Bats Removed from College Buildings Treated to New Digs Jim Curry of Ace Wildlife Service installs a bat check valve at Baldwin Cottage. Treated to New Digs By Beth Hommel A bat check valve covers a hole near the roof of Baldwin Cottage, preventing bats from re-entering the building. It is difficult to bat-proof the stone buildings that bats seem to favor.
Bats enter the buildings through small gaps where the stone meets the roof or window frames.
But another problem is the method of removal. At Oberlin, harming the bats is out of the question. So the College hired Ace Wildlife Service to install bat check valves in some of the quarter-sized holes the bats use as entrances. The check valves are screens that allow bats to leave but not re-enter buildings. To increase the odds of bats not returning to the residence halls, Ace's Elbert Adkins and his crew have constructed bat houses so the colonies will have someplace to live besides the dorms.