BAT NEST

Bats will travel for km's for finding food, especially fruit bats.

Buildings and concrete have forced the bats to move out of the cities. This small creature has a lot to offer and we should help it in anyway we can.

This is an instructable for building a simple nest for the bats i have flying round my house. I believe its a good idea to keep them around. They help a lot in controlling the number of small insects, especially mosquitoes.

The aim is to built a small, cheap, light-proof box. (is light-proof a word?)
The idea is for the bat to be able to grab on the mesh wire and walk / climb her way up inside the nest.

No special tooling needed. A sharp hand saw, and a screwdriver or hummer will do the job but any other electric tools are welcome :)

I used a miter saw, a band saw, a drill and a nail gun.

The material to be used is wood and fine mesh wire. No glue and no paint/varnish is needed. For my prototype, i will use scrap osb wood. It is light, weather proof and free. The osb was part of an old dog-house from a neighbor.
The mesh wire is taken from an old cooker hood.

For the final product, i will use 8mm marine plywood.

Measure twice, cut once. These are the parts dimensions and the parts transferred on the osb. Make sure you do straight cuts. Upon assembly, the light must be kept out, so a firm straight joint is necessary. The piece i had was 52x63cm, which was more than enough.

These are the parts cut. The saw dust aids in visual drama :)

Time to put the pieces together. Can be either screwed or nailed. Either way, keep it simple.I used nails for this attempt.

First nail the two sides and in between nail the mesh wire. Then the front, the roof and the bottom lid. Finally, the long piece behind it for hanging/fastening.

This is the finished prototype.

This is the final design. I used 8mm marine plywood and tried to give some optical beauty to the nest. Hope to be more attractive to the bats :)

I miter cut the pieces for a better fit, used hinges for the bottom lid (helps the observation) and fastened the mesh wire on three wood rails. This way, there is a space between the wire and the rear flat. Also, a series of small holes on the front help the air circulation.

Hope you liked it and more important, i hope you built one outside your house. Bats need a good home :)