Aaaaaaaargh! BATS!

[BabyBumblebee]

Oh boy.....

We have a sizeable colony of bats in the attic of our (160 yr old) house...we can see them leaving at dusk. I don't really have a problem with them until they get into the house, hich they did 3 yrs ago, and biting us, which they also did - totally my fault as I was trying to catch it to take it outside. So, after rabies shots for me I am a little wary.

They also seem to have taken up residence on our covered side verandah, which we need to demolish soon. Does any one have any advice for encouraging them to leave? Are exterminators my only option? I would really have to disturb the balance of nature this way, but they really can't stay every where - I just need that side deck backand free of guano

Help!

[momto l&a]

I use to think that rabies was the biggest conncern about bats. That was till our neighbors accoss the street found that had 300+/- bats in their house. She called up the CDC and found that rabies is the least concern about bats as they carry something simular to the Hanta (sp?) virus that mice carry. So the dust from their guano is dangerous.

They ended up suiting up themselves as they couldnt hire anybody to do it and taking a number of truckloads of insulation and poop to the dump. They then sealed up the attic the small cracks with foam in a can and screen in the large areas. Now all the neighbors got their bats .

I have no clue as to how to get rid of them. Grew up with them living in our tunnels and the corner of my Dads shop.

[kaydee]

I've been reading a lot about bat houses lately and the benefits of bats in the ecosystem and plan to put one up on our property (away from the house!!!). I wonder if you put up a bat house elsewhere in your yard, would that entice the bats out of the attic? Or would it just attract a whole new colony? . Google "bat house" and see if any of the organizations that are proponents of them can give you some guidance. I think www.greenfeet.com sells bat houses and has links to some informational sites.

[yeni]

A bat house was my first thought, too. We just hung one in our yard hoping to attract some mosquito eaters. I also got a bunch of books about bats at the library for DD this week, so I'll post again if I run across any useful tidbits in those.

[yeni]

Here's some info from Bat Watching: a How-to Guide by Diane Bair and Pamela Wright. It says to figure out where the bats are coming and going and then tape pieces of window screen across these openings. Duct tape the top and the sides, but leave the bottom open. This creates a one-way "door" so the bats can exit but not come back in. It says to leave these "doors" in place for at least a week to ensure that no bats are trapped inside.

[PikkuMyy]

Hi,

I volunteer in wildlife rehab. The one way screen is the way to do it, and once you have that set up, I'd then put out a couple of bat boxes on places not near the house. That way they'll still have a home but not be too near.

The only problem is that if you have nursing mothers, as you most likely do this time of year, it's illegal to do it right now since you'd be killing all the babies. So you need to wait until a bit later this summer and then the one-way door should do the trick very easily. When in doubt, look up "wildlife rehab" and your city or county and give a call - I'm sure there's one not too far. Or at least within your state. They can give you more specific details and help you plan. They're also the ones to go to if one is in the house or you find an injured one.

[yeni]

Yikes, I didn't even think of that. I checked again and the book does say to do it only during early spring or late summer. Sorry I didn't read thoroughly and include that.

[BabyBumblebee]

Thanks for all of the great advice - I think we'll try to move them on later on in the summer after all of the babies have grown. I know that they really do a great job keeping the insect population down as even in the worst years for mossies and blackflies we seen to get away more lightly that most in our neighbourhood...