Bat elimination

[Bob Rufener]

I found a few threads regarding bats but none to help me with my issue. Twice this summer, my wife poked me in the ribs in bed and yelled out that we had a bat in the bedroom. Nothing like that to contribute to a sleepless night. I have some bats in our attic and can't for the life of me figure out how they are getting into the living quarters. I don't want to harm them but am checking on ways to get them out of the attic. Our house has a brick lower level and rough sawn cedar gable ends which will be painted in a few weeks. I am going to have the painter caulk everything to eliminate any possible entry points but want to get the bats out before caulking. I have found some ultra sonic or other devices that are allegedly supposed to get rid of unwanted pests in the attic. I am wondering if anyone has tried these things and if they work or not. Pros and cons would be helpful. Thanks for your help.

[Erik Loza]

Glad to hear that you want to give them a chance to leave on their own rather than just killing them. I found this, maybe it will help....

http://www.batcon.org/index.php/resources/for-specific-issues/bats-in-buildings/there-s-a-bat-in-my-house

Erik

[David Ragan]

I found a few threads regarding bats but none to help me with my issue. Twice this summer, my wife poked me in the ribs in bed and yelled out that we had a bat in the bedroom. Nothing like that to contribute to a sleepless night. I have some bats in our attic and can't for the life of me figure out how they are getting into the living quarters. I don't want to harm them but am checking on ways to get them out of the attic. Our house has a brick lower level and rough sawn cedar gable ends which will be painted in a few weeks. I am going to have the painter caulk everything to eliminate any possible entry points but want to get the bats out before caulking. I have found some ultra sonic or other devices that are allegedly supposed to get rid of unwanted pests in the attic. I am wondering if anyone has tried these things and if they work or not. Pros and cons would be helpful. Thanks for your help.

Be aware of the following from the CDC:

This is a recurring Boards question in Medicine-

I know it sounds like a bunch of drama, but the folks who put together the National Boards Exams put the items there for a reason

Bats:

Rabid bats have been documented in all 49 continental states. Hawaii is rabies-free. Bats are increasingly implicated as important wildlife reservoirs for variants of rabies virus transmitted to humans.
Recent data suggest that transmission of rabies virus can occur from minor, seemingly unimportant, or unrecognized bites from bats. Human and domestic animal contact with bats should be minimized, and bats should never be handled by untrained and unvaccinated persons or be kept as pets.
In all instances of potential human exposures involving bats, the bat in question should be safely collected, if possible, and submitted for rabies diagnosis. Rabies postexposure prophylaxis is recommended for all persons with bite, scratch, or mucous membrane exposure to a bat, unless the bat is available for testing and is negative for evidence of rabies.
Postexposure prophylaxis should be considered when direct contact between a human and a bat has occurred, unless the exposed person can be certain a bite, scratch, or mucous membrane exposure did not occur.
In instances in which a bat is found indoors and there is no history of bat-human contact, the likely effectiveness of postexposure prophylaxis must be balanced against the low risk such exposures appear to present. Postexposure prophylaxis can be considered for persons who were in the same room as a bat and who might be unaware that a bite or direct contact had occurred (e.g., a sleeping person awakens to find a bat in the room or an adult witnesses a bat in the room with a previously unattended child, mentally disabled person, or intoxicated person) and rabies cannot be ruled out by testing the bat. Postexposure prophylaxis would not be warranted for other household members.
Related Links



Rabid Bats Reported in the United States during 2010 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/rabies/resources/publications/2010-surveillance/rabid-bats.html)

For more information about bats, visit the Rabies: Bats (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/rabies/bats/index.html) site.

[Pat Barry]

We had bats in a poorly constructed garage and we tried everything to get rid of them. Mothballs for example were reputed as being a detterrent as was the ultrasonic devices. I think they only had marginal effect. If you want to get rid of the bats then you need to figure out where they come and go from and seal that up (at night after they have left for their nightly insect hunting). Several places said to hand cloth over the openings so they could get out but couldn't then echo locate to get back in. What worked best for me si to wait til they left for the season and then patch up the ingress / egress points

[Stan Calow]

Bob we had a bat enter the living space of our house once. We had specialist come in who identified a couple of areas of missing flashing on the roof (newly installed) which we had fixed. He said that they most commonly get down into the living space through cracks or gaps around chimney, but once in the attic, they can actually crawl through the openings around can lights in the ceiling. Almost any gap is enough for them to get through, and they follow the slightest draft of air to find the gaps.
We didn't have an infestation, but as I understand it, the pest people can install one-way doors so they can't get back in, or seal up the entry points at night when the bats are hopefully not in the attic. But that requires that you find where they are getting in. Our guy told us that the bats poop when they land and take off, so usually an entry point has a lot of bat guano around it.

They are ugly, I'll tell ya' that. To get ours out, I waited until morning and opened the front door wide, and eventually he caught the breeze and went right out.

[Lee Schierer]

Bats are a threatened species so it would be best to not harm them. They eat their body weight in insects each night. Double that if they are taking care of young. They will likely leave your area in the winter and not return until spring. They may have young if they are actually living in your house. I would spend time locating their entrance and wait until cold weather sets in and seal it up. They can get through a very small crack or opening.

[Mark Blatter]

I rented a cabin on Flathead lake once and we had a bat show up in the living room. We opened the outside door, then I stood in the middle swinging a heavy book around trying to scare it out into the night. It worked after about ten minutes. I think the key was more the title of the book then my swinging technique. It was Harry Potter 5, so you might try that.

That was my only experience with bats. Skunks I have more practical suggestions for if need be.

[Robert LaPlaca]

I found a few threads regarding bats but none to help me with my issue. Twice this summer, my wife poked me in the ribs in bed and yelled out that we had a bat in the bedroom. Nothing like that to contribute to a sleepless night. I have some bats in our attic and can't for the life of me figure out how they are getting into the living quarters. I don't want to harm them but am checking on ways to get them out of the attic.


Oh my, SWMBO would have an easy solution for the elimination of the bats in your home, its called a for sale sign on the front yard and that would be after the first sighting.. I shutter to think what would happen on the second occurrence..

[George Bokros]

W had bats in our attic. I called a specialist to do the job. He found likely entry / exit points and installed bat cones which let them out but they cannot get back in. He sealed up all the areas where they could be entering except for the two or three most likely points which where he placed the bat cones. After about a week he came back and sealed those remaining areas. H gave two year guarantee on the work. He told me they can enter through an opening as small as 3/8" x 1".

Yes they are an endangered species and it is illegal to kill them.

[Mel Fulks]

Some years back I saved a newspaper clipping about a bat house someone had made for their yard. The main thing that interested me was the design was almost identical to to the Transamerica skyscraper of SF,but built decades before it. The vertical side pieces near the top were IIRC louvered. The article made no mention of the SF building.

[Shawn Christ]

Same situation and solution here. A couple hundred bucks did the job right and did it quickly. I like to do things myself but I wouldn't consider this a DIY job.