BATS IN MY BELFRY!

[Dona]

I love my "new' old bank barn.....but have discovered that the upper floor (where I store everything....hay, straw, supply tubs, misc stuff) is full of bats! Now I don't mind having bats around because I know they keep the bugs down. I have even picked up babies when I find them on the floor to save them from the cats. But, there is bat poop piling up all over everything!!!!! YUK! From Googling it, I know the poop & the dust from sweeping it can cause a variety of illnesses, and I'd rather not deal with it, or having to clean it off my equipment all the time.

Has anyone else dealt with this, and what have you done to get rid of them....at least get them down to a managable number!

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Lights, they hate lights...

 

[disneyhorse]

I would love to have bats around.

Can you look into "bat houses" so that they roost somewhere you wouldn't mind them.... so they'd be around but not in your barn?

Andrea

 

[Sixstardanes]

Here's a site with info & suggestions.

http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/odor-rem...et-rid-of-bats/

 

[Miniv]

Andrea/Disney Horse took the words out of my mouth!

Put up some BAT HOUSES.

 

[REO]

Dona, is there any way you can hang tarps or wood up right under the rafters? Put up some kind of sub-ceiling? So the poop lands up there? (think umbrella LOL)

Bats can get in narrow spaces so a sub-ceiling might work.

 

[mini1]

Be careful with those crazy things.

There was an article in our newspaper just last week about a local guy (we're in southeast iowa) that got bit by a bat. He put his arm into the leg of a pair of jeans he was getting ready to wash to turn them right side out and something stung his hand. When he pulled his arm out, there was a bat chewing on his little finger. He killed the bat and went to the emergency room. They sent the bat for testing and it was rabid. He is currently undergoing a series of shots for rabies.

When I read the article I was a little surprised. Rabies isn't something you hear alot about anymore but is still out there.

Just a little sidenote, guess it doesn't really help with your problem.

Kelly

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Kelly is right, bats can carry rabies. That doesn't mean you need to go kill them all or anything, but be careful if you see one acting oddly!

If you - or anyone here - is bitten by an animal you believe might be rabid, you need to bring the animal in for testing. (On a similar note, if you get bitten by a spider and are afraid it might be venomous, try to catch it and bring it to the ER with you for identification. Can you tell I work at a nurse line? *LOL*)

Other than that, I'd think some sort of subroof for now, leaving lights on, and building bat houses.

Leia