For 6+ years now I’ve been dealing with a bat colony that developed in my attic. I went through a long period this past summer/fall with no more bats apparent, and the painters closed up or steelwooled another small hole or two they found around the attic roof lines. I have resisted paying a small fortune for “some bat guy” to find entry points; there are no obvious signs around soffits or elsewhere.
However, in the last 4-6 weeks I’ve trapped 3 more after hearing scratching in the wall of a spare bedroom. They’re “generally” in the same part of the house.
From the literature I thought they only hibernated and were inactive in the winter up here in NH. But is it feasible they are still flying at night in this sub-freezing weather? I wonder if I’m dealing with finishing off a colony that is hibernating up there, or if they are actually / actively coming back?
I would get a “bat guy”. You don’t want guano in your attic.
Bats are seriously cool, and I would want (if possible) for them to be relocated. But you have to find the entry point and seal it, and paying a bat guy (who is on the hook if he misses something) is probably worth it.
1pg
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I trust you are aware bats are responsible for more rabies in the country than say dogs - If you show up at the hospital are report a bat bite you will get an unpleasant set of treatments. In the event the authorities cannot find the bat (like the bat is trapped in your house) and determine the specific bat that bit you is not rabid, things can get more complex.
Recommendation - Get the bat guy and make darn sure your attic is bat proof.
My wife is an animal rehab person. She is vaccinated for rabies – like vets. And when she gets bitten by a bat of unknown condition she has to go through a series of injections.
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My elderly mother lives in a 150
Yr old house which has a basement made out of solid rock, blasted with dynamite I assume, full of nooks and crannies.
She had a bat which, once every 6 months will fly upstairs, circle the living room and fly away. Never been able to find it. Haven’t seen it in about 2 years though.
Her attitude was “shrug”. She was more upset about the raccoons that chewed their way into the attic and yes, steel wool and other gruesome dispatch were used. She’s 87.
So yeah it happens.
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For years we went to live plays in the old Fallon House Theater in Columbia, California, in the Sierra foothills… It’s a historic Gold Rush town, the theater had no heat or A/c, so summers were pretty warm. Somewhere there were bats, ad sometime during a play a few bats would come out and swoop around the audience and vanish again. But a couple decades ago they closed it up, added A/C, so, sadly, no more little critters any more, at least inside… UOP, University Of the Pacific (Stockton, CA), put on the plays, always good, new talents, well done… Been year now since we’ve gone, but the bats, they abound in the area, old buildings, mines, caves, any evening, if you watch, you’ll see them out on the hunt, doing their bat things…