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

[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.