Bat Houses…Acoustic Surveys…Call Analysis…Site Recommendations!!

IMG_1507We have GREAT NEWS!! Lubee Bat Conservancy now builds and installs bat houses!

Learn what species are on your property and provide bats a safe, warm area to live and raise their young.

 

 

 

 

Bat Houses

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Lubee 4-chambered house

You can provide a home for hundreds of bats by putting up a Lubee made bat house on your residential or commercial property. In FL, bat houses provide safe, secure roosting areas for numerous species including Mexican Free-tailed bats, Evening bats, and the Critically Endangered FL Bonneted bat (only found in south FL). An individual bat can eat hundreds of insects per night, including mosquitoes and numerous agricultural pests. Unfortunately, many bat populations are disappearing at alarming rates due to habitat loss. Most bats living in Florida prefer to roost in mature trees, dead trees (called snags), or in caves. However, many bats take up residence in buildings or other manmade structures due to destruction of their habitats. Bat houses provide much needed alternative roost sites for Florida’s bats. A house on your property can offer the perfect place for our flying friends to live. They will also return the favor by helping to control insects in your area.

Lubee Bat Houses

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Lubee Single-chambered 20′ in air!

We build single, triple, and 4-chambered houses (preferred by maternity colonies) that have proven successful with FL bats. Cedar wood is used as it weathers well, is pest resistant, and will last for years. Houses are fully sealed, properly ventilated, and offer a longer landing platform, an important factor in its occupancy. Our bat houses are 100% made by our Lubee staff. Proceeds go towards our local & global conservation/education efforts.
Single chamber
24”x14”x3”
Holds 50-75 bats
$100
Triple chamber
32”x20”x5”
Holds 100-200 bats
$200
4-chambered
40”x24”x7”
Holds 300-400 bats
$300
* Houses are only available for shipping within FL.
* We also sell bat house kits that require assembly.
Laser engraved 4-chambered

Laser engraved 4-chambered house for Swamp Head Brewery

* Most words/logos can be laser engraved on houses. How about your family name on a house!!
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Mexican Free-tailed bats roosting in a Lubee house!

Site Recommendations

Lubee staff are available to survey your property and recommend the ideal area to locate your bat house. The single best thing you can do to attract bats is to put it in the perfect location. In fact, this is the only way to ensure occupancy of your bat house. Two methods that are often asked about but never work are placing guano in/near houses, and putting bats inside of them. Regarding the latter, it is illegal to buy or sell bats, and relocating them will only provide stress, ensuring the house will be associated with an extremely negative experience. Let a Lubee staff member inspect your property for the perfect spot to install a bat house.

Installation

Lubee staff members have installed numerous bat houses throughout FL and are happy to do the work for you! Houses are mounted on sustainably harvested cypress posts which are naturally resistant to decay and contain no chemicals. This structure is then attached to pressure treated posts cemented into the ground. The image to the right shows Lubee staff with the finished product! Check out this link which shows the staff raising a house 20? in the air at Haile Village Center in Gainesville, FL and this link showing the emergence of the bats from that house.

 

 

 Acoustic Surveys & Call Analysis

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Acoustic equipment setup for surveillance on corporate property.

Do you have bats on your property that will utilize houses? Lubee staff members are trained in acoustic monitoring and call analysis. There are 13 bat species that reside in FL, of which 5 will regularly live in bat houses (the rest roost in trees, caves, and other structures). Let our knowledgeable staff set up monitoring equipment to determine if these species are common in your area. We use Binary Acoustic Technology’s iFR-V Field Recorders (graciously provided by Normandeau Associates, Inc.) to listen and capture bat echolocation calls. We then download this information to a server which enables us to analyze individual bat calls and identify the species. Lubee staff have analyzed thousands of calls and are eager to continue this amazing glimpse into the secret lives of bats.
For more information on houses, site recommendations, acoustic analysis, and prices, please email info@lubee.org.