Bats are important pollinators in local ecosystems, but especially in Florida, as they play a large role in pest management of insects like mosquitos that can harm humans. Many bats are colony species and require small structures to harbor in large numbers to protect themselves from the weather and to have safe spaces to slumber during the day. Laser Cut Bat Houses can be built and installed in gardens, ponds, parks, and the sides of houses that enhance the built environment for many bat species. This will show you our basic instructions for creating your own bat box using laser cutting and wood materials for Florida Bats. Since this is our first prototype, we hope to enhance and further develop more downloadable designs for the community in the future.

Supplies

This is a simple prototype with material costs for 3 bat houses. The materials also include all the parts needed to install and protect the bat house from the natural elements. Main materials include wood, caulk, wooden pole, and sealant, that protects the bat house from rotting in the elements. Besides these materials, this project does require a laser cutter to successfully develop.

Step 1: Bat House Basics

Due to the nature of the bat box design, assembly though the usage of a laser cutter allows for precise measurement and easy customizability of the box components:

The roof
The body of the box
The landing strip

The roof is just like a human rood, in the sense that it serves to protect the box as a whole and allow weather like rain to slide easily off of it. The body consists of the outside layers and an inside layer called baffles. Baffles are boards on the inside of the bat house that bats can climb onto and hang onto while resting. These are essential to the design as they allow more bats in a smaller space. Bats really love small spaces, so they will easily squeeze into these layers that are only 1" wide! Lastly, there is the landing strip, the part of the bat box that the bats can grab onto during flight so they can easily access the bat box, or escape when they are leaving.

Step 2: Laser Cutting

Laser Cutting is a simple and effective tool for fabricating wood pieces, especially those for bat houses which require small groves. Bat houses need to be engraved on the inside with small hooks that ensure the bats can successfully climb into and hang in the bat house. Additionally the roof and landing strips could be altered and we provide examples of possible alterations in the provided illustrations. In this example we continue with a simple slanted design. By following the svg file attached you can utilize or dimensions and cuts for your own project.

BatHouseFinal.svg
Download

Step 3: Installation

The installation of the house on the pole utilizes the addition of two rungs (wooden pieces whose design is shown directly above), attached to the back panel of the bat box via brad nailer or similar tool. Once attached hose clamps will be used to attach the bat box to the installation post. Bat houses should be installed near bodies of water like rivers, lakes, or large ponds because they will wake up and the first thing they will do is feed and get water. Additionally, its important that you provide enough space for you bats to fly around, so ensuring there is an easy clearing between the installation site and any other objects like houses, or trees is important for the bats safety. Finally, pole size can vary, but the bat house should be at least 6 feet off the ground! This ensures that they cannot be accessed by other animals, or by humans that may not have experience with bats.

Thanks for saving the Bats!