Anyone here ever dealt with bats in the attic of an older house?

[JRHawk2003]

I realize I may get no real input on this, but what the heck.

I moved into an older house a few months back, and my kid said he heard stuff in the walls. Well I never saw any mice or anything. Then I put a glue trap in the crawlspace to see if it caught something. Yep. 4 bats. Anyone here have any experience getting these out of a house? I dont have a desire to kill them if at all possible.

 

[The Tradition]

It sounds like the glue traps are working pretty good…

 

[The Tradition]

I had a colleague in North Carolina who had bats in his house. Apparently you can only have them professionally removed at certain times of the year. He had to hurry up and get it done before the window closed.

 

[desihawk]

You could mail them to the institute of virology.

 

[Gimmered]

My parents had bats get into the attic and eventually a few would get into the house. Bug spray got them to fly away, but killed a few. The two things you need to do is screen off the vent they're coming into after you get them out and then be careful as possible dealing with the bat shit. It's really dangerous.

 

[SoDakHawk]

Not good. Die from the Rona or they'll suck the blood dry from you. Nasty things them bats.

Ts & Ps. RIP in Peace.

 

[NoleinATL]

As Trad said check local ordinance, but usually no go between like March and June because of the babies that cant fly.

Once you are outside the window, find all entry exit points, seal all entry and exit points except the main entry. On the the main entry, use a trap door or exclusion door so when they fly out that cant get back in, done and done

 

[TailgateTom]

We’d get a bat or two a year in the house I grew up in. Racquetball racket took care of those little bastards in a hurry.

 

[JRHawk2003]

My parents had bats get into the attic and eventually a few would get into the house. Bug spray got them to fly away, but killed a few. The two things you need to do is screen off the vent they're coming into after you get them out and then be careful as possible dealing with the bat shit. It's really dangerous.

There is no obvious entry point. I am about to go outside here at dusk and see if I can see them leaving. I guess it doesnt take much of a gap.

 

[NoleinATL]

There is no obvious entry point. I am about to go outside here at dusk and see if I can see them leaving. I guess it doesnt take much of a gap.

If you do not see the bats tonight, tomorrow during the day look for pee and poop as they are usually evident at main entry

 

[cjnoles9399]

I’ll ask my buddy Bruce next time I see him. He’s had some issues with them in his mansion in the past.

 

[Gimmered]

There is no obvious entry point. I am about to go outside here at dusk and see if I can see them leaving. I guess it doesnt take much of a gap.

Not much, in our case, it was the vent at the peak that the screen on the inside and fallen away with time. I replaced the screens with steel diamond lath. They tend to hide in the louvered vents for shade. Attic have to be vented for air circulation, It might be helpful to put up a bat habitat to give them a new home, they're actually fun to watch.

 

[Bearhawk0505]

Hire a professional to remove them and detect where they may be getting in, so you can fix it. Bats are good……they eat thousands of mosquitoes.

 

[Gimmered]

You'll know it when you find them up there.

 

[JRHawk2003]

If you do not see the bats tonight, tomorrow during the day look for pee and poop as they are usually evident at main entry

My roof is a different color, but has a similar corner

 

[Fan In Black]

my whole childhood. We sealed all cracks, filled holes with steel wool, etc.

I hate bats so much.

 

[nu2u]

We’d get a bat or two a year in the house I grew up in. Racquetball racket took care of those little bastards in a hurry.

Yep. We live in an older Victorian style home built in 1912. I've searched every damn inch of the attic in an attempt to seal any entry points yet we still get one or two into the living quarters every year. Tennis racquet swing practice. Those bastards can enter in the tiniest of cracks and even move thru wall gaps once the get in.

 

[Pinehawk]

I have a canoe paddle that doubles as a bat smasher.

 

[JRHawk2003]

I have no desire to have any more killed. I just want them gone.

They did leave me another little nice present: Bat mites....which are similar to bedbugs. Nice. I have sprayed for those.

One more thing: The sonic devices do jack shit.

 

[Fan In Black]

bats and barn swallows suck ass.

 

[PoopandBoogers]

We’d get a bat or two a year in the house I grew up in. Racquetball racket took care of those little bastards in a hurry.

Lol. I've used a tennis racquet once.

 

[PoopandBoogers]

There is no obvious entry point. I am about to go outside here at dusk and see if I can see them leaving. I guess it doesnt take much of a gap.

Nope. They can flatten themselves extremely well and can squirm into the thinnest of openings.

 

[ICWestfan]

I realize I may get no real input on this, but what the heck.

I moved into an older house a few months back, and my kid said he heard stuff in the walls. Well I never saw any mice or anything. Then I put a glue trap in the crawlspace to see if it caught something. Yep. 4 bats. Anyone here have any experience getting these out of a house? I dont have a desire to kill them if at all possible.

 

[MeyerLansky]

Not sure your location but we had this company come out and take care of our problem. Highly recommend. https://www.bobcatpest.com/

They located a couple of their entry spots which were just like the ones Nole shared, and they used this:

The Bat Valve is a one-way door device designed to aid in the removal of bats from buildings. ... This tube allows for proper positioning of the bat removal tool so that bats can exit the structure at dusk but not return to roost at dawn.

They also put screens over the roof vents to prevent entry.

 

[Monzon]

We got a new roof put on in 2019. Roofer did not fully seal, and as a result discovered several bats up there in March while wiring a new home generator.

We ended up using tubes, suctioning all of the insulation out, fully sealing and reinsulating. We got them out before they laid pups... or it would have been a lot worse.

 

[artradley]

Whatever you do, for the love of god do not eat them.

 

[Bank of Hawk]

Yep, got a few last year and after the second one this year flying in the house the other night, .. I ended up paying p$650 last week and the company sealed up the vents, cleaned and disinfected and put a one way door for the bats still up there to leave and a two year call free or charge callback if bats are still in the house over that period.

 

[eightno2002]

House we bought had bats. We had the sellers remedy it by hiring a professional. About $500z

 

[MepoDawg#]

We moved into a house in February. Had to have radon mitigation done. They informed us we have bats. Quoted us $6k to remove them. We called another place that some friends have used, quoted $3k, but spent a lot more time looking and gave us a detailed quote. They’ll fix any siding, roof, garage door etc that needs to be to keep them out. Said we have a colony in the attic, probably 30-40. Haven’t heard them though.

The window here is Apri into early May then again mid-August through September. Of course, they were booked up so we missed the spring window. Previous owners put a bat house on the side of the house The company we’re using guarantees everything and will come back for free as long as you live there and is transferable to next owners. House is only 30 years old with 2 additions less the 15 years.

 

[Herky T Hawk]

20 years ago I lived in the fraternity house across the street from Daum Hall for a year when we were renting it from the owners since their frat was kicked off campus at the time. That house would classify as an old house.

During the summer I was the only one staying in the house and I was up on the third floor in my room watching tv with the lights off, windows open, and barely any clothes on since it was Iowa summer hot in a house with no air conditioning. Started seeing motion out of the corner of my eye and found out a bat was swooping back and forth in my room. Eventually he flew back into a small closet that was in the loft space of the room, up a ladder into area where the attic would normally be. I grabbed my hockey stick and closed the door from a distance while hanging off the ladder. Blocked up the bottom of the closet door gap with some stuff from the loft, threw on some clothes, and then spent the night at my girlfriends apartment. There was no way I was going to be able to get to sleep in that room that night.

Next day I had animal control come out and we took a look together. Turned out there was attic access from the back of that closet and some very small gaps around it. So I bought some expanding foam insulation and sealed that up tight and then went around looking for something similar in all of the other rooms. There was a room at the other end of the house that had the same access door that also needed sealing. We never did anything to the outside of the house. All that mattered to us was keeping them out of the living space since we didn’t own the house.

 

[ghost80]

Yep. We live in an older Victorian style home built in 1912. I've searched every damn inch of the attic in an attempt to seal any entry points yet we still get one or two into the living quarters every year. Tennis racquet swing practice. Those bastards can enter in the tiniest of cracks and even move thru wall gaps once the get in.

Side swing or a backswing like raquetball. Their sonar can make a frontal shot hard.

A good backswing and the following high speed collision with a wall usually starches them.

Fishing nets from the side works well if you do not want to hurt them.

 

[SoDakHawk]

I’ll ask my buddy Bruce next time I see him. He’s had some issues with them in his mansion in the past.

Thanks for your call. Sorry I wasn't able to answer, I was working late last night. A bit of a joke if you ask me. I have this riddle I just can't quite solve. Anyway, to answer your question, I'm going to have to talk to Alfred. I'll get back to you.

 

[h-hawk]

Upstairs of house at 221 E Fairchild, Iowa City. We did many of the things mentioned above - covered vents and bottom of door to attic with wire mesh to try and keep them out.

Before that I was called over there by my future wife and a sister-in-law to to chase one out before we married and lived there. The tennis racket was a Miss Chrissy

2 freakiest incidents - was frying hamburger and noticed on dark peg board behind stove, a bat was being awakened from his sleep by the cooking.
And one time walking down hall early in morning, a bat came gliding down the hallway from the other end and flew over my head.

We wound up killing a couple which I still feel a little guilty about.

 

[Titanhawk2]

I realize I may get no real input on this, but what the heck.

I moved into an older house a few months back, and my kid said he heard stuff in the walls. Well I never saw any mice or anything. Then I put a glue trap in the crawlspace to see if it caught something. Yep. 4 bats. Anyone here have any experience getting these out of a house? I dont have a desire to kill them if at all possible.

They do keep you from getting wasps and hornets

 

[mustang_hawk]

If your house has dormers you should check under the dormer overhang where it meets the house roof. My house was built in the 30’s and there was an open area in the roof at the spot where the two met. I had that spot closed off with sheet metal 25 years ago and have had no bats since.