmistakable indication of the presence of the flying acrobats in the bat box: bat droppings. Look for the excrement on the ground. Bat droppings are dark brown, 3-10mm long, dry, shiny and odorless.

tips

In the near-natural garden, bats and birds live peacefully together as long as the nesting boxes don't get in each other's enclosures. Animal welfare experts recommend a minimum distance of 5 meters between the bat box and the aviary. In the large garden there can be a distance of up to 10 meters between the nesting aids for different animal species.

Category:

Animals in the garden