Handmade by Earl Whitaker · Hocking Hills, Ohio
Earl's Hand-Built Bat House
Earl's Hand-Built Bat House
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Earl's Hand-Built Bat House
Hand-Built in the Hickory Nut Gorge, North Carolina
Earl Pressley, 71 — thirty-one winters counting bats in the gorge caves, and the roost he builds so the survivors have a cool, safe place to raise the next brood. 74 left. When his shoulder ends the work, there is no second batch.
“Everybody wants to build them a little mansion. A bat doesn’t want a room — it wants a crack.”
What arrives at your door
Why a real colony moves in — and a garden-center box bakes empty
Thick, solid, untreated wood — no zinc, no tar, no dark coat. The mass holds a steady temperature through a July afternoon instead of spiking to the lethal range that cooks pups in thin-walled boxes. A nursery should never get hotter than the bat can survive. Most do by noon.
A bat never enters from the front. It drops in through the open bottom and wedges up into the tight interior grooves — a crack, not a room — until its back and its belly both touch wood. That pressure is what tells it it is safe.
A bat lands low and climbs up into the bottom, gripping its way in. The rough, bark-on wood and the grooved interior give it that hold from the first contact. Smooth, sanded wood is a death trap — the young slide and the colony moves on.
Fallen black locust and white oak — among the most rot-resistant woods in the Eastern forest — let the house survive years of weather with no stain or sealant at all. Nothing to off-gas, nothing the bat has to breathe in a sealed cavity all day.
Multiple crevices give a colony room to spread by temperature — females and pups in the warm pockets, others where it is cooler. It is built to be a working summer nursery, because a population only recovers one brood at a time.
Every house is cut, bored, and grooved by Earl himself with hand tools — most of a day of work in each one. No crew, no machine stamping them out, and no second batch once the barn wall is empty.
“Most people picture bats in caves, but in summer the females gather in warm day roosts to raise their pups, and that is exactly the habitat we have stripped out of the landscape — dead trees, loose bark, old barns. A good bat house replaces it, but only if it gets a few things right: thick untreated wood that will not overheat, an open-bottom entry, and a rough, grooved interior the bats can climb. Get those wrong and the box either cooks the colony or never gets used. After white-nose syndrome, a safe maternity roost is one of the most useful things a homeowner can put up — recovery happens one colony at a time. Most retail boxes are too thin and too smooth inside.”
Dr. Marian Holt, Wildlife Biologist — Bat Conservation
Southern Appalachian Bat Working Group
Perfect for
Quality you can check yourself
- Thick, untreated wood — holds a steady temperature through summer instead of cooking the colony inside.
- Open-bottom entry — the safe, predator-resistant way bats actually use a roost, not a decorative front hole.
- Rough, grooved interior — bark-on wood and hand-cut grooves give bats something to climb and grip.
- Rot-resistant locust & oak — weathers to silver-grey and lasts outdoors with no paint or sealant.
- Final batch, built by hand — each house is made by Earl himself. Once the barn is empty, there is no restock.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Hang it on a sunny wall or post and live with it for a few weeks. If it arrives not as described, or it simply isn’t right for your spot, send it back within 30 days for a full refund. A simple email is all it takes — and shipping across the US is free.
A note on handmade variance & wild tenants: Every house is cut and finished by hand from natural logs, so grain, bark, color, and small marks vary from one to the next — that is the sign of real handwork, not a defect. And bats are wild: hung correctly (a sunny wall or post, 12–15 ft up, sheltered, near water if you can), a roost is often found within a season or two, but the timing is the colony’s, not ours. Put it up by late winter or early spring so it is weathered and waiting before the maternity season.
Product details
| Material | Fallen black locust & white oak logs on a pine backing board |
| Finish | Bare natural wood, bark left on — no paint or sealant; weathers to silver-grey |
| Set contents | 1 bat house with open-bottom entry & grooved interior · hang-it-right card |
| Dimensions (outer) | Approx. 13.8 × 9.1 × 5.1 in (35 × 23 × 13 cm) |
| Roost | Narrow, grooved interior crevices reached from the open bottom |
| Entry | Open bottom — the only way in; bats climb up into the interior |
| Color | Natural wood |
| Mounting | Hangs on a sunny wall, barn, or post — 12–15 ft up, sheltered, near water if possible |
| Care | Almost none — a quick check from below once a year in late fall |
| Made | Hand-built by Earl Pressley near Bat Cave, North Carolina — ships from the US |
| Availability | Final batch — 74 only, no restock · 4.8 ★ |
Meet your maker: Earl Whitaker
34 years a shop teacher. Now he builds birdhouses the slow way — one at a time, signed by hand.
Read Earl's story →
The Back Road Guarantee
If anything ever fails on this birdhouse — a joint, a hinge, the roof — Earl repairs or replaces it for free. For life. No receipts, no forms, no fine print. That's the deal he made us, and it's the deal we make you.
Before You Order
When will my order ship?
The maker keeps a small number finished and ready. Orders ship straight from the workshop within 3 business days, and you'll get a tracking number the moment it's on its way. If a batch sells out, the page will say so honestly — and you can join the waitlist for the next one.
What if it arrives damaged or I don't love it?
You have 60 days to change your mind — send it back for a full refund, no questions asked. And if anything ever fails on it, the Back Road Guarantee covers repairs or replacement for life, handled directly with the maker.
Is every piece really made by one person?
Yes. Every piece is made start to finish by one maker — cut, finished, signed, and wrapped by hand. That's why batches are small and why yours will carry a hand-written number.
Will mine look exactly like the photos?
Almost — but not perfectly, and that's the point. Natural materials vary in grain and tone, so every piece is one of a kind. What never varies is the craftsmanship behind it.
Is it a good gift?
It's our most-gifted item. Every order arrives hand-wrapped in kraft paper with twine and a signed note from the maker — no receipt in the box, so it ships straight to the lucky person.