Bat: Confused by porch light?

[milkweed]

to mlweed:

Thanks for your two references. One also lead me to www.batcon.org which is very good source of information.

I will read up on histoplasmosis (caused by fungus that can grow in bat and bird droppings in humid condition)

I already plan a roof rain water recovery system to flush toilets and water the garden. Now I am toying with the idea of built in hose that can flush out the guano from the bat chamber floors and direct it into the garden water system. Perhaps the bats will both eliminate the need to use insecticide in the garden and fertilize it from me with zero labor to distribute it.

One thing your reference made me understand is the bats would not want me to divide up the space into small rooms as the Martins do. Perhaps both ends of the small, low, edge-of-house, under-roof, concrete-floored, chamber will be for Martins and between the end bird houses one large bat house. (Birds hunt in daylight and bats at night - team work against insects and both produce fertilizer, transported by water to the garden.)

Sounds like a really cool place your building there!

Being as you are in Brazil, you might want to further your research into bat diseases. You may be able to design some type of housing that would exclude certain types of bat that may harbor more types of disease than others. You should also look into the possibility of transmission between bats and your avian species. It may be that for your purposes, the bat/bird combo may not be in your best interests.

This abstract names multiple diseases you might want to look into:
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cg....1086/511078&erFrom=-1336979019519122346Guest