i need help getting rid of bats

• Jun 1, 2009

• #1

GaTomkat

Senior Member

We moved into a log home last fall, the previous owners warned up of the bats, but we have had no problems until last month. We can hear them all the time, and on hot days we smell a strong urine-like scent. This morning my wife called me screaming because a baby bat was in the living room (it was hanging upside down asleep on the side of my recliner). I have an exterminator/animal removal hired but every time he gets them out of one area, they just move to another. He said they are protected and he cant kill them, but at this point i dont care. Is there any ideas? anything i can spray on my house? I know they eat bugs but i can handle mosquitos better, atleast they dont make my house stink. please help!

 

• Jun 1, 2009

• #2

J

Jody Hawk

Senior Member

Protected? Never heard of such. I'd be finding out where they're getting in at. You can kill em all day long but you're still gonna have problems until you find where they're getting in at. I got one out of the in-laws house a while back.

 

• Jun 1, 2009

• #3

J

Jody Hawk

Senior Member

Tomkat
Your pest control man must be right. I checked out one website and it says they are protected by Fed and State regs. Did not know that. All the sites that I checked out says the best way to control them is to "bat proof" your home. Good luck with them.

 

• Jun 1, 2009

• #4

fishtail

Senior Member

Look up, how to make bat houses (and do it) and then bat proof your home.
They are very beneficial but don't need to be living with you.

 

• Jun 1, 2009

• #5

earl

Banned

Check the screen wire that should be around the chimney flue.

 

• Jun 1, 2009

• #6

rider1009

Senior Member

I wonder if those ultrasonic anti-rodent devices would drive them out?

 

• Jun 1, 2009

• #7

jonkayak

Senior Member

That urine smell is probably their droppings which can be bad for your health. Bat proof the house then if there are a lot of them living in the attic you might want to have the insulation removed and clean up before having new insulation installed.

 

• Jun 1, 2009

• #8

Jim Baker

Moderator

Staff member

I would bet they are entering you attic via roof vents. Check your roof vents and any gable vents and eve vents to make sure they have metal screen or hardware cloth.

Set up several bright lamps in your attic for several days.
Then seal up any openings you have found.

The bats will quit roosting in your attic if you keep it bright enough for long enough.

Worked for me after about a week we sealed a gable vent with 1/4 in. hardware cloth and no more problems.

Except for the smell. The dropping will smell for a while. We used a concentrated deodorizer that worked pretty good, but I can't remember the name.

 

• Jun 2, 2009

• #9

little rascal

Senior Member

All bats

are protected. You can't paint, put on roof, nothing. Can't do nothing that would disturb them. We had them pretty good last year up in our gable end of the house. It has louvers and a screen wire, a perfect bat box to them. Anyhow, they moved on after fall, and have not shown back yet. Was told I could build bat boxes and they "might use them instead of the house?? I don't bother them, they supposedly eat 10 times their weight in mosquito's a night.
The droppings up there have indicated that last year was not the only year they have been here.

 

• Jun 2, 2009

• #10

GaTomkat

Senior Member

Thanks for all your suggestions. I am going to chat with the exterminater, he is not taking his job seriously. I have 2 little boys that do not need to be exposed to the guano.
Btw, we don't have an attic. Our ceiling goes up to the roof. Apparently, these bats can fit into really small cracks or holes. And I have a lot of cracks etc between the logs, and in the eves.

 

• Jun 2, 2009

• #11

huntfish

Senior Member

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if they have already given birth, then you will have to wait till they take wing (hand). The pups aren't flying out yet and if you seal it now, you are sealing in the pups. Instead of your exterminator, call a specialist. Here's a list off of Bat Conservation International. http://www.batcon.org/index.php/edu.../excluder-listings.html?sorttype=ASC&start=75

The extruders will need to get a permit from WRD. Also have them remove all the guano accumulated. It's can cause histoplasmosis.

 

• Jun 2, 2009

• #12

dawg2

AWOL ADMINISTRATOR

huntfish said:

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if they have already given birth, then you will have to wait till they take wing (hand). The pups aren't flying out yet and if you seal it now, you are sealing in the pups. Instead of your exterminator, call a specialist. Here's a list off of Bat Conservation International. http://www.batcon.org/index.php/edu.../excluder-listings.html?sorttype=ASC&start=75

The extruders will need to get a permit from WRD. Also have them remove all the guano accumulated. It's can cause histoplasmosis.

Click to expand...

What he said. But just getting rid of them is only a piece of the problem. You will have to SEAL every crack and crevice or they will return.

 

• Jun 2, 2009

• #13

huntfish

Senior Member

dawg2 said:

What he said. But just getting rid of them is only a piece of the problem. You will have to SEAL every crack and crevice or they will return.

Click to expand...

That's part of the extruders responsibilty.

 

• Jun 2, 2009

• #14

hiawassee1

Senior Member

and I thought I had it bad with my wife, with a mouse or 2 getting inside the walls. She would have moved out the first time she knew they were living in the house. Good luck, sure hope you get that situation under control. Certainly not a good one, for sure.

 

• Jun 3, 2009

• #15

little rascal

Senior Member

holes

Apparently, these bats can fit into really small cracks or holes. And I have a lot of cracks etc between the logs, and in the eves.

Click to expand...

They told me a bat can fit thru an 1/8" crack????

 

• Jun 3, 2009

• #16

hoochfisher

Banned

once removed fill in any opening on your house with metal screening secured with screws. or get some GREAT STUFF foam sealent. it expands when sprayed to fill any hole and gets hard as a rock. pipe insulation(foam wraping) also works to fill any cracks.

 

• Jun 3, 2009

• #17

wildlands

Senior Member

Fill in all but 2 cracks, opposite ends of the house. When the little ones are flying then find someone with a smoker that you use for smoking bee hives. Then wait till evening when they normally fly out. Go to one end and start puffing the smoke in. This will insure that all the bats will leave out the other end. Then seal off those two openings. Has worked in the pass at my grandmothers house. That is the do it yourself, no permits, cheap way but not legal as they are protected and yes you will need a permit to legally remove them.

 

• Jun 17, 2009

• #18

56willysnut

Senior Member

STROBE LIGHT!!!
Seriously buy a cheap strobe light and put it in the attic, it will drive them nuts and then they will decide to move. I did the same thing on flying squirrels in my attic. My bug guy suggested it- they charge a bundle to do the same thing.
The strobe light messes with their mind!!! Put it on a timer so it works sundown to sunup.

 

• Jun 17, 2009

• #19

Hooked On Quack

REV`REND DR LUV

I too have a log home and had bat problems a couple years ago, cost me over 1K to solve the problem, but they haven't come back. You wouldn't believe how small of a crack they can fit into. Bats were trapped and removed, insulation replaced, and every crack filled with some kind of caulking.

 

• Jun 19, 2009

• #20

56willysnut

Senior Member

Get one of these;

http://www.rodentstrobe.com/index.cfm