"Toller" wrote in message
...
I build a bunch of bat houses to put on trees around my cottage. There are
some bats, and I am hoping to encourage more to move in, to keep down the
mosquitos.
Then I found out bats won't live in houses attached to trees; they must be
on metal poles. Fussy creatures, I wonder where they find such things in
the wild.

Well, a friend moving had to get rid of his 35 year old hang glider. I
cut it up into 6 10' poles. They ought to be great to hold the houses.
Now the problem; my "soil" is a little top soil over shale. I will have
to put a hole though 2 feet of shale if these are going to stand up.
Driving rebar into it to keep 4x4s in place is hard enough, this sounds
impossible without some power tool. Any ideas.


You don't need a "bunch". Bats don't need houses on metal poles. 10' poles
aren't long enough - the house should be closer to 15' off the ground.