bats in/around your house

[roller]

Over the past few weeks, a family member has run across five bats in and around their house. Yes, some of these have gotten inside... and they don't know how. It seems kind of sudden to see so many around a single home.

These folks called their regular exterminator today... but they told me this guy was clueless about dealing with bats. Guess he's used to dealing with spiders and roaches.

Anyone have any experience with bats in/around the home? Any remedies to deter bats from hanging around the house or getting inside the house? Thanks!

 

[charlie monroe]

Wooded area? Hang some bat houses from the trees. They will likely move in.

 

[buldog5151bass]

If anything, people around here put up bathouses to bring them - they eat mosquitoes.

They are probably entering through open window screens or gaps in the side of the attic.

 

[MJ5150]

We had a few that hung out in the trim around our windows at our last house. They worked their way into the house from there.
We set up a couple bat houses by our house so as to give them a better option to hang out.

-Mike

 

[Hot Rats]

Don't exterminate them. Call someone who can find where they are getting in and remove them alive. Then put bat houses around...bats are cool. They will improve the area they patrol.

 

[MJ5150]

Don't exterminate them. Call someone who can find where they are getting in and remove them alive. Then put bat houses around...bats are cool. They will improve the area they patrol.

Good post. I agree.
One of the things I like to do is sit out at night and watch the bats flying around behind our house.

-Mike

 

[Guild B301]

You do not want them in your house. You should never touch them or their droppings! They can transmit a bacteria that can make you permanently go Blind. Do not let kids around them. You need to try to seal up anyplace they can think of that a bat could possibly get in.
There have always been bats around where I live. People do build little bat houses for them. (Look that up on line).
They are beneficial, but only at a distance.

 

[bwildt]

This was back in the '60's, so people weren't as sensitive about conserving wildlife.

I was a kid. We had some bats move into our garage. They were in the space between a concrete wall and the exterior siding. Dad pulled the car around and stuck a hose on the exhaust pipe and the other end up the void in the siding. As they got gassed, they would fall down to the ground by the foundation, where they were physically dispatched.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

I have some, they eat the skeeters.

Just got to watch for them flying when out at night.

 

[raybone]

Had them in the attic of my old house long time ago. Waited till daytime when they were sleeping, put some protective gear on, took wet/dry vac up in attic and sucked them up whole. Let them go outside. Just like hunting Dracula.

 

[pappabass]

unfortunately they are a protected species. Cant 12 gauge them. If they are in your house, you will need to see how they are going in & out. Some companies can put up traps that they fly into. My sis had them in her pool enclosure. Too high to net them. Some died, some were trapped,but the poop is the worst thing to deal with.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Exterminator?

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but in the U.K. that's illegal - they're a protected species.

Due to misinformation, public ignorance, and widespread paranoia, there were mass exterminations of bat colonies in Mexico, where it was believed they were a rabies threat.

It turned out that not only were the bats free of rabies, but they are absolutely vital to the pollination of Agave.

No bats = no Agave = no tequila = economic disaster.

Since that relationship has been identified, and the bats importance in the local ecosystem is better understood, there is a pretty harmonious coexistence between people and bats in the region.


Spiders in your house, are good at controlling flys.

Bats in your garden, are good at controlling moths, and mosquitos.

Don't kill 'em.

Encourage them, with bat boxes.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

We used to get them hanging in our kitchen window sill. They’re pretty cute. Bats are indeed badly misunderstood and are on the whole incredibly beneficial at any distance.

Here’s a great podcast that interviews Dr. Merlin Tuttle, a bat expert, all about bats for those interested in listening:
Chiropterology (BATS) with Dr. Merlin Tuttle — alie ward

 

[MJ5150]

We found this little guy hanging out in the umbrella on our neighbors patio furniture. Real tiny, not much bigger than a sugar packet. We opened the umbrella and he fell out. At first we thought it was a mouse, then he started moving around.
I carried him on the microfiber towel to an arborvitae and found a dark spot on the branches. He hung out for a half hour or so, then he was gone. He didn't move much at first. We think maybe we woke him from a deep sleep so he was trying to get his bearings and wake up.

-Mike

 

[Mike N]

I've got bat houses hung around our property. We sit out at dusk and watch the bats come out and fly around.