Looker Products Triple Chamber Bat House, Approved by the Organization for Bat Conservation

Nicely built house. But it did not meet all of the specifications of Bat Conservation International (the only organization I could tell that does actual research on bat houses). Organization for Bat Conservation has some good information about bats and houses, but it does not appear to have actually done research.The good news is that it does have netting that is well placed and attached firmly and it has a front vent (a little smaller than the 1/2 inch recommended and a little lower than the 6 inches recommended).It does not have rear side vents in the back chamber (I drilled some holes to accomplish this). And it was not as wide or tall as was recommended. Don't know how much impact this will have on getting bats. But it does not meet optimal specifications.In addition, I was disappointed to find that the chambers go down only about 1/2 of the length of the house (only to about where the front vent starts (about 12 inches from the top). So you've lost 1/2 the potential space for bats. Also, I noticed that there was a 1/2" brace running the length of the middle chamber, which means that you have two small compartments about 6" wide rather than one 13" wide chamber. Don't know what impact this will have on bat attraction, but this does not seem good. Bat Conservation International suggests such a brace only if the house is more than 24" wide.I used Thompson Water Seal Transparent Sequoia Red to stain and seal the house. I removed the staples from the netting on the landing area so that I could paint this as was recommended by Bat Conservation International. Then restapled after dry. If you paint over the netting, you destroy its usefulness. I used three coats as BCI recommends rather than the one or two that Thompson recommends. Each coat made the appearance darker. I live on the Gulf Coast in Houston with an average July high temperature at about 95 degrees, where a light to dark coating is recommended. This is on the darker side, but I believe that it will be fine as I've placed it on the East side of my house for morning sun.The big problem was the short length of the chambers. 12" vs the 20 inches recommended. The length is to allow movement so that the colony can adjust the temperature.I decided to purchase another house, about $35 more expensive, but which met all Bat Conservation International specifications, and which was in fact certified by Bat Conservation International. There are much better, and much worse, bat houses out there.

Approved by the Bat Conservation Organization? That organization went out of business years ago.This box will attract bats, at least in Gulf Coast Florida. However, the box will NOT stand up to the local climate. The plywood backboard rots and delaminates leaving the bats increasingly exposed to the weather.Replacing this box presents a special problem. I have bats living in it, under deteriorating conditions. But the box is mounted on a 15' pole, making it difficult to access, especially at night --- during the day, of course, it is full of bats.My solution: Get a Bat Conservation International (BCI)-approved, large, 3-chamber, all-cedar bat house and mount it nearby under the eaves of my house. In the best case, over time as the old bat house becomes unusable, my beloved bat population will find superior accommodations readily at hand.The BCI bat house is much more expensive than the product on this page (Looker Products Triple Chamber Bat House, Approved by the Organization for Bat Conservation). But if you needed a parachute, would you buy the cheapest one, regardless of whether or not it worked?

Great Bat House...I purchased one of these directly from the OBC a couple of years ago...I mounted it on a tall pole as per the instructions (pointed i the direction indicated on the instructions)...I watched for awhile and hadn't seen any bats...I think I may have just been looking at the wrong time of day. I was out prayer walking on my property about a week ago at about 6:30 a.m. (just as the sun was getting ready to come up). I noticed a bunch of fluttering things flying around the house. I had not walked by the house at that time of day in the past. At first I thought birds but realized it was a little early for that...then I realized that they were disappearing into the house...ah...bats...not sure how long they've been there...I hadn't looked into the house during the day in quite some time...looked into the house the last few days and it is chock full of little bats...that should take care of our mosquito problem!....we had been considering relocating the house to another prime spot but since this is full of bats and they know where it is I decided to just purchase another for the new spot. Though bats frighten many they are actually very beneficial...as I understand it they can eat many times their weight in flying insects in a night. This house is very well made and should last for years.

First year I only got one lonely bat and a wasp nest, they are apparently compatible so long as the nest does not block access. The second year he brought a few friends. Third year a few more. Living in mid-America, I painted it black to absorb more heat and to make it look more menacing to strangers (standard flat black paint.) I have my box mounted to the house. We found 3 dead bugs in the room on the inside and were afraid they were bedbugs, but alas it was only bat bugs which moved inside when there were a few cold nights. Bed bugs and Bat bugs look exactly the same to the human eye so I had to use my cyborg implants to detect the minuscule differences. Bat bugs are harmless and won't breed or feed in human habitations. This is a good thing since my motivation for getting the bat house was to recruit allies against the biting bugs of the night. I've named the bats, and they have a name for me that I cannot pronounce or spell. I speak to them using a jaw harp tuned to F sharp. Minor notes make them angry.