Best bat boxes

Perhaps you're as surprised as I was to discover that bat boxes are, in fact, a thing. So rather than fighting against your local bat colony and driving them out of your attic or eaves, you should install the best bat boxes for your climate and colony size. Bats are a crucial part of our global ecosystem and can eat their weight in insects nightly. Luckily for us, they feast exceptionally well on a particularly stubborn pest—mosquitoes. An established bat colony also helps create a bug-free backyard, which is often impossible in heavily wooded areas.

If you're ready to give bat housing a go, our best overall bat house from BIGBATBOX is precisely that, a generously sized bat box. It can fit up to 75 roosting bats and is an excellent starting point for a first-time bat conservationist. Bat habitats are also built to exacting specifications; most have two chambers with grooved interiors for roosting and can fit up to 75 bats. Finally, depending on where you live, you'll need to choose the correct color for the box, which I'll discuss in greater depth below as it's the most important feature to consider. While even the best bat boxes aren't as fancy as Bruce Wayne's Batcave, they'll do the trick to keep your cauldron of Chiroptera neighbors close by and well-fed.

Mosquitoes, gnats, mites, and other bug infestations can ruin even the most verdant, beautiful backyards. Rather than turning to chemicals to exterminate such annoyances, you can try welcoming your local bat population to feast upon them instead. After lots of research, I found that BIGBATBOX's double-chamber cedar bat house would be a solid start for newbies and experienced conservationists alike.  I love that BIGBATBOX constructs their cedar bat habitats by thoroughly researching what attracts bats and makes them stay to build a colony. The most important thing to focus on when choosing and installing your bat box is its color, and BIGBATBOX offers black, brown, and light, unfinished boxes. Darker colors absorb heat and are best for cold climates; in the Northeast, winters are nasty enough to warrant the black colorway, so I chose to highlight it here. Placement is much easier; as a rule of thumb, you should hang your bat boxes no lower than 10-12 feet high on trees, poles, or the exterior of your home.

Rot and water damage are a genuine concern for any wooden structure, especially one that houses people or animals. Luckily, Kenley's naturally weatherproof cedar bat habitat is the solution to your worries. Snow and rain are kept out of the double-chamber interior, while its roughened platform grooved with shallow stripes allows bats to land safely every time. In addition, this habitat's dark brown stain is suitable for both cold and temperate zones, and a hanger hook is included. Kenley also based their design upon exhaustive research into the habits of roosting bats, so you can trust that this bat box is worth every penny. What they learned contributed to an incredible 80-percent chance of occupation—a far greater likelihood than most of its competition.

Many species of bats prefer Woodlink's Audubon-certified bat box: cave, Eastern pipistrelle, Mexican free-tailed, Pallas' mastiff, Rafinesque's big-eared, and Yuma bats, to name a few. This bat shelter, like many others, is made of cedar. It tends to have a strong scent and can deter bats from roosting; however, this bat box has a leg up on the competition. The cedar used is rough-cut and untreated, so any lingering odor will dissipate quickly in the open air. Its unfinished surfaces also make it easier for bats to land and cling to the grooved interior. A downside? Woodlink's boxes are on the small side, holding only 20 bats. This is less of an issue because they're sold singly or in multi-packs of up to four boxes. 

Providing enough space for nightly roosting is essential, but your bat box's internal warmth is also a critical factor. Bats tend to move between chambers because it allows them to create their microclimate—much like humans seeking shade in scorching, triple-digit temperatures. Thus, a significant upside of Whitehorse's bat box is its quadruple-chamber design. Whitehorse offers this bat habitat in black for cold environments, brown for temperate climates, and untreated cedar for warm-weather zones. If you reside in a zone with extreme heat, you can choose to paint the warm-weather box a light gray or even white to reflect excess heat. The downside is that these boxes are meant to mount on flat exterior surfaces only. You'll need to pick a different bat box if you're hoping to put it on a pole or nail it to a tree.

Bats have a long lifespan, usually around 30 years, when out in the wild. Baby bats, however, can fall from their roost much like avian hatchlings and never get a shot at a long life full of juicy bugs. So if you're soft-hearted like me and plan to thumb your nose at the cruelty of Mother Nature's mortality rates, Uncle Dunkel's bat pup safety net is an essential accessory for all bat boxes. It saves plummeting pups from untimely death and gives them a protected mesh ladder to climb back into the box's roosting chambers. You can buy this bat pup catcher with confidence; it even moonlights as a spot for adult bats to hang out and cool down on hot, humid evenings. 

One, two, three, doing the batty bat

There you have it—an introduction into the world of bat habitats. Exploring all of the best bat boxes on the market is crucial for any aspiring conservationist. Our staff pick from the eponymous BIGBATBOX is a worthy purchase. Three-chamber bat boxes were their first foray, but we thought the more understated two-chamber model would be a better starting point. It's fully assembled right out of the box and can be flat, pole, or tree-mounted. 

If your first bat box fills up and essentially has a "NO VACANCY" sign on it, then consider a 4-chamber bat box, like Whitehorse's for additional room. Not only is landing easier for incoming guests, but every box is triple-coated in weatherproof, non-toxic paint. This coating serves to boost the longevity of your bat box. In addition, it allows you to select the right color for your particular region. The trap door on the bottom is helpful as well and adds ventilation in warmer months.

You'll also want to keep in mind that wasps, among other swarming pests, may take up residence in your bat box. Bats have such a keen sense of smell that you'll want a non-toxic way to evict insectile interlopers without driving out the bat colony. Soapy water works well, and it's easier (and safer) to approach wasp nests at sunrise or sunset. Wasps are very territorial, so try hanging a fake nest nearby—chances are they'll make themselves at home there and not in your bat box.