A Natural Solution for Backyard Pests
BatBnB is the fastest selling bat house in the market with appearances on Entrepreneur Magazine's Elevator Pitch web series as well as CBS's Emmy Award winning tv show Henry Ford's Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca. To date we've shipped over 500 BatBnB units to 48 states and 7 countries. We've been developing BatBnB for over a year now in concert with several of the world's most acclaimed bat experts, and are working with a high quality American-based manufacturer who only uses sustainable harvested Western Red Cedar. Consider buying a BatBnB today so you can keep your family safer from harmful pests, offer bats a comfortable and stylish home to raise their pups, and educate friends and family on this valuable animal.
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Benefits of your BatBnB.
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"I'm seriously impressed! BatBnB has combined the best of sculptural and ecological design to produce a truly beautiful product range that allows people to do their part to support threatened bat populations. Production like BatBnB are a step in the right direction for balancing our needs with those of the species we live alongside."
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BatBnB is important not only for pest control but also to help dispel misconceptions about bats. Bats are not as scary as popular media leads you to believe. There are literally hundreds of thousands of bats living in bat houses across North America, and there isn't a single record of a bat house owner being harmed by a bat. BatBnB is a valuable tool to educate kids about valuable animals in the ecosystem and to spark conversations with friends and family about local wildlife.
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Featured In
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Choose your design.
Every BatBnB is made from sustainably sourced, rot-resistant cedar and has a water based finish to further protect it in the outdoors.
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(Mammoth temporarily discontinued, but will be brought back later in the summer)
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How it Works.
Each unit can be placed on a wall, shed, barn or pole in your yard. When local bats emerge from hibernation, they'll find your BatBnB and gladly call it home.
The chambers are nice and tight for the bats to huddle comfortably. The interior surfaces offer gripping grooves for climbing and hanging while a chamber passage allows the inhabitants to move from chamber to chamber inside. Ventilation openings on both sides of the unit offer cooling airflow in the lower half of the chamber, while the upper half retains its heat offering a level of climate control to the bats living inside.
All our product specifications are based on decades of scientific research into the most successful bat houses, as well as cutting edge input from bat researchers and experts in the field.
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We're better than the competition.
The vast majority of bat houses on the market suffer from one or both of the following problems:
1. They are not designed properly for the animal. The houses are too small, lack adequate ventilation shafts, and they don’t have large enough landing pads or adequate grip inside the chambers. These houses are not expert recommended.
2. They aren’t aesthetically pleasing. Most models on the market (especially the cheap ones) are unappealing and won’t add any style to your yard. You’ll most likely tuck it away as opposed to showing it off as a design piece that accents your home.
BatBnB houses are recommended by the experts. BatBnB has product endorsements from two of the world’s leading authorities on bats. Rob Mies, former Executive Director of the Organization for Bat Conservation, who is sort of like the Beyoncé of the bat world, with appearances on Conan and Ellen, as well as Merlin Tuttle, the founder of Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation. Think of Tuttle as the Indiana Jones of the bat community. We are one of only two bat house designs that he has personally endorsed over his 50 year career. That’s some credibility.
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"Seeing well intended people disappointed by cheap, "imitation" bat houses troubles me greatly. It gives good conservation a bad name. The BatBnB line of houses is the first to be developed for mass sale that meets all my personal criteria. I have been involved in the design and construction of these houses from the beginning and am happy to endorse them as unsurpassed in meeting bat needs, resisting deterioration, and still looking great."
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Oh, and did we mention that we'll be setting up a BatBnB for Adrien Grenier's mom? Not only is Adrian an acclaimed actor and social activist, but also a United Nations Environment Goodwill Ambassador who has taken an interest in our product and the bat conservation movement.
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"One of my favorite words as a conservationist is symbiosis. It's the symbiotic way in which humans and plants and animals can live together in mutual benefit. So when bats got on my radar... or my sonar... oh, my echolocation, I got really excited because you know what, bats eat mosquitoes and where my mom lives in Long Island, there's a big mosquito problem, so I'm gonna get one of these bat houses, for some bats so they come live with us and help us reduce our mosquitoes."
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BatBnB is a top-tier product that’s incomparable. Our bat houses are beautifully designed and thoughtfully engineered allowing humans and bats to live side by side with style and ease.
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The perfect addition to your home and garden.
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During the day, the bats sleep leaving it up to the the beautiful bees and butterflies to pollinate. At night, the bats leave their house and begin their mosquito and pest hunting adventures. Consider placing your bat house above a garden bed so that the guano, which has an extraordinarily high concentration of nutrients, can help grow some of the prettiest flowers in your garden.
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Save the Bats.
Bat populations are being decimated worldwide. The primary threats include a deadly fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome (not harmful to humans) and wind turbines which cause bleeding in their lungs. Add deforestation and habitat loss to the equation, and it's clear that bats are in need of serious help.
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"At a time with wildlife is under incredible strain, products like BatBnB are so crucial because they offer consumers an avenue to actively participate in conservation, while also educating people about the benefits of amazing bats."
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According to Merlin Tuttle, although there are many causes of bat decline, loss of roosting places has often been the most serious. There are well-documented cases in which needlessly fearful humans have burned, dynamited, or bulldozed shut caves containing hundreds of thousands to millions of bats. Just the commercialization of the now famous Mammoth Cave in Kentucky led to the death of millions of bats, which is another reason we named our larger BatBnB the Mammoth Model, to serve as a reminder. Also, we've cleared most of America's old-growth forests, depriving countless millions of bats of roosts in tree hollows. However, most modern buildings are bat-proof, and grossly exaggerated speculation, attempting to associate bats with scary, but rare diseases, has greatly diminished human tolerance of bats that attempt to live in attics, outer wall crevices, or behind shutters. Such speculated claims come from those who profit greatly from human fear. In reality, bats have one of our planet's finest records of living safely with people. By putting up a bat house, you can help educate your neighbors.
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Product Specs.
We didn't just wing it. With our team's architectural expertise we spent countless hours perfecting the design to make it a perfect home for the animal.
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Register your BatBnB.
Backers will be able to take an even more active role in the conservation process by easily logging their BatBnB with our partner, the Organization for Bat Conservation, to help researchers track population and occupancy trends.
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Our Advisors
Several professionals well-known in their fields have taken us under their wing. Rob and Merlin offer us industry validation and bat-related expertise, Nina is supporting us with building our network within the conservation world, Saadi with his experience taking Flow Hive through a $13M+ crowdfunding campaign is our marketing and fulfillment guru, and finally Drura is our guiding light when it comes negotiating with manufacturers.
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Meet the Team.
Christopher grew up building bat houses with his dad, while Harrison learned about them from his mother, a middle school science teacher. Christopher went on to study Commerce at the University of Virginia and spent several years working at start-ups in Silicon Valley before moving to Kentucky. Harrison graduated from University of Kentucky's College of Design with a degree in Architecture and has been working in design and fabrication ever since. The team is now applying their professional skills to help educate people about bats, and in turn offer an incredible form of pest control.
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FAQs
What are the dimensions of each of the available models?
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All dimensions listed above are subject to change. We will work to keep the product you receive as close to these dimensions as possible and if we make any changes we will be sure to let our backers know. If we do make any alterations they will be small and not to the detriment of any of the requirements that make your BatBnB a great home for bats.
When will I receive my BatBnB?
BatBnBs are available for immediate shipping! It should arrive within two weeks of placing your order. If you want to track your order, email harrison@batbnb.com any time for updates.
What’s the ideal placement for a BatBnB Unit?
BatBnBs should ideally be placed 15-20 feet from the ground on a wall, shed, barn, or post that receives 6-7+ hours of direct sunlight each day. Keep them away from areas with heavy foot traffic, and make sure the guano can fall into a garden bed where it won't disturb you or anyone in your family -- the garden bed will love the natural fertilizer! While trees can sometimes be a viable option, they should always be a last resort as they often house predators and can obstruct necessary sunlight. Avoid trees if you can.
How soon will bats settle into my BatBnB?
As soon as winter is over, bats are out and about looking for a place to live and raise their families. With the decades of research-backed bat house improvements that every BatBnB has built in, and as long as all of the proper placement tips are followed accurately, Merlin Tuttle estimates BatBnBs to achieve close to a 90% success rate in occupancy. Research has shown that sometimes a new bat house can be inhabited as soon as 24 hours after installation, and other times it can take a few seasons for the bats to find their way there. The best part is that once your friendly neighborhood bug-catchers have moved in, they are very likely to return year after year. If you have met all of the requirements for ideal placement and your BatBnB has still not been occupied after three seasons, try moving the unit to another location. Bats are wild animals who will do as they please, so we cannot guarantee that your unit will become occupied, but with the level of research, quality and effort put towards our designs, you won’t find a bat house on the market with better odds of occupancy than ours.
How is BatBnB aiding bat conservation efforts?
Although there are many causes of bat decline, loss of roosting places has been the most serious. BatBnBs are providing safe and comfortable housing for our bat population while serving as a conversation starter to help you educate your neighbors about the vital importance of bats in the ecosystem. Every bat lost means more toxic pesticides in our food and water. By providing shelter for homeless bats, we can improve the future for all. Additionally, a portion of BatBnB’s proceeds will be donated to various bat conservation organizations.
Will bats reduce the number of insects in my yard?
The impact your BatBnB’s residents will have on the insect population is dependant on how many of them move in, and the prey preferences of their species. Luckily, since bats are hunting at night, they are not preying on butterflies or honey bees. Small Myotis bats are frequent users of bat houses, and research has shown that a single bat is capable of catching up to 1,000 mosquitoes per hour. In Indiana, a colony of 150 big brown bats (about how many bats could live in a medium-sized bat house) was shown to consume enough cucumber beetles to prevent them from laying up to 33 million eggs in a single summer. Free-tailed bats tend to prefer moths, and just one of them can catch enough corn earworm or armyworm moths in one night to prevent the laying of up to 20,000 or more eggs on a wide variety of crops and yard plants. Bats are a gardener’s secret weapon!
How do I attract bats to my property?
Bats live almost anywhere where the climate is moderate and insects are available. The key to attracting them to your BatBnB is the placement. Direct sunlight is the most important aspect, and each unit needs at least 6+ hours each day. Place your BatBNB on the side of a house, barn, or shed between 15-20 feet from the ground. Having a natural water source (pond, stream, brook, etc.) within a mile of your property is ideal, though not a necessity. Small things like water features and night-blooming flowers can also help attract bats.
Are bats safe to have in my yard?
Yes! Today, there are hundreds of thousands of bats living in American bat houses, and there isn’t a single record of a bat house owner having been harmed by a bat. Millions of tourists have viewed 1.5 million bats close-up in Austin, Texas over the past 35 years, and no one has been attacked or contracted a disease from a bat. Bats have a long-standing history of misrepresentation in popular culture. They are portrayed as blood-sucking vampires and serve as spooky mascots of Halloween. In reality, bats are friendly forest critters that just want to be left alone to eat insects. They are incredibly clean since they groom themselves like cats, and despite popular belief, they are not nesters and have no interest in flying into your hair. It’s important to treat bats with respect, as we do all wildlife. They should never be handled or treated as pets, and in no scenario should a bat ever be approached. If a bat ever does seem injured on the ground or near your house, call an animal control specialist to help you manage the situation. If you ever want to move your BatBnB unit, wait until winter when the bats have moved on to hibernation and have safely vacated the premises.
Will bats ever fly into my house?
It’s important to treat your new bat friends just like you would any wildlife critters or birds in your yard. Never try to touch or handle the animals. On the very rare occasion that a bat would find its way into your home, call your local animal control, and do not try and handle the bat yourself. In the extremely unlikely event that you are bitten or scratched by a bat, go immediately to the hospital. While the odds are extremely small that the bat was carrying rabies, it is always best to take precautionary action.
Are there commercial uses for BatBnB?
Absolutely! Agricultural research reports often highlight bat populations as an important component of natural pest control for farmers. In fact, bats save the US agricultural industry over $20 Bn in crop damage each year. We will be offering special bulk discounts for farmers and other businesses--such as golf courses, city centers,state parks, hotels, and even local municipalities--that would like to deploy multiple BatBnB units around their property. If you are interested in a bulk order of BatBnBs, email us at christopher@batbnb.com.
What if I already have bats in my attic?
That's actually great! Several leading animal control professionals advertise that once bats are excluded from an attic, they'll try to find a new home nearby in your shed, barn, or even at a neighbor’s house. They recommend putting up a bat house or two further back in your yard to offer the bats an option to quickly relocate without disrupting their summer breeding. This keeps the bats safe and stops them from going back into your attic. Sounds like a win/win in our book.
Can I paint my BatBnB?
Yes, you can. In fact, experts have shown that painting a bat house can increase occupancy rates by as much as 50%. Bat houses in warmer areas, such as the southern United States, may benefit from light colored paint, while colder areas, such as the northern U. S. and Canada, may benefit from a darker color to help absorb more warmth from the sun.
What do you use for materials?
We are using kiln dried Western Red Cedar and stainless steel screws. We are only using water based finishes and outdoor grade paints, both of which actually increase occupation rates.
Why are bats so important?
Bats are critical. They keep the vast numbers of pests and insects under control, pollinate flowers, and carry seeds for important plants. Bats also safeguard our health by reducing demands for toxic pesticides—one of our planet’s most serious, but too often ignored, health threats.
What if bugs move into my BatBnB?
If unwanted bugs start to make nests in your BatBnB, avoid the use of insect killing pesticides, the residue from a poison will be a deterrent for bats wishing to take up residence. Instead, utilize a stick or some other natural means of removing the unwanted guests.
Why use Cedar?
The greatest reason for utilizing Western Red Cedar is its natural ability to resist rotting when coming into contact with moisture. Because of its thermal properties, it also retains heat very well, keeping the inhabitants warm. It’s also an absolutely beautiful wood. We may explore Northern White Cedar as an alternative option because it is even heartier, and it looks beautiful.
Can I leave a BatBnB out during the Winter?
Yes! Once you put your BatBnB up in a good location, you shouldn’t have to move it again.
How do I account for guano droppings from the unit?
Guano is actually a great fertilizer. Place your BatBnB unit above a garden bed and you’ll have some amazing flowers spring up! Avoid touching or breathing in any guano personally, just as you would normally avoid any wild animal droppings. If you want to know exactly when your BatBnB becomes occupied, you can install a simple wood board 5-10 feet under your BatBnB and watch for when you see guano accumulating.
Can I order my BatBnB in a different color?
In order to keep manufacturing costs low, we will not be providing pre-painted BatBnBs. We will, however, include an informational guide with your order that gives recommendations on what colors to use when painting your BatBnB based on your location. Warmer locations can warrant lighter colors, while darker locations you may choose to paint your BatBnB a dark shade of paint.
What sort of maintenance does my BatBnB unit require?
Your BatBnB will require relatively little upkeep. The water-based finish will eventually wear down after several years meaning you can embrace the weathering, or chose to refinish it yourself. The bats will not mind, so it’s totally up to your aesthetic preference. With the ¾ inch chamber openings, wasps taking up residence is rare, but it can happen. We recommend cleaning out any wasp nests in the winter to provide a clean and healthy environment for the bats during their next stay. Most guano on the landing pads will wash away with rain, but if it does start accumulating over a season, consider putting on a facemask during the winter and giving the landing pads a quick scrub when the bats are hibernating.
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