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

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.