New Housing Addition

Back in January, I bought this nice little, 2-chambered cedar bathouse on eBay. Now that I'm laid off for a few months, getting this bat house added to my backyard wildlife habitat was at the top of my "to do" list. Last week I bought a little can of water-based black paint and got the bat house painted. (Black keeps the house extra warm if the bats ever do move in and choose to use this house as a nursery colony.) See - 2 chambers! With nice rough wood that will make it easier for the bats to climb inside.

Instead of putting up a new pole, I decided to mount this bat house on the south-facing side of the tall bird-perching pole in the backyard. This pole is at the edge of my wildflower garden.

Yes, we still have a few snowbanks left in the yard!

Here I am attaching the bat house to the pole. I did it early this morning because the ground was still frozen and my ladder feet wouldn't sink into the mud yet.

New housing addition completed! Optimal mounting height is between 10-15 feet off the ground. I think it's probably around 11-12 feet high, but this is as high as I could achieve and still heed the "do not stand on or above this step" warning on my ladder.

I've never seen an abundance of bats in the backyard, but I'm hoping they might find this house and decide to take up residence. I'll keep you posted on whether any bats decide to move in. Does anyone have any ideas on how to attract them?