Oh my, BATS !!

[chrisasst]

So I go up in my attic to spray for Wasps that are in my vents, etc... I see some nests around my chimney up there and I start spraying.. Next thing I know I have maybe 10 or so bats flying around me. Praying that none of them was going to attack me as I am there crouched with a light on my head.
My roofers are supposed to be coming next week to do my roof. What do I do?

 

[bioman]

Build some bat boxes, they are good to have around. wish I had your problem !

 

[fossil]

Well, first, avoid the bats, because they often carry rabies. Then, don't worry too much about the light, because they can't see it. I'm guessing that they are probably little brown bats. They want a dark, quiet place to spend the day sleeping, and they can get themselves through an amazingly small opening, so attics are primo real estate for them. Could well be that they migrate...go somewhere warmer for the winter and come back for the summer. In any case, they'll make a mess of your attic (may already have) and they do carry rabies. On the other hand, they're nice to have around because in the course an overnight foray, they will eat a rather astounding number of flying bugs. Your roofers may be able to help you a bunch by identifying/closing up openings while doing the job. If, after all that work is done, you go up there and still find them, I'd recommend engaging the services of a pest control professional. You want them out of your attic, but you don't want them out of your neighborhood.

Entry to my house...the tile roof is the focus here:



A bit closer, you can see the white stains on the brown trim beneath the tiles. That's dried bat urine. They go out and fly around all night eating bugs (bless their little hearts), then they slide on up into the roof tiles to sleep through the day.

 

[chrisasst]

Well I am sure they are coming in through the wide open peak in my roof. Should I tell the roofers about them so the dont freak out? I am just afraid they may pull out until they are gone.
I am also afraid if the roofers close it up, and the bats are still up there, will they try getting into our living space. My kids bedrooms are right under my attic.

 

[BrotherBart]

Ever heard a roofing job? There will be enough racket that nothing will stay in that attic while they are working. You won't even want to stay in the house.

Tell'em about them. They will probably just chuckle. Call and tell them before they come out.

 

[chrisasst]

Ever heard a roofing job? There will be enough racket that nothing will stay in that attic while they are working. You want even want to stay in the house.

Tell'em about them. They will probably just chuckle. Call and tell them before they come out.

Thats what I am hoping.

 

[BrotherBart]

Glad you have a date for the roof. Mine was supposed to be this week but it is pouring rain. Don't know what that is gonna do to this time wise.

 

[BrotherBart]

If you want to discourage the bats, unload a whole can of some strong bathroom air freshener spray into the attic.

 

[fbelec]

beside making the attic smell like a nice spring rain or lilacs what does air freshner do to the bats?
never heard of this one

 

[BrotherBart]

Bats have a highly developed sense of smell. The stuff irritates the heck out of them. Works to get them out of hiding when they get loose in your house too.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Don't kill them, whatever you do. They are in serious trouble from white-nose, and need any numbers they have. I have heard that hanging tinsel in an attic absorbs their echo location noises- they start bumping into things, and evacuate. Dunno if this is one of those old wives' tales, but it's cheap to try

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Bats are nothing to fear. Also most roofers have run into them probably many times. I still laugh though when we were remodeling and found 4 bats. One of the guys really freaked out while the rest of us just laughed. One landed on my shirt pocket. I just walked over closer to the trees and let him go from there. We like having them around because they eat so many bugs and harm nothing.

 

[begreen]

Consider putting up some bat houses to lure them away from the main house.

(broken link removed)

 

[mrjohneel]

I've had them in my house on Cape Cod for years. Could never figure out how they got in. Finally called a bat removal guy (after a guy on the Cape died from rabies -- the first rabies death in decades in Mass.) and I'm hoping they're finally gone. I like having them around but not in the house. And my bat boxes were eaten by squirrels.

 

[BrotherBart]

Five years ago I put a bigger whole house water filter in the house. On the shelf in the garage I had a large quantity of new in the box appropriate sized hose. After I finished the installation, but before I turned the water back on, I picked up a piece of leftover hose and in the cut end was a long dead bat. My heart stopped.

Got new hose and tore out the whole thing and started over.

 

[chrisasst]

Oh boy, roof is enclosed, bat #1 just flew by my wifes head as she was laying on couch..I got it outside.
I guess I am going to have to call in the bat patrol to check my attic.

 

[Don2222]

Oh boy, roof is enclosed, bat #1 just flew by my wifes head as she was laying on couch..I got it outside.
I guess I am going to have to call in the bat patrol to check my attic.

I had that problem and I took care of it myself.

Bats are nocturnal and sleep in there during the day. So go up there at night and pepper the attic with Moth Balls.

Bats are small and can get in through a hole the size of a dime.

So after a few days, the bats will not come back with the moth balls slowly melting. Plug all the holes where they can possibly get in.

Problem resolved!

 

[chrisasst]

Well, ORKIN man came today. I most definetly have a bat infestation. They gave a quote of $5300 to do the job. They will have to seal holes, suck up all the insulation, blow in new insulation and find all the bats.

This guy says home owner insurance should pay for something like this. He says allstate, statefarm...all the big guys have no problem. I of course have a small local company and they are telling me they won't. So I filed a complaint with NYS insurance commissioner. So I will see what happens I guess.

 

[BrotherBart]

Looks like Allstate agrees with your local company.

http://consumerist.com/2011/08/24/a...estation-because-they-think-bats-are-rodents/

 

[Don2222]

Well, ORKIN man came today. I most definetly have a bat infestation. They gave a quote of $5300 to do the job. They will have to seal holes, suck up all the insulation, blow in new insulation and find all the bats.

This guy says home owner insurance should pay for something like this. He says allstate, statefarm...all the big guys have no problem. I of course have a small local company and they are telling me they won't. So I filed a complaint with NYS insurance commissioner. So I will see what happens I guess.

Sounds like a box of moth balls ($10) to get rid of the bats and a carpenter to plug up the holes for $300 at the very most would be a little cheaper! ! !

 

[chrisasst]

Sounds like a box of moth balls ($10) to get rid of the bats and a carpenter to plug up the holes for $300 at the very most would be a little cheaper! ! !

I am quoting from a website I found.

"the amount of mothballs needed to effectively repel bats would be somewhere between 3-5 pounds of mothballs and would repeatedly have to re-applied every 2-4 weeks to maintain high enough levels to even have a chance of working"


I think my main concern is the insulation that is saturated with quano.
How is that disposed of. Orkin also said there are probably bats boroughed in the insulation.

I dont know, I will throw some moth balls around and see.

I have a ridge vent now, so will the moth ball vapors escape before it has time to be effective? And will more critters come in now, with a ridge vent?
.

 

[Don2222]

I am quoting from a website I found.

"the amount of mothballs needed to effectively repel bats would be somewhere between 3-5 pounds of mothballs and would repeatedly have to re-applied every 2-4 weeks to maintain high enough levels to even have a chance of working"


I think my main concern is the insulation that is saturated with quano.
How is that disposed of. Orkin also said there are probably bats boroughed in the insulation.

I dont know, I will throw some moth balls around and see.

I have a ridge vent now, so will the moth ball vapors escape before it has time to be effective? And will more critters come in now, with a ridge vent?
.

I have soffit and ridge vents but no problem, those moth balls are strong! After I blocked up the holes, I did find one fat bat hybernating for the winter. They sleep very soundly and never felt being blunged to death with my shovel. LOL.

Anyways, needless to say I got out of it real cheap, since I found the hole and blocked it up my self!. I was lucky, they used the soffit for their bathroom, so I just removed the vent screen and cleaned it out!

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah that insulation has to go. A shame that it wasn't done while the roofers were up there. A sheet of decking could have been ripped off and the stuff just shoveled out.

Oh well...

 

[Pallet Pete]

Though I like bats and wish them no harm they can be a nucence in the wrong places. We had them in the garage last year and they where a pain to get out of the garage. There poo is corrosive so my table saw had little rust spots where they dropped as well as the roof of my project truck. We tried all kinds of things but in the end leaving a radio on a rock station with the speakers touching the walls and the lights on for about a week and they moved into a bat box in the tree near our garage. Bats are great at deterring / eating bugs and they are really cool to watch at night by the fire pit.

Pete

 

[Pallet Pete]

I have soffit and ridge vents but no problem, those moth balls are strong! After I blocked up the holes, I did find one fat bat hybernating for the winter. They sleep very soundly and never felt being blunged to death with my shovel. LOL.

Anyways, needless to say I got out of it real cheap, since I found the hole and blocked it up my self!. I was lucky, they used the soffit for their bathroom, so I just removed the vent screen and cleaned it out!

Moth balls are also harmful to humans just a heads up to be careful with them.
Pete