Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-02-04 HandoutTeresa Bender From: Mark Remillard <mremillard@farmersagent.com> Sent: Monday, February 2, 2026 11:00 AM To: Athanasia Lewis; Teresa Bender Subject: Fw: City of Centerville ---bat houses See below Mark Remillard Farmers Insurance 7029 20th Ave Centerville, MN 55038-9737 651-762-7801 (Office) 612-227-3067 (Mobile) 651-764-7429 (Fax) mremillard it farmersagent.com hits*•//www.fannersa ent.com/mremillard 19- From: Mark Remillard <mrem ilia rd@farmersagent.com> Sent: Monday, February 2, 2026 10:56 AM To: Nguyen, Angela <ANguyen@lmc.org> Subject: Re: City of Centerville Great. Thank you! Mark Remillard Farmers Insurance 7029 20th Ave Centerville, MN 55038-9737 651-762-7801 (Office) 612-227-3067 (Mobile) 651-764-7429 (Fax) mremillard ez.fann sagent.com hurr vww_farmersa�ent.com/mremillard From: Nguyen, Angela <ANguyen@lmc.org> Sent: Monday, February 2, 2026 10:53 AM To: Mark Remillard <mremillard@farmersagent.com> Subject: RE: City of Centerville Good morning, Mark, Thank you for confirming. I don't see any liability issues, however, LMCTI would not provide property coverage for the bat houses. I reached out to the city's loss control consultant and below was his response. The biggest risk exposure / could see here is ladder safety. The initial set up and maintenance to the houses if they are higher off the ground and they need a ladder to access them they should follow basic ladder safety. • Use a two -person system • Use poles or other equipment to assist with cleaning or inspecting of the house (again assuming it is out of arms reach) Another safety thought would be biological. Use PPE while cleaning the houses. Avoid direct contact with bats or guano. The city should consider what to do if an animal is found (let's say the animal is sick or has passed). Then finally determining upkeep and follow up maintenance of the houses. We want to avoid any broken materials laying around that could cause injury to staff or the general public. / have included a good resource for standards and information for bat houses below. https✓/www.batcon.oWabout-bats/bat-house guidelines/ I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any additional information and/or have questions. Thanks, Angela Nguyen J Underwriter Phone: (651) 2154005 anguuven _ Imc.org League of Minnesota Cities 1 145 University Ave. West I St. Paul, MN 55103 www.lmc.ora I Facebook I Twitter I Podcast DONATE N)) Donate Q Renew Shop Select Language Bat Houses Photo by Mylea Bayless Getting the Hang of Bat Houses While vast areas of intact nature make the best homes for bats, loss of natural habitat threatens bats in many parts of the world, and strategies to support bats with additional foraging and roosting opportunities can be helpful. Gardening for bat: is one of the best ways to support bat species by planting native vegetation that creates roosting habitat and gives diverse insects a place to grow into the perfect meal for insectivorous bats. Bat houses are complicated to get right. They can go unused for years, attract pests, and even harm bats when installed incorrectly, however, thoughtful construction and placement can increase their chances of being occupied, allowing you to observe bats and grow your understanding of these fascinating animals and the resources they need to survive. THE BEST WAY TO HELP BATS FIND HOMES IS PRESERVING AND RESTORING NATURAL HABITAT What to expect Patience Keep in mind that bats may never move into your bat house! We love them for knowing their own very particular needs and wants. Don't hold it against bats if your bat house remains vacant! We have seen successful houses take as many as five years before being occupied. Individual bats or small groups may also use bat houses temporarily (for a night or two), so it may be hard to pinpoint if bats have been using the house. Maintenance Bats' fidelity to a roosting site is incredibly high. If bats do move into a bat house you put up, you'll need to monitor and safeguard the conditions of this house over the course of its occupancy. Be alert for possible predation and be ready to respond to any threats that arise. You should be prepared to seal cracks and remember that any upkeep should happen when the house is unoccupied —never disturb the bat house while it is occupied. Regularly check for damage or pest infestations (e.g., wasp nests). Do this during the winter, after bats have left. You can re -stain exteriors, re -seal seams, and remove debris such as wasp nests if needed. Install your bat house where and how it will be accessible for maintenance. Guano Don't place bat houses above your BBQ. Bats will drop guano from bat houses, and while small piles of guano on the ground won't hurt you, guano or any wildlife waste landing in your food is not safe or delicious. We recommend placing bat houses over your bat garden. Awe If bats do move into a bat house you place, you can catch glimpses of their nocturnal schedule, their flight antics, and their social nature, building your appreciation and respect for their incredible biology with firsthand observation. But if they take a long time to move in, remember that even if you don't have a bat house, simply stepping outside at dusk and looking up into the night sky might reward you with the sight of bats darting through the air in search of insects. It's important to keep bats healthy and safe when you offer them bat housing. Providing a bat house that meets their needs can support bats, but if you lure them into an unsafe situation, the bat house can end up being harmful. Instead, follow these guidelines. Six Safety principles Mark & Selena Kiser 1. Prevent bat houses from overheating To prevent potential overheating, consider using additional venting, thermally stable (high -density) materials, and shade structures (e.g., sunshades, awnings, or reflective covers). If overheating occurs, bats can avoid harm by moving to a cooler roost. One way to help bats do this is to connect sunny and shaded bat houses with an enclosed compartment where bats can crawl from one to the other (e.g., between back-to-back houses on a pole). Jonathan Alonzo 2. Protect bat houses from predation I Placing a bat house away from trees or hanging branches can keep predators like owls or raccoons from reaching bats. Usually, placing a house on a pole or the side of a house is the best way to ensure this protection. Predatory snakes can be an exception to the "poles are safe" rule, as snakes have been reported to climb up poles in some environments. We take tips from bird house guidelines that suggest using a baffle to reduce the chances of snakes climbing bat house poles. Erin Cord 3. Don't use herbicides or pesticides Don't use herbicides or pesticides in your yard if you are attracting bats. If you spray these products in your yard, they could make it harder for bats to find insects to eat. Also, they will coat the insects that bats eat and the chemicals will end up in the bats' bodies. Damian White 4. Protect bats from domestic cats We love your cats. But attracting bats to your yard with a bat house is not a good match if you have outdoor cats. They love the bats, too. Cats are smart and they can learn where the bats will exit and enter the bat houses. Bats have to drop from the house to begin flight, and as they get close to the ground, the cats can strike. If cats do live nearby a potential bat house site, be sure to place your bat house even higher than recommended so that when bats drop to begin flight, they are still far above ground level. 7ennifer Barros 5. Wait for bats to find your bat house on their own DO NOT try to catch bats to put into your bat house. This practice will not convince bats to stay there and will endanger them from injury or stress in the process, Also, using lures such as guano, scents, or sounds does not work to attract bats to the house. MGambaRios 6. Give the bats space and observe from a distance Don't install flip -top boxes that you can open — nobody should disturb the houses once they are installed. If bats are inside, you could scare them. Also, remind people that it is never safe to touch bats or other wildlife they find on the ground, and if you have pets that may ignore this rule, make sure they are vaccinated. Bat House Designs The best bat house design depends on where you are located. The best bat house design for you depends on your climate and your environment. In temperate climates of work well and have been thoroughly studied. Tall boxes with at least four chambers can also work well. High temperatures and lots of sun can make overheating a serious problem, so in hot climates, modifications such as painting boxes a light color to reflect sunlight and providing shade structures are especially important (Arizona BaE ). You can find a lot more information on bat house recommendations here: Fioiroyd et al. 2_&2 To learn about regional variation in bat house design, check out the map below. Key factors in bat house designs: Wherever you are, key factors to consider as you choose your design include: materials, insulation, size of house, number of chambers, size of roosting spaces, color, number of boxes placed, where boxes are mounted, and what they are mounted on. We give detailed information about each factor in our list of building tips, below. These two bat house designs can help you follow bat house best practices. • four -chamber bat ho11,:r: • rocket box bat house We no longer certify purchased bat houses, but you should also follow our guidelines if you are buying a pre -made bat house or a kit, BAT HOUSE BUILDING TIPS: Best Practices • Materials Natural materials like wood are best because they have stable thermal properties and are easy for bats to grip. The wood should have no chemical finish on it (i.e., untreated wood), and you can buy rough -sawn wood or scratch it up to roughen the roosting surfaces and provide footholds for bats. Bening or me onto surfaces —bats, especially young bats, can become trapped in these materials. Bats will not use houses made of materials such as metal or smooth plastic where they cannot grip with their claws. If painting the exterior (see Color), use exterior -grade, water - based paint or stain. Do not paint the interior. • Insulation Temperature stability is important for artificial bat houses, as the natural tree cavity roosts they attempt to mimic are often very stable. Wide temperature extremes can reduce the chances bats will occupy a bat house; too cool and bats may not use it, and too hot can be lethal. Sealing all of the seams with caulk will prevent drafts and help maintain temperature stability, while adding vents on the lower third of the bat house, especially in warmer climates, can help reduce the chance of overheating. • Size of House Recommendations on bat house height have increased in recent years. Bigger bat houses, and in particular taller bat houses, can have differences in internal temperatures in different areas of the bat house. This provides a wider range of microclimates so that bats move around in the bat house to find their preferred temperatures while external temperatures change during the course of the day or night, and through seasonal change. multi -chambered houses have been shown to have the greatest occupancy rates. • Number of Chambers Recommendations now favor four over two chamber houses. Having more chambers and larger houses provides more stability in temperature over time, and more microclimates for bats to choose from as temperatures shift daily and seasonally. • Size of Roosting Space Because the bats that use bat houses are species that typically roost in dead or partially dead tree crevices and cavities, or under loose bark, the roosting space in bat houses (i.e., baffles, space between roosting chambers, etc.) should mimic nature by not exceeding 1 inch. This amount of space should also make bats feel more secure because it won't allow large predators such as raccoons or owls to enter the house. • Color The color of a bat house can influence its temperature, but actually the color doesn't matter as much as the shade of the color, or how much white is in it. It is this shading that determines how much sunlight is absorbed vs reflected from a bat house. By painting a bat house a lighter shade, more light is reflected, helping a bat house avoid overheating. By painting a bat house a darker shade, more light is absorbed, helping a bat house in cold climates stay heated. The optimal shade of paint for your bat house depends on your climate, and a variety of range maps recommending color shading are available online. Generally, a light shade is important in hot climates, and avoiding dark shades can be important if even a short period of time gets hot in the summer. • Number of Houses Placed Installing at least two bat houses near each other can provide a range of microclimate options: one to reach warm temperatures (e.g., facing south, east, or west; or painted a darker color); one to maintain lower temperatures (e.g., shaded in the afternoon, or painted a lighter color). Houses should be placed '100 m or less apart; if possible, to enable bats to easily switch roosts as needed. • Placement/Where Bat Houses Are Mounted This factor covers several important design elements: height, sunlight, and clutter. Bat houses should be placed high enough that there is at least 12 ft or m of open space under the exits, so that bats can drop from the house and take flight while secure from predation. Higher is better. Determining where a bat house will get sunlight vs shade is also critical, especially in warm southern climates, where it's important to place bat houses on east -facing walls where they will get morning rather than afternoon sun. Placing bat houses under roof eaves can also shade them from sunlight (shade can also be provided by adding sunshades, awnings, or reflective covers). Bat's prefer locations with early morning sun and at least 7 hours of solar exposure. Also, bat houses should be placed in areas that don't give predators easy access to the house, so in places with no branches extending to the house or other pathways or perches for predators. In some climates, nearby branches can shade a bat house too much, keeping it too cool for the bats. • How Bat Houses Are Mounted Mounting your bat houses on poles is better than mounting them on trees, and mounting bat houses on human houses is even better than mounting them on poles. Trees can block bats' entry and exit with branches and clutter, and they can give predators, like owls, easy access to the bat house. Poles solve these problems, but houses on poles are not as well insulated as houses built against the wall of a human home. Placing two houses back-to-back on either side of a pole can help with insulation and allow bats the option of moving between more microclimates. If placing a bat house on the side of a building, a wooden, stone, or brick building is preferred, as these are thermally stable and will act as "heat sinks", holding the heat from the daytime and reradiating it at night, keeping the bats warmer than the cooler nighttime air. Bats will rarely use a bat house placed on the side of a metal building. An In -Depth Guide with FAA's AEI About Bat Houses Bat Houses Around the World Remember, habitat protection and restoration, as well as gardening for bats, are the best tools for safeguarding bats all over the world. In many parts of the globe, bats depend on trees and other plants not only for roosting, but also for the fruit and nectar they eat, as well as for supporting insect prey, so both gardening and reforestation are always excellent ways to help bats! But people from all regions have built bat houses designed for local bats. Regional variation in bat house design reflects the diverse needs of the world's more than 1500 distinct species of bats, as well as differences in environmental conditions and traditional practices. Click on the map to read about how bat houses are used around the globe. Regional Bat Houses 0 Map View ' E=List View Costa Rican Bat Houses In Costa Rica, scientists have explored how to use bat houses that mimic local tree cavity roosts to attract frugivorous bats to carry seeds i Oto 's rbi habit that need help regenerating. These bat houses were made of concrete mixed with sawdust, and they were placed in shade. Bat houses were successful at attracting 10 species of bats that brought 69 types of seeds with them. Australian Bat Houses In Australia, many arboreal mammals, birds, and reptiles use tree hollows for nesting, so as large trees are lost to deforestation and fires, species that depend on tree hollows face increasing competition. Several insectivorous bat species have been documented using nest boxes a hertail gliders as bat houses, and "e been occupied by arboreal mammals as well. While bat boxes placed in degraded habitat may be used by some bats, rot all species make use of artificial roosts and bat house installation cannot make up for the loss of intact habitat. African Bat Houses In Africa, scientists are interested in how agricultural productivity by decreasing insect damage to crops. For example, researchers have installed bat houses at cocoa plantations in in an attempt to attract more bats to the plantations. Another team of researchers assessed what factors make bat houses more successful at macadamia orchards in Chinese Bat Houses In China, scientists assessed whether bat boxes can be used as part of a successful', `r'"h?G�IL4�jggy, to move insectivorous bat colonies from human residences where they are unwanted and in danger, to a more suitable location within the urban environment. They found that translocated bats used the bat house for a temporary period after translocation. European Bat Houses In Europe, temperate conditions can be similar to those of North America, and similar bat house practices are used, but some notable design differences are also available. For example, in some cases boxes are integrated with building construction, placed inside the walls on purpose to maintain temperature stability. And in some locations, large open bath uses are modified from abandoned human structure , to provide a more cavernous roost. Learn More about bats Bat news, blogs, conservation updates, and more. Email Address First Name -a' Last Name Subscribe OO Bat Conservation International 2026. All rights reserved. indicates required