Bat Removal?

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know of a good bat removal specialist? I want someone that will come to my house at 3am if there's a bat flying around. Any idea how much it costs?

I don't have any flying around right now, but we get them several times/year, including one last week. I usually make my husband deal with them, but he's on a business trip, and I am terrified we'll have one when he's not home. I'm usually not such a wimp, but bats are the one thing I just can't deal with. (and yes, I know they eat bugs, and have cute furry faces, and are good for the environment, and deserve to live in Somerville just as much as I do....just keep them out of my house!)

(and forgive me for being new at this Livejournal...I think I'm supposed to tag this somehow, but I don't know what I'm supposed to call it)

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I would suggest calling a competent pest-control professional during what might reasonably be considered "business hours" and asking what to do in the event of future bat encounters. Bats are their department. As far as solving the problem on a longer-term basis, a pest-control person can come over to the house and suggest ways of sealing up the house so they don't get in. They're getting in somewhere; assuming you're not leaving windows open this means that some part of the house is open to the outside, and/or youv'e got a colony in the rafters. If you own, you can call them yourself. If you rent, this is up to your landlord. Your landlord is responsible for providing a dwelling free of vermin and that includes bats.

Good luck.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

if there's a colony already, this time of year, chances are good you can't do anything about it legally until the weather is warmer, and even then.

call a state animal agency, parks, animal control. they are PROBABLY a protected species. messing with them will get you jail time and huge fines. afaik.

best be careful first.

#

[docorion.livejournal.com]

Sadly, they're also a public health problem. There's a reason, but the poster sounds like she'd rather not know. Regardless, having a colony in a house is definitely Not OK, and the landlord can and ought to be made to remove them. I'm with bikergeek; call your landlord if you have one, or a pest control agency if you do not.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I tend to agree. There's a bat colony near my house, and in the summer at night I like to sit out on the balcony while they flutter around.

That said though, I can understand why she wouldn't want one inside the house. Nor would I, as my cats would surely attack it.

[squirrelitude]

I stumbled across this post, what... 7 years later? and felt I needed to post a correction anyhow -- if not for you, at least for anyone else who reads this.

The guidelines in MA are that if you have been asleep in a room where a bat has been loose, you are *required* to get a rabies prophylactic and vaccine. It's a little draconian and scary, but rabies doesn't show symptoms until it's too late. Also, the shots are *way* less dangerous than they used to be, thanks to some recent research & development at MGH.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Aw man, this makes me want to build a bat box! But I never see them near me.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I agree with the first commenter. If this is a persistent problem, then they are living somewhere in the house. Don't wait until 3 a.m., have the landlord call an exterminator during business hours to remove the bats (and block their entrance to the house) to prevent future flyarounds.

If it happens again, close the doors to that room and open the window, turn the lights out and leave the room. They'll get out themselves if they have a chance and aren't trying to avoid the big scary predator in the room.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the responses. I found a few bat-proofing companies, and will call and see what the deal is. We own the house, so there's no landlord I can call. The problem is that we're in a perpetual state of renovating, so there are plenty of holes in the house.

The reason I'm so freaked out by them is that 3 yrs ago, we were woken to the screeching of a bat. Our cat caught one flying inside the house. My husband put it in a bag, and the next morning, we called animal control to ask what we should do with it. They picked it up, and it tested positive for rabies. If our cat was not up to date on her vaccinations, they would have put her in quarentine for a long time. Apparently a bat can bite you while you're sleeping and you wouldn't feel it, because their teeth are so small and they're so fast. If you get rabies, you die. There is no cure. The Dept of Health called us and basically demanded we get rabies vacccines. I got 8 shots over the course of 2 weeks. My then 8 month old son got 5. So, no, they are not cool, beautiful creatures when they're flying around my bedroom.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

Wow. I can totally understand why bats make you nervous. That's a terrible story.

[docorion.livejournal.com]

Ah. So you know why bats in your house are Not OK.

Where were you that you got 8 shots? The standard rabies immunization in the US is 3 shots, unless you're bitten, when you need some shots in the area of the bite. (I prescribe these as part of my work-I'm an emergency physician).

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

I got the shots at Harvard Vanguard in Davis 3 1/2 yrs ago. I got 3 shots the first day, then had to return 4 or 5 times over the course of 2-3 weeks. My husband got his at Mass General, and they followed the same protocol.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

You can stun a bat by shining a flashlight at it. This helps a lot with the putting a wastebasket over it and then dealing in the morning.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

"Set flashlight on stun!" :-)

Bats

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

Bats are beautiful creatures that have no intention to harm people, they just need a home to live in. But of course they might be causing some slight damage to your home.
Best Pest control in Somerville 617-625-4850
very professional call and leave a message and they will get back to you on asap

how I evict bats

[davelew.livejournal.com]

I grew up around here, and we got a couple bats in our house every summer. I don't recall any indoor bats in the winter, though. I agree with the poster who mentioned the flashlight; bats avoid light, and immediately roost and stay very still when it gets light. They also tend to avoid getting hit by spritzes of water.

My method for getting rid of bats (derived from much trial and error, and after I had broken a few light bulbs with my ill-conceived butterfly net technique) was this:

1) turn on the lights in every room except the one with the bat,
2) open a window in the room with bat
3) turn OFF the lights in the room with the bat (to wake him up).
4) wait for the bat to fly out the open window. If the bat ever stops and perches on the crown molding or a framed picture, spritz him with the squirt gun.

I don't much like bats, but with a little squirt gun in my hand, I feel more empowered and less afraid.

One final note: for some reason, bats like to rest while hanging upside down. If you have any framed black-and-white prints, or ink-and-paper drawings, you'd be surprised how hard it is to spot a bat hanging from the top of the frame over the front of the print.