Considering a bigger bat house? Or perhaps needing a structure for long term mitigation at your development site? This collection of bat artificial roosts are ideal for large colony or mitigation situations. For any mitigation, we suggest only the super duty exterior type bat houses such as the
Super Rocket Roost, ColonyCondo, ColonyCabin, or
ColonyLodge.
If capacity is important, the
Super Duplex, Modular Condo 2x2 or
Modular Condo 3x3 is a relatively inexpensive way to provide a large bat roost, with many important advantages over a larger single custom structure. Bat house installations on public property should be carefully planned and located. Watchable wildlife is popular, but not without risk, no matter the species being featured. Consider delineating public bat roosts with fencing and/or signage that both educates and cautions with “look but don’t touch” information. Encourage responsible interactions with wildlife in all messaging. The result will be years of mutually beneficial interactions.
The Duplex
The easiest way to start adding roost space for your budding bat colony is to simply install a second bat house on the opposite side of the post from the first (usually southeasterly facing) bat house. In fact, a study by Merlin Tuttle and Bat Conservation International showed back-to-back bat houses were occupied faster than single bat houses. One factor is that this configuration provides more microclimate options than a single southeast facing bat house on a post. Just purchase a second bat house with wood post mount kit and install for an instant upgrade.
The Super Duplex
Merlin Tuttle bugged BCM's founder John Chenger to take advantage of the "empty space" between the back-to-back Duplex configuration. John added a roost cluster that fits between the back-to-back bat houses, and went a step further by adding a second 4''x6'' post for long term redundancy and strength against high winds, and the result is the Super Duplex. We use our largest single bat house, the ColonyCondo, as the basic building block; the Super Duplex with the center cluster is like three ColonyCondos in one structure, capable of housing ~650 bats. Bats can move between the ColonyCondos and the center roost anytime. Super Duplexes are still just manageable enough that ~4 people can stand it up so that it slides into the foundation holes, and installation is available in certain regions.
The Modular Bat Condo 2x2
Expanding out the Super Duplex concept is the 2x2 Modular Condo. Twin 4''x6'' posts support two ColonyCondos on the front, two on the back, and a large, wide roost cluster built to fit in the center of it all. Our observations clearly support that small colonies of bats occupy small bat houses first, and so the modular design of this roost allows compartments to heat differently. This structure may house ~1200+ bats, which is a good target for "watchable wildlife", as Merlin and John agree there will still be bats emerging from this structure even after it's too dark to see.
The Modular Bat Condo 3x3
Finally for those overachievers, there we offer the 3x3 Modular Condo, which is the largest single bat structure we will build. The posts are 6''x6'' and the center roost cluster is even larger. We stop at 3 ColonyCondos wide to prevent a large wind load. This structure may house ~2,000+ bats, which is all we really want in a single location. If more capacity is needed, build another Modular Condo nearby. Several smaller structures protects against catastrophic failure, vandalism, and predators. Similar to the advice of "don't put all your eggs in one basket", don't put all your bats in one super structure. Modular Condos are somewhat of a special order, and delivery+installation are available in certain areas.
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