Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 20, 1999 06:34am | #1

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   Coincidentally on bat patrol this past weekend I crawled into the attic with a armful of screen, staplers, wire mesh, killer spray. This is the season to attack, come August, bat month, I'll be adorned in bat attack dress: badminton rackets, headgear, fishnets. Next winter more screen, staples, wire mesh, etc. The BATtle may be lost but the war will be won.

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   Guest_ | Mar 20, 1999 09:48am | #2

   *BdB, find the means of access to the attic. Fasten Bird mesh over the access, while leaving a "flap" undone at the bottom. Bats will exit by falling out, yet will not be able to lift the netting to re-enter. Buy or Build a bat-house, (available at most wild bird/garden shops) so the little bug-eaters stay around, just not in YOUR house.

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   Guest_ | Mar 20, 1999 02:26pm | #3

   *Try coaching a little league hockey team instead of baseball. That way you'll have hockey sticks up there instead of baseball bats.Blue

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   Guest_ | Mar 20, 1999 08:22pm | #4

   *Folks, be careful with bats. A guy died from bat-carried rabies in my home town last year. It made the national news. He was disposing of one of the little buggers in his attic, and didn't even remember being bitten. I'm told this is pretty rare, but what a horrible way to go.Andy

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   Guest_ | Mar 20, 1999 10:20pm | #5

   *We put a bathouse high in a tree, no residents yet. Any creature that eats mosquitoes is a friend of mine. They also eat moths and small rodents. The incidence of rabies among bats is extremely low. Always handle any "dead" wild animal with the greatest of care.Bill Adler in his book Outwitting Critters says that moth balls, loud music (not Celine Dion, that would be lethal), and bright lights will repel bats. 1/4" hardware cloth is suggested to block them out. A one-way door can be made of bird netting (they can climb out but can't fly back in). Try not to evict hibernating bats during winter, they will die. But also beware of the bat scat (guano, poop, whetaver you call it) produced when bats are not hibernating -- wear a mask or respirator when removing it ... says Adler.Try also Org. for Bat Conservation (where we purchased our bat house) and Bat Conservation Int'l.Guess this is another side effect of vented roofs, eh, FredL?Bats in my belfry, andrew

2. 
   Guest_ | Mar 21, 1999 12:23am | #6

   *Save the bats and use their guano for COMPOSTING!Andy, it couldn't have been national cause I didn't hear about it and we're national...I think!Steve

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   Guest_ | Mar 21, 1999 04:49am | #7

   *Bat death...I heard...Did you hear about our UPS scratch of death?....Strep skin rot death...J

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   Celman | Mar 21, 1999 05:18am | #8

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   You don't have to get rid of the batts, just cover them up with cellulose!

   Just make sure you cover them.... what?....with enough cells... really?.......

   Ahem......heh heh...... um, ........ never mind.

3. 
   Guest_ | Mar 21, 1999 05:24am | #9

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   Not to be sheepish butt that was baad..

   J

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   Guest_ | Mar 22, 1999 06:28pm | #10

   *Andrew D., your point about the rarity of bat-borne rabies is well taken. My point was only that people should excercise reasonable care. Bats are beneficial animals, and I plan to hang a bat house myself. Here in CT, the incidence of mosquito carried encephalitis is greater than that of rabies from bats, so I'd guess that from a health standpoint, it's better to have bats than not. Pro-bat, but cautious,Andy

4. 
   Dormer | Mar 23, 1999 06:03am | #11

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   Bats in his attic? What is it just too easy?

5. 
   Guest_ | Mar 23, 1999 05:46pm | #12

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   Of course AJ is already a bit batty.

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   Guest_ | Mar 26, 1999 01:55am | #14

   *As a caver, I'm inheritly pro-bat. And they suck up a lot of bugs each night. Rabies in most species of bat is low - around 1%, but some particular colonies have high rates. There have been cases of cavers/researchers contracting rabies from aspirating aersolized bat urine when the whole colony takes flight. So'd I'd be hesitate to try to knock the stuffing out of one, even through I lettered in badminton in high school. If you insist on doing so, a HEPA respirator would reduce the risk. Recent research in genotyping the particular rabies strain that a human contracted has found that many incidents from pet cats are bat rabies. Suggesting that the cat caught a rabid bat and then scratched the person. In direct bat-to-human cases there are often no marks or memory of any contact. So a small scratch or airborne transmission can do it.

6. 
   Being_Driven_Batty! | Mar 26, 1999 01:55am | #13

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   Just found another bat in my basement. I know now that I need air sealing but how do I get rid of these things? I know they're in the attic between the brick wall and facia.