attacked while doing a glue up

["Jason Belous"]

Happy new years everyone,

Well I need alittle advice on ridding my shop of demonic demons.

Last night about 11:30 p.m. , yes thats right I rang in the new year doing a glue up for a client, loml must be a saint. Well back to the problem, so their I am in the midst of clamps, traped I see a slight shadow out of the corner of my eye, figure must be nothing I am probably just getting tired. So I reach down and torque down the last clamp and wipe the last spec of glue from my clients precious new vanity top and as I look up I see a bat about 4" from my face and of course being the man that I am I scream like my four year old girl at bed time, and with all the evel intent of a savaged beast this little thing hits me dead in the side of the face. So I do what any college grad professional man would do I drop to the ground and army crawl my way out of the shop and take post outside the door with a broom. Well in all of the comotion of me being a little girl I lost track of him and the evil still resides in my shop. Happy new Year to me.

The facts:
Shop was built in 1920"s
Concrete block walls with a limestone exterior- haven for evils without homes.

Recently added heat about a month ago.

Any advice on ridding these guys from my shop would be great, not willing to retire at the ripe age of 32. I reside in michigan.

[Jim Becker]

Well...at least they eat the bugs!!

Interesting way to "ring in the new year", Jason!

[Matt Meiser]

You could get an owl or a falcon to eat the bats They used to get into my parents house 1860's brick house fairly often. A couple years ago they had all of the wood trim wrapped in aluminum & vinyl and had all the windows replaced which seems to have eliminated the problem.

[Michael Gibbons]

Well here's a couple things to ponder. You added heat to the building so now you probably awakened them from their hibernation. Since the middle of the night,( see 11:30 pm)which is their busy time, they probably think it's summer and time to go look for bugs for dinner. You'll need to find any possible holes in the structure near the roof and fill in the gaps. They can fit in a hole as small as 1/2"-3/4". You can either hire someone or remove them yourself. Wear gloves and you might want a fine mesh net to catch them if you miss with your hands. Heck, after 7 years I'm still trying to find out how the mice are getting into my house.

[John C. Wilson]

Jason , If you have a tennis racket put it to good use and practice your overarm serve! Just kidding, but a tennis racket does work to knock down those beadie eyed- blood sucking-dive bombing mice with wings. Been there, done that. Seirously, if you put out a open bucket of water the bats will try to drink, fall in , get their wings wet and then drown. Have known alot of our neighbors who use to do this in their attics of older farm homes. But...... But now in Iowa them little critters are "protected" under certain laws . Ha! They get in my house, it's open season. Good luck and don't let one get tangled in your hair! Just kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steve Clardy]

ROFLOL

Sorry. No help here with the bat problem, except maybe a shotgun

[Michael Morgan]

Last summer on a hot humid night we had a bad storm and knocked the power out, it started getting pretty warm after the storm had passed so my wife opened the window cause no electric means no central air. Anyway two bats came in through the window (no screen). I got a battery powered lantern and a piece of about 1 x 4 cherry (I don't know why I chose that as my first line of defense )and got them both within 10 minutes and about 100 swings and misses. I don't like bats but they don't scare me like snakes do! Yuck, if a snake got into my house or shop I would probably set fire to the whole thing

[Ben Grunow]

I have heard that if you put a tennis ball in a pair of panty hose and throw it up in the air a bunch of times while the bat is flying around, they will zero in on it and their claws (or whatever they have) get stuck in it and they fall to the floor allowing you to drag the whole mess outside or smash it with a flat shovel (depending on the individuals temperment). Never tried it myself (panty hose or flat shovel).

[Bill Turpin]

You might want to contact your local health dept about RABIES!

Bill in WNC mountains

[Mike Sheppard]

Jason
I had them in my attic, spread two boxs of moth balls around and they left.
Mike

[Steve Schoene]

I solved my bat problem by closing the "cat door" after the sweet tabby brought a bat into the bedroom at 2 am. This was a bat that was still capable of flying around the room while the feline climbed my bare arms to try to reach the critter. (It took years for the scars to competely disappear.) After that, said cat had to meow for admittance and subject itself to inspection.

[David Epperson]

Well...at least they eat the bugs!!

How many bugs are around in winter Michigan? A single bat will eat it's weight in mosquitos each night. The lower levels of Blanchard Springs Caverns are closed to tours during the winters because of bat hibernations. They say that if they are disturbed during the time when there is not enough food around, they will starve. I have a few in my shop during the warmer months, but since it's not heated, they leave in the winter. So long as they keep the mosquito population down I don't mind much.

[Rennie Heuer]

Any advice on ridding these guys from my shop would be great, not willing to retire at the ripe age of 32. I reside in michigan.

Let's see. Garlic for werewolves...... oh yea, try a crucifix.

Couldn't resist.

[Ken Garlock]

Jason, you probably scared the 'P' out of the bat.

I would do as Bill T advised, and check with the health dept. Otherwise, just put on some leather gloves and assist the little bugger outside.

A good idea would be to put a bat house up on a pole for a nesting site. If they are not rabid, bats are good to have around the area, they really eat up the mosquitoes. Down the road from me, the city of Austin maintains/protects a cave (or maybe it is the superstructure under a bridge) filled with bats. Each night the bats come out around dusk by the thousands of thousands. People gather around the site to watch the bats come out.

We have had a bat house up for several years, but we haven't had any takers.