Bats are one of the best pest predators in the natural world. A bat will often eat more than their body weight in insects in a single night, so it is no surprise that bats have been revered as agricultural blessings for thousands of years. These creatures are highly intelligent. So, do not despair if they do not choose to live in the home you have provided for them right away. Most of our local bat species migrate annually between North and South America. When a bat discovers a new potential home, they will often “tell” others about it and will check and re-check the location for a few years in a row, to ensure that it is a suitable home-sight. This means that it could be up to five years, or more in rare cases, before our farm friends decide that your bat house is indeed suitable to their needs. However, if you don’t put a house up now, it will only be that much longer before they decide to live near you. As long as you have sighted and installed their house properly, some type of bat will most likely decide to live there eventually. Just keep it clean once a year; free of spiders and cobwebs.