Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: I was dive bombed by a bat!
From: Robert Chambers <RMCCU@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Date: Friday, 18 Dec 1992 21:12:37 EST
Organization: CUNY/UCC VM Systems

In article <1992Dec17.234448.2382@advtech.uswest.com>, jsims@uswest.com (John
Sims) says:
>
>Peacefully sitting in my family room last night my head was suddenly buzzed
>by a brown flying creature.  At first I thought it was a bird, but then I
>realized that this is December in Colorado and there are no birds.
>
>To make a long story short, I chased it into the basement and realized it
>was a BAT.  I opened a window and tried to get it to leave.  The bat refused
>to leave and has now gone to bat heaven.  (Hey, I tried to get it to leave :-)

Very sad news... (:-(

>The bat was 3-4 inches long with a 12-16 inch wing span.

Probably a common brown bat.

>Anyway if there are any net.bat.experts out there, I'm wondering:

>1) Do bats move in packs, are there likely to be more of them in my house?
>   (Scenes from horror movies come flooding to my mind.)

Depends if your house has anywhere they might like to roost, this is
their hibernation time and they hibernate in cold places like caves
cold attics, belfry's etc.  Look around in cool, quiet, dark places
where they wouldn't be disturbed.

>2) What would a bat nest look like and what should I do if I find one?

Oh its a cave with a butler and all sorts of neat gadgets..  seriously
Bats don't build nests per se... they tend to hang upside down in
places described above. If you find one and it's not hurting anything
PLEASE don't hurt them. Wait till they leave in the spring and then make sure
you close up their way back in - at least this way they live and can find
better accomodations

>3) What attracts bats and how do you get rid of them?

When they are active, food and a nice place to live when they hibernate
a cool quiet non-busy place to sleep.

Why would you want to get rid of them?  I can see if they are in your
house you might want to persuade them to leave, but if they are just
around your premises on the outside.. they will keep the mosquito
population down, along with other nasty bugs.

>4) Based on the bats size, is this an adult or a baby bat?

Almost certainly full grown, baby bats are very cute.. about the size
of a quarter.. soft fur,  depends on species too.

>5) Any other info on bats that might be interesting or relevant.

If you're really interested I suggest you write away to BCI - Bat
Conservation International... You can call them on an 800 number
and they will send you information. I can only locate the number
in their catalog it's 1-800-538-BATS  If they can't send you the
info packet I'm sure they can tell you the other number...

Bats are really complex and interesting creatures.. Did you know
that the average bat can chow down over 600 mosquito's per hour?
How about a flock of those keeping the insect population in check
WITHOUT chemicals.. besides.. their Guano (dung) is very good for
the garden.. natural fertilizer.

As you can probably tell, I like bats...  The general fear of bats
Rabies, Getting caught in womens hair etc etc.. complete rubbish.
You are much more likely to catch rabies from a rabid racoon or
other such animal than you ever are from a bat.  Like only 1% of
all bat-rabies reports were true.  As for womens hair... They can
echolocate a bug flying in the air in the dark... They certainly
aren't going to miss "seeing" a human, regardless of coiffure.

>thanks,

You're welcome... I Hope you do persue this and come over to "Our"
side...

>John Sims

Robert
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