Welcome to the Akron Zoo Green Team Website

2010 is the Year of The Bat!  Bats are currently facing a variety of hardships, including habitat loss.  To help to make the Year of the Bat successful, the Akron Zoo Green Team wants to help you “Give Bats a Hand”.

In order to help these amazing flying mammals, the Green Team would like to encourage everyone to hang bat houses in their yards to provide summer roosting for bats.  Not only will you be providing threatened species with homes, you will be helping yourself – bats can eat up to 10 insects a minute!

Bat houses can be ordered many places online for various prices and in various styles, but you can click here to find directions to build your own!

Once you have built (or bought) your bat house, it is time to hang it.  If you follow these simple rules created by Bat Conservation and Management, you should be seeing bats in no time.

• Make sure to place your bat house in a sunny location.  Bats need to stay warm during the day and the houses need about 7 hours of sun to heat up enough.
• When you mount your bat house, try to use a pole or the side of your house and place it about 10 feet up.  Trees can cause the bat house to not get enough light or allow predators to climb into the tree and scare off the bats.
• If your bat house is placed on a structure, do not place directly under the eves. This may be too shaded.
• Bats prefer to be within 1 mile of permanent water. Dry, arid locations are less desirable, though bats will drink from swimming pools.
• Avoid placing your house over bright surfaces which reflect light into box. Also, avoid houses located near burn barrels or air vents where smoke or strong wind will disturb bats. Beware of air conditioner units which may not be active when installation occurs.
• Make sure to protect your bat house from vandalism.   Shaking the bat house to watch them fly out during the daytime will cause your bats to leave their roost permanently.
• Avoid placing directly along roads, where bats are vulnerable to automobile traffic during their dawn return.
• Make sure to do yearly maintenance on your bat house. Bat houses do require minor wasp and seam inspection; otherwise, bats will begin to abandon the box. Be alert for hornet invasions as well; bats will immediately abandon a house until the aggressive insects are removed.

Little Brown Bat courtesy of ODNR

Mission Statement of the Green Team:  To research, establish, and implement effective green programs to REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE institutional waste.