From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: I was dive bombed by a bat!
Date: 22 Dec 92 05:41:42 GMT
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada

In article <92353.211237RMCCU@CUNYVM.BITNET> RMCCU@CUNYVM.BITNET (Robert Chambers) writes:
>In article <1992Dec17.234448.2382@advtech.uswest.com>, jsims@uswest.com (John
>Sims) says:

>>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 :-)

>>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

To amplify a bit:

Bats are terrific bug control.  Far better than any artificial means,
such as chemicals or bug zappers.  I wish we had a colony or two nearby.
I will be working on building some bat houses in the spring...

That being said, you really don't want to have a bat colony in your
attic or on the outside of your house (I've seen them nesting between
horizontal siding boards).  Rabies isn't the issue.  Toxoplasmosis from
the feces is - high concentrations of the stuff has been known to
cause severe problems.  But, outside, off the house, there is *no*
danger.

That being said, if you find a bat colony in an unacceptable place during
the winter, leave it alone if at all possible.  Bats *mostly* hibernate
during the winter.  If disturbed, they can wake up and fly around.  However,
their energy reserves are so precarious that waking them up once or twice
can cause them to run out of energy and die before spring comes.  And they'll
certainly die if you evict them from their nesting place.

So, if you find them in your attic during the winter, feces isn't a problem
because they're not defecating much at all.  Leave 'em alone until the
very early spring and *gently* evict them.  Ie: block up return holes after
they've gone out foraging.  If you're smart, you'll erect some bat boxes
on some trees nearby before doing this, and if you're lucky, the bats will
nest in their new home to keep the bugs down.

It's neat to watch them hunting.  When we saw the house that had them
in the siding, when dusk came, there they were buzzing and zipping
around.  Particularly neat because they didn't seem shy of the flood
lights in the eaves.

>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.

For sure.  In Ontario, rabies capital of North America, only one
or two of the 1500-3000 annual reports of human contact with rabid
animals involves a bat.  Here the main vector is foxes and skunks.
The remainder mostly being unvaccinated dogs and cats, and a surprising
number of cattle (no kidding!) thrown in for good measure.
-- 
Chris Lewis; clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
Psroff 3.0 info: psroff-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Ferret list: ferret-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca