| Author | Message | ||
     Hepcat72 (Hepcat72) New member Username: Hepcat72 Post Number: 1 Registered: 08-2012 |
We have a slate roof and a worsening bat problem. Bats, in and of themselves, are fine, but if you want bats around, put up a bat house. There is no benefit to them being in your home. They can bite you in the middle of the night and you wouldn't even know it. This is what we were told by the health department, so we got our rabies shots when we awoke to a bat flying above our heads. My wife and I are planning a stake out tonight to see if we can identify where they are getting out/in so we can put up a one-way exclusion exit. one thing we did which no one has mentioned is I went through the house and used gap-filler to fill in places where bats could get from the attic into the house and this has seemed to work. They haven't gotten into the living spaces since I did that, but some nights you can really hear them scratching around which makes it hard to get to sleep. I found the post about putting up a mesh over the ridge very interesting and am curious about what was done after the bats left. Was the mesh installed permanently or was the ridge otherwise sealed? | ||
| Cindy |
I recently bought an old house with a slate roof. After moving in I discovered that there were bats in the attic. I had a bat control person come to look at the situation. He told me that the cracks between the slates had to be sealed with an expensive caulk to exclude the bats. The estimate he gave was $4,300. I was shocked. Does anyone know if there is a less expensive way to exclude these bats from my attic. Thanks in advance, Cindy | ||
| Joe Jenkins |
Caulking your roof for 4 thousand dollars sounds like a scam. Maybe just flush the money down the toilet now and save the hassle of someone screwing up your roof. Most bats enter the roof through flashings, eaves, gables, and ridges, not through the slates. Try an electronic rodent repellent in your attic. It plugs in and emits a high pitched squeal that is supposed to repel bats. I don't know if these things work. Bats are harmless and beneficial and they don't bother me, so I don't make any effort to get rid of them. In fact, I like having them in my roof. If one gets in the house, you just have to open a door or window and it will soon fly out (and eat more mosquitos). | ||
| Lori |
We have a lovely little bat family that resides in our Vermont 1898 slate-roofed attic every summer. At first I went crazy with bat 'hype' but then I was educated by a nice man from VT Institute of Natural Sciences who told me all about them. I am no longer afraid. I just put a drop cloth under their favorit spot to collect any droppings. We put up a bat house on the outside wall but they don't like it as much. They are not moving anytime soon! p.s. no mosquito bites on our deck! | ||
| Mark Altherr |
Reputable bat exclusion companies won't even work on slate roofs according to those I have spoken with (we have bats and only paid a guy $1000 for a lot of caulk). You could try sealing the exit routes yourself. The bats enter and exit from the same spots each night. I think this is a lost cause if you find multiple points. Just don't seal them in and try not to do anything in July when the pups are born. If they really bother you join Bat Conservation International. | ||
| Mark Altherr |
Reputable bat exclusion companies won't even work on slate roofs according to those I have spoken with (we have bats and only paid a guy $1000 for a lot of caulk). You could try sealing the exit routes yourself. The bats enter and exit from the same spots each night. You will probably see them leaving one at a time from the ridge caps or eaves. You would have to caulk the holes. I think this is a lost cause if you find multiple points. Just don't seal them in and try not to do anything in July when the pups are born. If they really bother you join Bat Conservation International and learn to at least appreciate them. Whatever you do don't kill them, they are hugely beneficial and threatened. | ||
| Susan |
This is a method that worked successfully on a church belfry (yeah, yeah, hold the jokes!) that had bats, but may not be applicable to your house, depending on where the bats enter and exit. A sheet of light-weight mesh was attached over the belfry bat entrance, attached at the top only. When the bats left in the evening, they pushed the mesh out of the way and left. When they returned, the mesh had fallen back into place and they could not get in. For what it's worth... | ||
| bob_chauvin |
How can you tell if it's bats, or mice. I have found guano in the attic crawl space, and hear squeeking/high pitched while sitting at my desk in our finished attic. Are they bats or mice | ||
| Dino |
Just wanted to say that I've been reading this discusion and you all are making me homesick! I grew up in northern NY. We had plenty bats and everyone seemed to just tolerate them. The only "nussance" they cause is guano. Like Lori says, put down a drop cloth and I say SAVE the guano for your garden... if you have one. No bats here on Maui and LOTS of skeetos! | ||
| Mark Altherr |
Sounds like bats. Unless you disturb them the bats become active- ready to go out- at dusk and will squeak as they are leaving. Bat guano is different from mouse droppings- longer mostly- and usually concentrated below exit points. Also, you can catch mice with traps. Also, about mesh. It works as long as you go in and seal up all the exit points, seemingly impossible with a slate roof. You don't need the mesh if you are heartless enough to entomb the bats in your attic. Don't do this in July when the babies are born. | ||
| livtrap |
Bats are a beautiful thing.Very benefical but the guano becomes a problem when it has been accumlating in inaccessible areas for years and starts giving off an odor & mites. I am looking for someone who works on slate roofs to seal with caulk a spefic & designated area. It is high and can't get boom to it. Name your price & its' yours call Doris at 888-548-8727 or 201-945-5689 or e-mail livtrap@hotmail.com | ||
| Melissa |
Evicitng bats from one's home requires alot of patience - if you're a humane person that is. First, you must determine where they are entering and exiting. This can be done by staking out the exterior of your home at dusk and/or dawn - which may require more than one person or several evenings/mornings. Once you identify where they get in and out, you need to install one way doors at a couple entry and egress points, then seal the rest (but only do this BEFORE pups are born or after they are able to leave their nests - the Penn State Cooperative Extension has good information on how to make and install one-way doors and the best times of year to evict bats). Then you must monitor the one way doors regularly to determine when all the bats have exited because not all bats leave every night. Assuming you successfully sealed all the entries and bats are no longer entering (can be determined by monitoring at dawn), and you no longer see bats exiting at dusk, you can safely remove the one-way doors and seal up the final holes. Bats, however, are very beneficial and any decision to evict them from a comfortable home should be considered carefully. We had a very large colony (several hundred bats) residing in our attic, which were causing damage to our home (the interior walls of our second floor rooms were literally bulging with accumulated dung). Several "experts" told us that it is impossible to get rid of bats in a home with a slate roof, but we have been bat free for over three years. We found that while the bats could exit out of the attic under the slates, they could not re-enter into the attic under them. The slates function similar to a one-way door. | ||
| Charles Isaac |
Our 1805 PA Dutch stone house had its original slate roof & a bat colony in the attic some 30 yrs ago when we replaced the roof with asphalt shingles, felt and plywood and carefull caulking. No more bats. Now we are ready to re-roof with lumber tongue & groove plus felt plus Vermont slate and are worried about getting the bats in our attic again. Please, can anyone make suggestions of how to build the roof to make sure bats won't move in? | ||
| Dave Smith |
Bats are dangerous as they are a prime rabies carrier. According to our local dept of health they tested many positive bats this year. They suggest killing the bat and calling health dept to have it tested. If you have kids--you can't have the attitude that "bats are good because they kill mosquitos". | ||
| Anonymous |
How many people die or have been attacked by bats as against the anxiety and misery caused by mosquitos,in north jersey we have seen the re-emergence of bats,as one who has been a victim of severe and potentially fatal mosquito bites i am happier to see the bats restoring the balance of nature |
