Hi Carol, we had the same problem, except many of them got into our living space, so we had to do something about it. I did ALOT of sealing in the attic, and I had found some pretty big holes. A recommended project for just the heat loss in the winter. Anyway, knock on wood, no bats this year. I have read the same stuff about bats getting through tiny holes, but I think if you seal the place up and make the accommodations uncomfortable for them, they won't come back. We found that they were active in the house and attic between 11 PM and 2AM. We have a light on a timer in the attic to go on during that period. We also bought one of these ultrasonic mouse deterrent things (because just having bats and raccoons living in the attic was not enough - we needed mice in the basement!). Anyway, I don't know if the ultrasonic mouse deterrent worked to deter the bats, or the sealing worked, or the lights, but something did!

Good luck!

DH tried the ultrasonic mouse thingy.... they ignored it and so did the mice judging by the number of them I caught in traps. We also tried lights..even put in a pair of skylights to help brighten the place up during their nap time.
Sealing holes we've done some of that...have more to go. Right now it's a matter of having the time AND money. There is one area under the eveaves that needs major mending...however to do that the whole gutter system on the front of the house has to come off...not a easy job cause of the size and once down it needs to be replaced with commercial size gutter system. Taking it off and leaving it alone is not an option since that side of the house has some foundation problems.
Like many have said on this board before one thing leads to another and you've got to be ready once you make your move to take the steps needed to take certain things all the way to their finish. This is one of those things.

Previous owner tried using moth balls and some other chemicals to disway the bats....it did nothing but make a smelly mess which I spent sometime right after we moved in getting rid of.

Part of our problem I believe is that these bats have been coming into this attic for generations. They've been programmed that this is home. Deprograming them is a process. Judging by what I've seen recently up there confinning them to a smaller area has sent some of them off in search of new homes.
Once the other repairs have been made I think it will futher discourage them.

Well, it sounds like you know where the big holes are - just that the solution is large. I was lucky to discover big chunks of masonry missing from the sill in the attic which created drafts in spots. These were easily repaired with mortar. If you can't get around easily in your attic, I would recommend one of those smoke pens they use to discover where drafts are. The spots where my guys were getting in were also well-worn. I think they may still be living in the eaves outside the house, but at least can't get in anymore.

good luck!

You guys amaze me! I lost it when I found one bat in my pie safe after we hadn't sealed a window we were working on and gave the bat access to the house.

I don't want to be an alarmist, but our neighbors had a bat test positive for rabies and the entire family was given the appropriate shots.

On a more positive note I had a bat biologist come to dig bamboo we were giving away to anyone who wanted it. He was an amazing resource for bat info and solutions. I know he lives near Stat College, PA. There have to be others in your areas and they would be a great contact because they want the bats to be able to survive but not harm us.

This is a great topic and I hope we can come up with solutions to keep our homes safe.

Three years ago I had a small infestation of bats--I just about lost it too. I'd awake to find them swooping through the kitchen/living/dining area--it is a bungalow so all these rooms open onto each other. I have several cats whose dancing for the bats woke me up--and then no sleep at all for the rest of the night. It was a terrible experience. I know the poor critters were probably as scared as I was, and I'm warm hearted to all animals--but not those swooping through the house in the middle of the night! It gave me the creeps. Luckily I confined two to the porch, propped the door open, and they left on their own accord. Two others, hidden in a drape, were eventually picked up by animal control. Turned out the bats had probably come down the chimney and out the top of the hot water heater in the basement, then made their way to the first floor. The solution was to put a cap on the chimney, but I also had a handyman scour the outside of the house for holes that needed patching. Three years later and bat free--so far.

We get bats in here regularly, partly because they apparently live in the attic and partly because a screen door might get left open long enough in the summer.

They fly all over the house. Our great room opens up two stories, so they have lots of room. They used to freak me out and we would make great efforts to get them outside. Now I don't worry too much about them. We have been tending to holes, but not all that diligently.

get a cat

No--really bad suggestion. Please don't get a cat to attempt to eliminate bats--bats can carry rabies or other diseases.

Cats aren't the answer to a bat problem. Most healthy bats fly higher than a cat can reach and the sick ones shouldn't be exposed to anymore animals or people than possible.

If you get a bat in the house easiest way to get rid of it is to open the windows or doors in the room its in..turn off the lights and leave it be for about 30 minutes.
Chasing it around only makes you sweat and it more frightened.
Bats that fumble or fall frequently should be avoided, they most likely have rabies and should NOT be touched by humans or animals.

Actually, I would become more informed about bats before making any decisions. There is 1 case of rabies in the US per year that is sourced from bats. Of those recorded between 1980 and 1996, none were little brown bats which is what we have in our attic. Cats and dogs are 100s of times more likely to carry rabies than bats are based on these statistics.

And while the little brown bats that used to live in my attic can live up to 30 years, they eat 1,200 mosquito-sized insects an hour. Important when combatting West Nile virus where I live!

I don't welcome them flying around our house, but I don't want to kill them and am not afraid of them, either. 1,200 mosquitos an hour! How good is that!

ITA beds on their usefulness and Carol on getting rid of them.

In our place, we usually find the bat flying around the great room and have to exit into a room with an outside wall. We close all other doors. Turn light on in said room and don't take our eyes off the door. When bat flies in, we shut the door to the great room, turn light off in new room and open outside door. Watch for bat to leave, shut door.

Really, the easiest thing is to let them fly around and not worry about them. My parents had this place for 20 years before me, so I guess I've just gotten laid back about it.

Try Tupperware and a good tennis racquet.

In 1980, my husband & I (newly married) were living in a 3rd floor apartment in a turn-of-the-century house in Providence, Rhode Island. It was January and our first real taste of winter (being California transplants). One night, I was in the middle of a bad dream - a variation of one I'd had since childhood: a creepy-crawler lowers down from the ceiling & lands on my head. Screaming, "get it off of me," I woke up my husband, who told me to roll over & go back to sleep. i.e., "just a dream." Then he he realized I was face-down in the pillow with my long hair flying every-which-way as if possessed...which it was, by a tiny bat that had found a way through a little-bitty hole in the baseboard and into my hair where it became tangled. Perhaps he was hibernating until the extra heat generated by our plug-in heaters (wimpy Californians!) fooled him into thinking it was spring. So there I was running around the apartment with a bat frantically trying to extricate himself from my hair...and there was my husband: (ahem!) naked, tennis racquet in one hand and tupperware in the other. By this time, the noise woke up the homeowners who lived below. They headed upstairs to see what the "racquet" was all about and got more than they bargained for! It took 2 men - one with a serve good enough to loosen the bat but not brain me - and a tupperware snap-n-save to get the little bat transported down 3 flights and set free into a frosty winter's night. Oh yeah, that recurring bad creepy-crawler dream? Never had it again!

Kathrine,

LOL. That is some kind of story. Still laughing. Glad I have short hair.

I had to share this with my husband too.

AManda

When we moved into our bungalow, we had bats almost everyday in the house. One night, we counted eight that woke us up. I told my DH that if he didn't take care of the bats, I was moving in with HIS mother. And I don't really care for his mother. Well, the "bat man" came, sealed alot of holes, and put up these little cages around holes we suspected where they were getting in. They could get out, but couldn't get back in again. Been 3 years, and we're still bat free. Best $350 I ever spent.

Try living with several hundred bats in your barn. This is one of the things we inherited when we bought this property 12 years ago. Quite frankly I would be happy to rid the place of every single one. OK tell me about all the mosquitos and other flying insects they eat. Well guess what folks, just what do you think those digested insects turn into? And they are just about the most disgusting little creatures I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Every single item in my barn gets covered with bat droppings and urine. The smell is disgusting,and it certainly is not healthy handling tools and implements this way. We have hundreds of bats and we still are overcome by millions of insects so all you people who are trying your hardest to establish your little colony of a half dozen or so bats to control you insect population are highly uninformed! We are dealing with our dilema in a way that would make some of you bat fanciers faint, but I don't care. I want my barn back.I want to use it for its intended purpose and not have to get sick from the smell when I go into it. For those of you compelled to respond and ask me to just imagine how many more insects I would have if I didn't have the bats my answer is, "I don't care"! I don't go out at night. Let the bugs have their time, they get very few meals from anyone in this family.

Hey Joe. I wouldn't want hundreds in my barn either. But we still may put a little bat hut on the property to attract them. Not in the woodshop or in the tank house, just out on the property.

I don't know if we're having a bat problem, but I did go up into the attic this morning to set off one of those bug bombs. I noticed a lot of droppings in 1 spot. I've seem bat droppings before at my sisters, her's are just a bunch of little pellets. This is more than just the little pellets. Still small in size, but not little pellets. Would this still be from a bat? I can't see anywhere that is letting light in. I sleep like a log, but still wouldn't you think I'd hear something up there? There was nothing up there this morning, so my first thought was bats. We had 2 while under rehabbing in the living areas. They were easily removed. Not flying around, just hanging on the walls.

terryr, one sure way to find out is to check almost directly up from wherever you see the droppings. They will roost in the tightest areas so you may need a flashlight and maybe do a little poking around with a stick or something to disturb them a little. Don't worry, they won't attack you. Bats will squeek when they're disturbed. Ours do anyway.

Joe, you want me to go up there at night??? lol...in the day they don't bother me, but at night??
Hubby works nights...can you say CHICKEN??? :>)

terryr, I'd vaccuum up the droppings and go back later to see of there are fresh ones. While vaccuuming the droppings, squeeze them to see if they are rock solid (old) or squishy (new). Gross, I know, but it will tell you if they've been there from years ago or from days ago. Our bat droppings look alot like mouse droppings. The little brown bats that we get in the northeast have droppings that are cylindrical and probably about the size of "if you broke the end off of your lead pencil" back in the days of wood pencils.

terryr -- just check them during the day and see if they squeek at you. Or have your husband check. At night I assume they would be flying around.

Thanks beds and GaleForce...I know they're relatively new. The attic was swept and vacuumed when our stuff was moved in a feew months ago. I asked someone today, and he described them as I couldn't. They're small like bat droppings, but hooked together. He told me it's probably a squirrel. And since they're in during the day, it would explain why I don't hear them. There were no bats in there yesterday while I was looking. No squirrel either. The guy I talked to, told me to get a hav-a-heart cage, which I've got, just not here, and put it up there with some corn as bait and see what I get.

So, now to investigate which it is! Fun, fun....

Terry

Terry,

If the cage has a screen bottom, the squirrel might try getting under the cage to get the grain that falls out. We've had to jimmy some cages around here based on the smart behavior of some of these animals.

Amanda

Amanda,

It isn't screen, it's heavy wire like the rest of cage. I guess you'd say it's probably 1" squares. I can't imagine they'd be able to tip it, but then I'd sure hear them, huh?! We used it to catch coons at another house. So it's a bigger one. Coons never tried tipping it or to get under under, maybe not as smart as squirrels? My husband and I went up and neither us can find a place where a squirrel could get in. We looked outside also.

Hmmm. It is so hard to find all of the nooks and crannies.

Take a picture of the droppings and confirm that you have a squirrel.