Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2019 18:53:53 -0500
From: Cathy Nakayama
Subject: Bats
Bats.
I recently bought a four-year-old house in Powell Place. Because of the numbers of bats that have been taken out of attics in this neighborhood I called a wildlife damage specialist named George Norfleet a.k.a. BATMAN. He was here last week. Although there are screens over the slats at both ends of the attic for ventilation, bats had been sitting in those slats and pooping and peeing INTO the attic. He showed me all the black bat poop. The inspector should have seen all this when he inspected the house however he did not.
He vacuumed up the poop and sterilized the area with bleach and water. He and his partner also checked the roof and the eaves etc. for other places were bats and squirrels could get into the house.
He found two holes behind a dormer window on the roof that a man could stick his arm through. He patched these and other things up with screens and caulking.
There were cracks also that they showed me between the roof and the house where bats could get in and they caulked these also. He says it looks like I had at least 4 to 5 bats hanging out at the ends of the house in the slats.
Apparently some houses look more bat friendly than others. From the front my house does not look bat friendly at first glance.
The problem is even if you don’t mind them sitting in the slats and pooping and peeing into your attic, eventually they will decide you have a nice house and they want to get into the attic and have their babies.
Once there are young babies, it is against the law to remove them. You have to wait until they are old enough and they all fly out some night for dinner, and then you can install bat valves that let them out but do not let them in.
I guess meanwhile you can have all the other caulking and stuff done as long as you check first to see if you have live bats in your attic and make sure they have a way out. It is not legal to kill them or hurt them. Bats are good and they can’t help it that they need somewhere to live.
Bat poop is a little smaller than mouse poop but it’s very sticky. BATMAN showed me where there is bat poop on the side of the house next to me where the bats have been marking their territory over there also. By the amount of bat poop that had been pooped into my attic, BATMAN can tell approximately how many bats sat there pooping.
Please remember bats do not routinely attack people. They are great eaters of insects and very important to the ecosystem. However if one was in your house their bite is painless and they can bite you in your sleep. If they are loose in your house, you will need to get rabies vaccinations.
BATMAN stated that although they had pooped into the ends of my attic, there was no evidence of them having been actually flying around inside the attic.. (Yet)
His phone is 800-437-1375
Price of the job depends on how badly infested your house is but I think you are talking at least $400-$600. An anti-bat job or bat job is good for five years guaranteed.
Cathy Nakayama