Quote Originally Posted by ThistleDown View Post
Here's a bit of more than trivia for your quiver, Ted. Today bats are among the most endangered of all animals. About a quarter of bat species are on extinction watch lists -- that is an amazingly and appallingly high proportion for a creature so vital to us -- and over forty species teeter on the very edge of extinction. They're a pretty elusive species so we don't know an awful lot about their numbers, but we do know -- for example - that in Britain we shake our heads and wonder whether we have sixteen or seventeen native species because we can't say for sure whether the greater mouse-eared bat is extinct or just laying low.
Excellent point. And one way to help these little guys out is to build "bat boxes" which are easily constructed and provide a secure place for local bats to sleep in lieu of our urban sprawl replacing their natural arboreal resting areas. Plus, more bats in your neighborhood equals fewer mosquitoes! And that's always a nice perk.

There are many plans for bat houses online. Here's a nice detailed example:
http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outdo...Bat-House.aspx