Number 21

People are becoming increasingly

aware of the importance of the
bats they once persecuted.
Increased pesticide use, the loss of
roosting and foraging habitat has
resulted in the current decline of
many bat species. North Carolina
supports 16 species of bats,
including three federally listed as
endangered.
This publication
provides information about bats,
their benefits, and steps
to
encourage bats on private lands.

The Importance of Bats

Bats serve as important pollinators
of many food plants as well as
provide useful aids for medical
research, particulary for the blind.

Distributed in furtherance
of the acts of Congress of
May 8 and June 30, 1914.
Employment and program
opportunities are offered to
all people regardless of
race, color, national origin,
sex, age, or disability.
North Carolina State
University, North Carolina
A & T State University, US
Department of Agriculture,
and local governments

Flying Mammals
Bats are the only mammals capable
of true flight. Their wings are like
hands with skin stretched between
modified finger bones. They are not
blind, but rely on echolocation
instead of their eyes for locating and
capturing food at night. Bats are
more closely related to primates
than the rodents with which they are
often compared. They have slow
reproductive rates with typically only
one offspring cycle. Like all other
mammals, female bats nurse their
young.

Bats are the only major predator of

night-flying insects. Bat prey
includes lacewings, cockroaches,
gnats, and mosquitos as their major
food source. A single Big brown bat
can eat between 3,000 and 7,000
mosquitos in a night, with large
populations of bats consuming
thousands of tons of potentially
harmful forest and agricultural pests
annually.
Permanent wet areas are critical
because they supply water and a
consistent insect supply.

North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service
North Carolina State University
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
College of Forest Resources

Page 2

Balancing Bat Habitat

A balance of foraging habitat and roosting habitat
is essential. Bats spend over half of their lives in
roosts and rely on sheltered, undisturbed natural
sites such as caves, crevices in rocks, and tree
cavities to meet their needs. In the winter
months, insulated roosts are important for
hibernating bats, while in late spring and early
summer, roosts that can sustain daytime
temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees
Fahrenheit are important for raising young bats.
Bats are somewhat opportunistic in their roost
selection and often utilize man-made structures
such as attics, abandoned houses, church lofts,
and barns where natural roosts are unavailable.

Install properly constructed artificial roosts in

areas were natural roosts are scarce or
absent. Solitary species such as the Hoary
bat will not use bat houses consistently as will
the colonial bats, which include the Little
brown bat, Big brown bat, and Eastern
pipistrelle. Use the following diagram to
build effective, maintenance-free bat
houses for roosting and raising young.

Promoting Bat Habitat

Encourage bats on your property by furnishing
foraging and roosting habitats in close proximity.
Maintain and manage snags in mature woodlots
to increase the availability of natural roosts.
Ensure foraging habitat by protecting all
permanent water sources such as beaver ponds,
swamps, marshes, and streams.

BAT HABITATS TO
PROTECT
Foraging
Beaver ponds
Marshes
Streams
Farmponds
Seasonal pools
Large drainage
ditches
River drainages

Roosting
Caves
Dead, hollow snags
Live cavitiy trees
Abandoned
homeplaces
Old stone chimneys
Crevices in rocks
Travel corridors
Basic Bat House Design

N.C. Cooperative Extension Service

Working With Wildlife # 21 - Bats

Page 3

Construction Tips

Place bat houses 10 to 15 feet off the

ground. Always seek assistance when
using folding or extension ladders.

Use cedar, cypress, or pressure-treated

pine lumber to insure durable, longer-lasting Locate boxes where they will absorb
boxes.
maximum sunlight. Where possible, place
four boxes per tree, one each facing North,
Use rough lumber, cut shallow grooves, or
South, East, and West, to allow the bats to
attach fine plastic or wire mesh to the inner
choose the box they need.
surfaces of the box so bats can easily crawl
up and into the house.
Install bat houses by early April. Dont
worry if bats do not begin using them
Avoid painting or varnishing the inside of the
immediately. A recent survey by Bat
house.
Conservation International (BCI) showed a
52% occupancy rate for all boxes. It may
Paint or cover the roof and the top four
take up to two years for bats to find and
inches of the sides with tar paper or another
begin using artificial roosts.
dark material to insure the high temperature
ranges required by both young and adult Inspect bat houses annually and remove
bats.
any vegetation that could interfere with
entry to the roost or allow predators to
Seal all seams with silicone caulk to
enter. Attach predator guards of roofing tin
waterproof houses and prevent heat and
on the mounting post or tree at a height of
moisture losses.
three feet to protect roosting bats from
house cats, raccoons, and snakes.

Installation Tips

Place bat boxes close to rivers, lakes,

ponds, marshes, or other permanent water
sources where insects are abundant.

Secure boxes to the sides of trees with a

ten penny nail or with crimped wire or a lag
bolt that can be loosened as the tree
grows. Boxes mounted on fast-growing
conifers may have to be remounted every
2 to 3 years.

Tilt houses at a 10 degree angle to help

young bats stay in the box.

North Carolina Bats

Brazilian
free-tailed bat
Big brown bat
Eastern
big-eared bat
Eastern
pipistrelle
Evening bat
Hoary bat

Indiana bat *
Little brown bat
Northern long-eared bat
Red bat
Small-footed bat
Seminole bat
Silver-haired bat
Southeastern bat
Virginia big-eared bat*

* Federally listed as Endangered

Prepared by:
Edwin J. Jones, Department Extension Leader,
Mark A. Megalos, Extension Forestry Specialist,
J. Chris Turner, Extension Associate

Page 4

References:
W.D. Webster, J.Parnell and W.C.Biggs, Jr. 1985. Mammals of the Carolinas,
Virginia, and Maryland. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
Tuttle, M. and D. Hensley. 1993. The Bat House Builders Handbook.
Bat Conservation International, Inc., P.O. Box 162603, Austin, Texas 787162603

Virginia big-eared bat illustration on page 1 used with artists permission.

Other Wildlife Notes Available:
No. 1 - Endangered Species
No. 14 - Snags and Downed Logs
No. 2 - Eastern Gray Squirrel
No. 15 - Managing Edges for Wildlife
No. 3 - White-tailed Deer
No. 16 - Building Songbird Boxes
No. 4 - Songbirds
No. 17 - Woodland Wildlife Nest Boxes
No. 5 - Wild Turkey
No. 18 - Low Cost Habitat Improvements
No. 6 - Wood Duck
No. 19 - Pools for Amphibians
No. 7 - Cottontail Rabbit
No. 20 - Hummingbirds and Butterflies
No. 8 - Bobwhite Quail
No. 21 - Bats
No. 9 - Ruffed Grouse
No. 22 - Owls
No. 10 - Black Bear
No. 23 - Managing Beaver Ponds
No. 11 - Raccoon
No. 24- Herbaceous Plants for Wildlife
No. 12 - Mourning Dove
No. 25- SIP Wildlife Opportunities
No. 13 - Wildlife Terms

FOREST STEWARDSHIP
a cooperative program for
improving and maintaining all of the
resources on private forestland

10-94-4M-WWW-21