This 3-Chamber bat house or bat box is built to the guideline of Bat Conservation International, using Cal Butchkoski plans provide by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and should hold up to 200 to 250 bats. BCI recommends chamber baffles be a minim of 20 inches tall by 14 inches wide. I build mine slightly larger at 24 x 16.

 

This bat house measures 38 in. x 18 in. x 5 in. The 2 interior baffles are 16 in. x 24 in. x 1/2 in. This is a little larger than the BCI guidelines and makes 3 roosting chambers. The landing area is 16 in. x 7 in.

 

The material for the exterior starts with 1 in. or thicker rough sawn white cedar. The  the baffle have 1/16 in. grooves cut in them at 1 /2 in. horizontal spacing for footholds. The outside surfaces have been planed, sanded smooth and finished with a water base solid stain. The front and back panels are horizontally lapped with a rabbet and fully calked to insurer water tightness.

 

The finished exterior wood is a minimum of 7/8 in. white cedar. I try to mill the boards as thick as I can but there is some variation in the stock I use. There is over 14 board feet of material in each 3-Chamber bat house.  The average weight of a competed bat house is about 30 lbs. The heavier, solid construction helps maintain a more constant inside temperature that is important for mother bats to raise their pups.

To down load an interesting "word doc." article about research on Rocket Style bat houses and bat house installation, please follow this link to Meet Myotis evotis by Mark Kiser where he states (page 6) "In 2000, Patricia (Dr. Patricia Otto, a Research Associate) observed that bats overwhelmingly preferred her rocket boxes to their previous roosts".

 

 

 

Not only are bats beneficial, Bats are in crisis in Northwestern Connecticut and other area states because of White Nose Syndrome making it especially important for environmentally minded people to put bat houses to encourage the raising of young bats. Bat are very slow to recover from these great loses because the live over 20 year and have only one or two pups a year.

 

White Cedar Rocket Bat House

$165

White Cedar 3-Chamber Bat House

$200

Grooved post inside the rocket bat house

Landing area and mounting base to accept a 4 x 4 post

This rocket style bat house is constructed from solid 7/8 in. Atlantic White Cedar, 4 x 4 center post secured with stainless screws, 50-year rated caulk and finished in a water base black exterior stain. This Rocket style bat house or bat box is built based on the plans from J. MacGregor and D. Dourson of the Daniel Boone National Forest and should hold 75 to 100 bats.

 

The overall height of the rocket bat houses is 54 1/2 in.. The bat box is 38 in. x 7 in. x 7 in. There is a single 3/4 in. roosting chamber around a specially cut 4 x 4. The inside center post has horizontal grooves cut every 1/2 in. for footholds. The grooved landing area extends 9 in. below the box. The base mount is designed to sit on top of a 4 x 4 pressure treated post. The base is a 10 in. long box screwed and glued to the house center post, it extends down 5 in. lower to accept the top of a 4 x 4 post you supply.  The bat house can be screwed or through bolted to the top of the your 4 x 4. All bat house should be mounted at least 12 feet above the ground.

 Grooved baffle section from inside the bat house

 BCI, Attracting Bats
BCI, Criteria for Successful Bat Houses

Bat World, Myths and Facts