Bats freak out some people, but they’re actually remarkable creatures that can catch as many as 1,000 mosquitoes every hour. You can help give bats a safe, warm place to raise their young by hanging a bat box from your house or a freestanding post.
This webpage answers common questions people have about installing bat boxes, such as what maintenance they need, whether a bat box will cause bats to invade an attic, and whether guano will build up under the bat box.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources put together this great free guide that includes bat box plans and installation tips.
If you’d rather purchase a bat box, the Organization for Bat Conservation has several models for sale.
Once you have your bat box, this guide provides plans for ways to set up that box on a stand-alone post.
Another option for installing your bat box is to attach it to a building. This guide has instructions for how to do that.