first experience with bats

I occasionally see bats flying around the farmyard at night, not often.
This week while getting a grain straight truck out of the shed for service, I opened the slide gate and looked in.
I had 2 brown bats, dead on the floor. They somehow got into the box, past the rolled shut tarp, and couldn't get out.
I have never seen a bat close up. Did some internet reading and saw that they can get through a 1/4" gap.

I always knew they were around, but had never been able to examine one.
Anyway, I found them fascinating, probably because they are not a nuisance.

Now I want to put up a bat shelter.
Anything that can kill up to 1200 mosquitoes per hour is welcome on my place.

Go for it, there's plenty of plans on the net, Google it.

If you get a hundred bats to live in your bathouse, you're going to need to start raising mosquitoes.

Bat houses make for great yard art and a conversation piece, but most will never see a bat inside of them. Don't waste your time or money on it.

Just to do a quick correction, it should be mosquito sized insects per hour. For most bats, mosquitoes are less than 2% of their diet.

Eric, I never thought about it until now. If you're a bat, you are not going to gain any weight from mosquito thighs, breasts, or

drumsticks and that long, skinny, proboscis could get stuck in your throat. The only time there's any good eating on a mosquito is

right after they've eaten; and that's got to taste like a bloody mary.