Saturday, October 1

I got a call from John last Tuesday. He asked what I thought still needed to be done. I told him that I sent him an email with a list on it on earlier in the day. I also reminded him that he left here two weeks ago with his own list. He apologized and said he would be out later in the week. Not a surprise, but we did not see or hear from John later in the week.

On Wednesday, we received the single chamber bat house kit I ordered from Habitat For Bats. On Friday, I assembled it and today I put on the first coat of paint. We have tentatively decided to mount the house on the south face of the main house. The guidelines for where to mount included a minimum of four hours of direct sunlight, 15 feet off the ground, more than 20 feet from any trees, close to water and not mounted over windows or walkways.

The kit

The house is intended to house 50 to 100 bats, depending on the size of the bats. Doing a bit of research, while there are nine species of bats common to Missouri, there are only three bat in our area that normally roost in buildings. The three types are:

• the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)
• a large bat, perhaps twice the size of the little brown bat, but still weighs only half an ounce. This species lives throughout Missouri and roosts by itself or in small groups in caves. Big brown bats commonly roost in buildings, where they sometimes hibernate
• the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)
• a brown, mouse-sized bat that occurs throughout Missouri. It hibernates in small numbers in Ozark caves during winter. In summer, it sometimes takes up residence in attics and buildings, where it rarely causes damage.
• the evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis)
• present in Missouri during the spring, summer and early fall. It migrates south in winter. It roosts in buildings in summer

There is no doubt we have bats in the area. I see them hunting overhead almost every evening. One of our neighbors (behind us and which we have never met) also has bat houses. We don't know if they have any residents. I notified Morgan (east neighbor) that we were putting up the house just in case they might have any objection. He did not and offered to help mount it on the side of the house.