Bats in the attic

[DawnM]

I woke up to one flying in circles around my bed. It was terrifying.

 

[jevs]

We had one in the house a little while ago, it was hanging upside down on a broom. Luckily one of the kids saw it and informed me as it would have been a nightmare when the cats noticed. I still don't know how or why it got inside.

 

[MariMama]

I've been accused of having 'bats in my belfry' but never had it confirmed by a professional.

Your mother didn't have you tested?

 

[King Schultz]

Your mother didn't have you tested?

Naw, she didn't think it was worth the investment.

 

[MariMama]

Naw, she didn't think it was worth the investment.

LOL That was a Big Bang Theory reference, in case you missed it.

 

[MariMama]

 

[King Schultz]

LOL!!

I totally missed it; thanks for the clip!

 

[ols386]

We had a bat in our house a couple of times. Not in the attic, just in the house.

We opened the patio door, and eventually were able to shoo them out.

 

[virge]

Last month I was upstairs getting ready one morning when I heard my sons yelling at each other. I hollered down at them to stop fighting and one said his brother just found a bat in his shoe. I came running down the stairs and, sure enough, there was a little baby bat on the living room floor. (My son flung it out of the shoe when he found it.) I'm pretty sure the poor thing was half dead from the incident. I had no idea what to do with it so scooped it up in a plastic tub & tried to put it in a small bush outside. I don't know how it found its way into his shoe but I suspect he did not survive much longer

 

[MIGrandma]

We've had a bat inside the house a couple of times, freaks me out to see them flying around.

My Mom and I rented a cabin on a lake for a week in the upper peninsula a few years ago. Mom had the bedroom, and I slept one night in the loft upstairs. I could hear scratching noises in the wall so assumed it was a mouse. The next day I needed to call the landlord about something, and mentioned the noise in the wall and that I thought it could be a mouse/mice. She said, no, it's bats. The guy is coming Friday to take care of it. This was on a Monday I believe, so 4 more nights before he would come. I couldn't sleep in the loft anymore, so slept on the couch with one eye open. I was so afraid one was going to get inside the house. Thankfully that didn't happen. I know bats eat a lot of mosquitoes and it doesn't bother me to see them flying around outside, but I just don't like them INSIDE.

 

[Flight]

Since bats are protected they aren't able to start with the exclusion until August 1st, they will set up cones that the bats will fly out of but can't get back into.

Bats are protected? By the government? You can't take steps to remove or prevent bats from being in your home!?

Nuts!

 

[Poohlove]

Bats are protected? By the government? You can't take steps to remove or prevent bats from being in your home!?

Nuts!

I thought the same thing, I can't see how protecting them trumps protecting my family. It's not like they are in my garage, they are in my house. But, it's all good. Nothing I can do to change it. Besides that, it is pretty expensive to have them removed so at least I have time to warm up to writing the check lol

 

[lovin'fl]

I have them. Discovered about 4 years ago. They were on the inside of a large louver vent in the attic. When they were all out flying at night, we put a screen over the louver so they could not enter the actual attic. They go away for the winter but seem to come back every year and hang between the louver and the screen. It's a mama, maybe a daddy and several babies. When we discovered, we were having a bathroom remodeled and they went up to install a new bathroom fan. The guy still worked with the bats right by him and they were squeaking at him. It was funny but not funny. I hate it but they do fly all around my house at night and get the mosquitoes, so

 

[lovin'fl]

Bats are protected? By the government? You can't take steps to remove or prevent bats from being in your home!?

Nuts!

Our exterminator wouldn't touch them. They are protected and we'd get fined if we killed them and were caught. Can't hurt them. Was told we needed a net on outside of louver so they'd fly out but couldn't then get back in. Then after several months we could seal up any openings. But regular exterminator would not do that. Would have to do it ourselves or hire special company and pay big $$$$$.

 

[georgina]

Bats are protected? By the government? You can't take steps to remove or prevent bats from being in your home!?

Nuts!

It's not nuts. Education is a good thing: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/Weekly/article/?id=2571

An excerpt -
Bats are voracious insect eaters: a nursing female can consume her weight every night in mosquitoes and/or other insects and a national study estimated that the natural pest control bats provide to agricultural operations can exceed $1 billion annually.

To help these already stressed bats, it's important that people who don't want bats in their attics or barns or other places take steps by June 1 to safely and humanely get any bats out and seal off the bat entry points, or wait until after Aug. 15 to do so, Kaarakka says.

"Baby bats are not able to fly for that first month or two after they're born, and their mothers need to be able to leave to feed and then return to the roost and nurse them," she says.

If the mothers can't return to their roost, the pups will die of starvation, and the action will likely backfire for the property owner; the mother will frantically seek to get back to her pups and likely end up finding her way into the owner's home.

 

[Poohlove]

My exterminator said that they do about 30-40 bat exclusion jobs per year. It is pricey but worth it in the end. I don't want to harm them in any way but I don't want to live under the same roof with them either. He says that they are "bachelor bats" so why they can't do an exclusion sooner since he is sure thwre arent babies I'm not sure but I will just have to grin and bear it.

My previous home where we had them in the soffit I waited until I knew that they were gone (cleaned their droppings up from the ground and it stayed clear) and then had my brother in law caulk the area to seal it up. They did not return. From what I understand bats are creatures of habit and will keep returning to their same roosting spot. If they can't get in they will find someone else's soffits or attic to occupy.

 

[Poohlove]

Just wanted to give a quick update, the exterminator came back with his estimate - total including tax $2942.50!!! I have called around and found 1 other in the area that does the bat eviction/exclusion. They are coming out tomorrow, here's hoping they are more affordable! (Both companies have excellent reputations, I just didn't call company 2 at first because that is who we have our contracts at work with and they did some work for me when I was buying/selling my homes.)

 

[mom2rtk]

That would scare me more than the bats!

 

[HM]

Just wanted to give a quick update, the exterminator came back with his estimate - total including tax $2942.50!!! I have called around and found 1 other in the area that does the bat eviction/exclusion. They are coming out tomorrow, here's hoping they are more affordable! (Both companies have excellent reputations, I just didn't call company 2 at first because that is who we have our contracts at work with and they did some work for me when I was buying/selling my homes.)

I wouldn't have expected it to be that much. I hope the second one come in lower.