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Step 1
Select a location. The best place to build a bat cave is somewhere that gets a lot of natural sunshine, is relatively quiet and has enough room to accommodate the cave. The ideal bat cave should be erected near a water source, such as a bird bath, pond or ditch. Bats don't like living in trees. They prefer that their bat cave is mounted on the side of a building or a very sturdy pole. You will have to mount the bat cave approximately 15 feet off the ground.
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Step 2
Print a copy of your bat cave blueprints. Blueprints for several different kinds of bat caves can be downloaded at Woodworkers Workshop free. After printing the blueprints you should tack them to a wall where they will be easy to see while you are working.
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Step 3
Place your plywood on a flat surface. Use a pencil and mark the places that you need to cut. Make sure you double check each mark against your blueprints.
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Step 4
Use your table saw to cut your plywood. Make sure you are wearing your safety goggles. Most people find that cutting the plywood is easiest if the wood is tightly clamped to the table where you will be cutting.
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Step 5
Roughen the wood. Although they are very agile, bats have a very difficult time entering their bat cave when the plywood is smooth. Roughening the wood creates bumps and ridges that provide traction for the bats. There are three ways to roughen the wood. You can use your table saw and cut very shallow grooves in the wood (be very careful you don't slice all the way through the wood). You can staple a wire screen to the front of the bat cave, or you can briskly rub the plywood with sand paper.
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Step 6
Stain the plywood. Because of their nocturnal nature, bats prefer that their home be dark in color. The reason you should use stain as opposed to paint, is because the stain soaks into the wood, while paint coats the wood, which makes it difficult for the bats to get into the cave. Most bat lovers prefer walnut stain.
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Step 7
Once the stain has dried, and attach your sides to the piece of your plywood that will form the back of your bat cave. Use a power drill to drill holes for your screws.
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Step 8
Insert the drills into the freshly drilled holes. Make sure they are tight.
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Step 9
Apply a generous amount of caulk to the seams of the bat house. In order for baby bats to survive, the internal temperature of your bat house needs to remain between 80 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The caulk helps provide insulation.
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Step 10
Attach the larger of the top pieces. Caulk along the seams.
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Step 11
After the first piece of the roof is in place you can screw the second bit of roof in place. Make sure that you leave a 1/2-inch gap between the top of the side and the bottom of the roof. This gap will keep your bat cave ventilated, and will also provide your bats with an easy way to access the cave.
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Step 12
Mount your bat cave to your post or the side of a building. Due to the large size of the bat house, you may want to rent a cherry picker, which provides more stability than a ladder.
