Bats in my wood

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vatmark

Burning Hunk
Jan 5, 2017
193
Nebo NC
Went to use our stove for the first time this season. I go to get some wood from the small rack on our deck. I take off cover, grab a piece of wood and out of the corner of my eye I see something fluffy on a piece of wood. Turns out it is 2 sleeping bats. Of course I then realize I am trapped on our deck because they are right next to the sliding door I came out of and I'm afraid they will fly into the house. I start banging on the other sliding to door to get my husband to let me in because it was getting real cold. Now my wood is being held hostage.

Bats on wood.jpeg
 
We had them in our piles too the last couple years. We just use another woodpile. I did notice they were not in the same woodpile this year that they were snoozing in last year. I see the "forecasts" are guessing a decent warmup here in MD next weekend, down there they may wake up for food as you will be warmer.
 
trapped? By bats?! Lol.

Don't worry, they'll be welcome back at my place this coming summer.
 
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They are tiny. Very cool.

I recently uncovered this possum nesting in my woodshed. I left him alone and he was gone the next day.

20220711_173805.jpg
 
Went to use our stove for the first time this season. I go to get some wood from the small rack on our deck. I take off cover, grab a piece of wood and out of the corner of my eye I see something fluffy on a piece of wood. Turns out it is 2 sleeping bats. Of course I then realize I am trapped on our deck because they are right next to the sliding door I came out of and I'm afraid they will fly into the house. I start banging on the other sliding to door to get my husband to let me in because it was getting real cold. Now my wood is being held hostage.
I never knew they'd sleep in a wood pile! I always thought that they had to be on something high so they
can take off.
interesting.
 
Our bats in the warmer temps live up under the covers for our gable vents. The openings of the vents into the house are screened by design so the bats do not get in the attic. I often wondered where they went in the colder temps. I was surprised to find 4 or 5 snoozing in a woodpile a couple years ago and have found some yearly since then in different piles.
 
I was able to get one to fly away. The other was in some kind of hybernation stupor. I quickly got some wood and then put the cover back on. I hoped he would survive the night. Checked this morning and he was gone. We have lived here 5 years and this is the first time we had bats in the wood stacks. They would sleep in the gables of our porch and deck roofs.
 
I was able to get one to fly away. The other was in some kind of hybernation stupor. I quickly got some wood and then put the cover back on. I hoped he would survive the night. Checked this morning and he was gone. We have lived here 5 years and this is the first time we had bats in the wood stacks. They would sleep in the gables of our porch and deck roofs.
they should not be disturbed. they are cuddled up together for warmth over winter. their survival depends on inactivity. waking them up and forcing them to fly is wasting precious calories. hopefully there can find a safe place to overwinter with others.
 
You can package them up and ship to me! I'm trying to get a colony going around here to hopefully vacuum up some of the summer mosquito population. I am that blood type / body taste that lures mosquitos in from the tri-county area. I practically need a blood transfusion to walk 100 yards on a summer evening. My wife is the other type...she doesn't hardly recall ever being bitten by a mosquito.
 
We had one that nested on our big porch, he had a spot high up in the rafters where he slept all day. He would arrive in April and stay, every day, until November. In winter they find a little cave along the river and hibernate.
Our little pet bat came every year for 5 years, but last year he didn't come back.