Has anyone ever had to coax bats out of a roof space?
Just this weekend I discovered bats in the ventilation space of the roof of my cabin. I’d like to coax them out without killing them and then seal the hole that I think they are entering from.
The cabin roof is made out of 16″ vented tji’s, so there is no attic space for a person to crawl up into. I figure the bats have pushed aside some of the batt insulation, because I can hear them ‘walking’ on the other side of the ceiling drywall.
I’d like to keep from sealing them in there, becuase I don’t know how bad they would stink when they die, and besides, I like the bats. They are small and they eat the bugs at dusk. It’s cool to watch.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Fez
Replies
Try spraying them with cold water from a garden hose if the quantity won't destroy some part of your house. If it does, try spraying them with a fine mist sprayer (again, cold water). If that fails, try using a really smelly garden spray & spray it at night after they have left the roost. Two or maybe three sprayings and they should leave you alone for good this season. Next season is something else again if you don't seal the place up.
You're right, though, don't kill them. They're too good for the environment.
Griff,
Thanks for the advice. I don't think that I could actually spray them with water. They come out right at dusk, and they are small and silent when they fly. It would be really hard to try to spray one in flight. It's hard enough to see them, except around the campfire...
I'll try the smelly garden spray idea right at their entrance point. I guess that I should do it when they are out hunting bugs. And I'll try not to fall off the roof.
Fez
Bats, depending on the species, can access and egress through amazingly small openings. I've seen them enter and exit through the gaps of less than 1/4" between shingles.
What has worked for me is to identify ALL the possible entry points and gradually seal them up with whatever material is appropriate (foam, building paper, shims, shingles...).
When you're absolutely sure you've found all the entries and plugged/sealed all of them but one, pick an evening and wait till midnight or later and then plug that last hole while they're still out. (I've found that some bats are slow to leave their abode at night so you have to give them time).
And, there may be "batlets" in the dwelling this time of year...(another complication to feel guilty about). That can be resolved by waiting till later in the summer to do your deed, but before they hibernate.
One way to help locate their entry that's kind of fascinating is to get up really early, well before daylight and watch the bats come in from their night of eating bugs. If you have any population of them at all, they will kind of flutter around in a swarm as one-by-one, they enter their little opening.
It can be a real daunting task to get the structure sealed up against them, so be prepared to excercize great patience.
And build a few bat houses for them to retreat to after the heartless eviction by their cranky landlord. :-)
Notchman,
Thanks for the advice.
It'll be a difficult repair to execute, since everytime I try to stay up to midnight or later my belly usually fills up with rye and coke and I end up losing my determination to get anything done 'cept make it to bed.
Seriously,
I'll take your seasonal advice and wait until late august or so.
Also, how do you build a bat-house?
I have seen some very flat looking bat-houses with open bottoms for the bats to enter. But I don't know what goes on inside. Do they need a strip of carpet or some kinda stick up top to cling to?
Fez
laser
Notchman is right.
Also contact the Organization for Bat Conservation (out of Michigan) or Bat Conservation International(Texas, I think). They've got people who would be thrilled to speak w/someone willing to exclude bats and not just whack them w/brooms. And put up the bat houses(look for the improved ones, with a slightly longer back side usually covered in a fine mesh) before you exclude them. If you've got room, you can attach the house next to that last entrace you close up.
Life is too short so eat dessert first, especially if it happens to be Cookingmonster's triple cinnamon truffles or her ginger-fig caramels.
Plantlust,
Is that you in the picture?
The bats I'm talking about are WAY smaller than that guy. They're about the size of flying mice.
O.k. so I gotta:
•build and install a good quality bathouse
•wait until late august
•visit roof in daytime and seal all but one entry hole
•wait until after midnite
•remember not to drink rye and coke all day
•seal last entry hole
•spray stinky stuff on area for good measure
Right?
Fez
Lordy no. That's a rep from OBC that gave a lecture on bats in Feb 2002. She had quite a few live ones w/her and walked the aisles w/them so you could get a view up close and personal. I liked all of them and it was cool in a disgusting sortof way when she fed Mabel(the bat in the prev photo, I believe a BigBrown bat) wiggling mealworms. This one she had hanging off of her shirt like a live necklace, Egyptian fruit bat, I think.Life is too short so eat dessert first, especially if it happens to be Cookingmonster's triple cinnamon truffles or her ginger-fig caramels.
1. You don't HAVE to build the bathouse. They do come premade. The installation could be tricky tho. It's gotta be at least 15ft up preferably on the south or west side of the house(I've gotta figure out how to straddle the roof ridge and ease myself slowly over to the chimney and somehow attach it to brick). The hotter the better.
2. I think that's when they start migrating south. Depends on your area.
3. Yes, unless you've got one of those miner's hats w/the headlamp.
4. Bats will fly out of their cave/home approx 15min before sundown.
5. I prefer rum and coke but Jack/coke sounds like something I should test out. Agreed. Don't drink before you start a job that involves heights, electricity and/or power tools. Could end up being a Piffin wax thread w/out the wax or the happy ending (for the bats or you).
6. Once they are out, seal the hole.
7. Don't think the stinky stuff will work on bats.Life is too short so eat dessert first, especially if it happens to be Cookingmonster's triple cinnamon truffles or her ginger-fig caramels.
"Jack/coke sounds like something I should test out"
That would do, but you should really try to get your hands on some Canadian whiskey. The Seagrams family make the good ones. Crown Royal or VO.
Will a tree do for the bat-house? They are currently entering on the south side, but the on the west up a tree would place them on the side ofcabin nearest the firepit (for better viewing enjoyment).
Fez
Seagrams, check. I wonder if they come in little tastetesting bottles? I don't want to pick up a huge bottle and then not end up liking the taste.
Tree is ok but I was told to make certain that the bathouse is visible. Any foliage will hide the box. Also the solitary bat species seem to like shaggy barked trees such as Silver Maple and Shagbark Hickory.
The solitary male bats(scouts) check out potentially fine neighborhoods in Feb/March. After the scouts find a great spot, the females set up their nursery. This is why the bathouse must be hot. If you are north (Chicago, MI, Canada etc), OBC even advocates painting the outside of the box black(non-toxic paint and wait until it's dry before you put it up).
I'm thinking of getting a 2nd box(the one that I haven't had the nerve to install yet will hold 500) and put that one on the west side of the chimney. That way the bats can just regulate heat by switching boxes.Life is too short so eat dessert first, especially if it happens to be Cookingmonster's triple cinnamon truffles or her ginger-fig caramels.
A google search on "bat removal" will give you a lot of sites, with most of them being for pest control services... I haven't re-read it recently, but I think one of best on removing bats from dwellings is the one on the Bat Conservation International:
http://www.batcon.org/discover/unguest.html
Yahoo has a discussion and lists a few websites at:
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20000505.html
Bats... they EAT mosiquitos... ever heard of the disease problems down in Louisiana? leave them alone if you can. We have a spa outside and find them entertaining when sitting in the hot tub at night. ... or does that make us rednecks with nothing better to do????
Observe where the bats exit at dusk and exclude them by loosely hanging clear plastic sheeting over these areas. Bats can crawl out and leave, but cannot re-enter. After the bats have been excluded, the openings can be permanently sealed.
Most bats leave in the fall or winter to hibernate, so winter is the best time to bat-proof. During summer, young bats are unable to fly. If you exclude adult bats during this time, the young may be trapped inside and die or make their way into living areas. Don't exclude May through August.
Alternatively you could just leave them alone. I know it's creepy but they really don't hurt anything and you will notice a decrease in the bug population in your yard. About once a year I take a clean shop vac and clean up any droppings and dump them in the garden.
Make sure to close up any areas where they could enter your living spaces.
Paul,
Regarding hibernation, do you know where bats go to hibernate? I couldn't imagine a better place than the space that I am currently trying to get them out of. My cabin is winterized, so I set the furnace to about 10 degrees celcius when I leave it in the fall so that things won't freeze up during winter. That way, I can come back whenever I want during winter (x-mas, or an ice fishing trip, snowmobiling, etc.) I'm thinking that my roof is probably a comfy place to remain during the hibernating season.
Regarding me accessing their space to shop-vac or spread mothballs, it's impossible without removing either the drywall from the ceiling, or the shingles and sheeting from the roof. My "attic" space is only 16 inches thick.- 14inches of which is stuffed with batt insulation. The ceiling of the cabin and the roof above it are parallel to each other. As I was trying to explain in the original post, I made the roof out of vented tji's. There really is no attic space to get into.
I'm going to wait until the babies (if any) have learned to fly, then blast them with the loud music late at night and seal the hole. Maybe mid-september-ish. I just want to make sure that they haven't begun hibernation yet.
Fez
Fez,
Where bats go to hibernate depends on where you live and the species. Some bats migrate long distances, but never hibernate. Some will migrate to a hibernation site for the winter, then migrate back to their summer roosting sites. Some bats never leave the area they live in, but will hibernate in the same place they rear their young. And then some never migrate or hibernate because they live in a climate that doesn't require this.
Given the conditions you described, elimination and preventing their reentry is the appropriate remedy. Good Luck.
A long time age I worked in Venezuela, prospecting for gold. We tramped around the jungle with the locals and often stayed in jungle camps. I noticed that in all the shelters, which were often unenclosed, just a roof, they had hung bottles or plastic bags filled with water at the ridge, one or two depending on the size of the room. When I asked what the heck, they said it was to keep the bats out. And sure enough, I never saw a bat in these shelters. I guess they don't like being under water.
One web site I found suggested lights and music in the attic will drive them out.
Hi, Fez-
If you can, get some moth balls or crystals into their nesting area. This won't harm the bats, will surely drive them out, won't harm the structure and will get rid of any risidual moths in the process!
Windy Wood
From the Helderberg Mountains
Bat droppings are high in ammonia concetrations. The fumes can be fatal to you or make you major long time ill. Rabies can also be present in the droppings. Rabies is transmittable by inahalation and dung contact, not to mention being bit. Rabies IS fatal.
Think an extra moment or two as you proceed.
If you can hold out for cold weather before you seal everything up more will be to your favor.
Thanks for not wanting to exterminate them. The pluses colum is lot longer than the negative.