Just as I was about to fall asleep last night, the wife and daughter decide to pull something down out of the attic. I'm in that altered state of consciousness just before sleep when I here a couple of shrill screams, then laughter, then more screams, then those two idiots scrambling down the pull down to the attic. Spent the next 2 hours picking up bats and putting them in a trash can, then stapling wire mesh over the gable vents. Got around 50 of the little non flyers and only around 10 of the flyers. Lots escaped. Throughout the night the flyers kept finding their way into the house. Must of caught another dozen or so flyers last night. Got up this morning and fished another 10 non flyers out from their hiding spot. Had them in a trash can on the deck and all night long the momma bats kept trying to get in the can where the babies were. Looks like I'll be building a bat house later today. So now I can cross off getting up close and personal with a bat from my bucket list.
We had them in our old house too, but surprisingly not our building/apartment. Good plan to build a bat house, they’re really awesome creatures and hare beneficial to have around, albeit at a bit greater distance than your attic.
Good thing you got them while awake- if you were woken up by then, the local health department will suggest getting rabies shots. We went through that about 5 years ago.
That’s something I hope to never become an expert in.
I always wondered who on the forum had bats in his belfry. Now I know.
Ugh, dealing with bats brings back bad memories. I had to sweep up bat crap in the attic of a building built in the 1890s. In summer. In Nebraska. With no breathing protection. Just a push broom. I probably have consumption or black lung or the plague.
Ah, the life of an E1...
SVreX
MegaDork
6/19/18 12:36 p.m.
Tennis racket. Their radar can’t see it.
If you gotta evict the little bastards, you might as well have some fun doing it!
stanger_missle said:
Ugh, dealing with bats brings back bad memories. I had to sweep up bat crap in the attic of a building built in the 1890s. In summer. In Nebraska. With no breathing protection. Just a push broom. I probably have consumption or black lung or the plague.
Ah, the life of an E1...
Dude, I didn't realize you were so old...a private in the 1890's.
If you have a linen closet you might want to empty the shelves and check. We visited a friend's summer house that had been locked up for a couple of months and found a few dead bats laid out between the towels in the linen closet. They crawled in and died there. Kinda odd...
Bat house built. Stuck it in the trash can with the bats. Bats moved in with a little persuasion and then I covered the bottom with some cardboard and waited for them to go back to sleep. These things are heavy sleepers. Installed the house on the side of my garage. Found one more baby up there this afternoon. Just caught two more flyers in my bedroom just now. Let them go outside and wow are there a lot of bats flying around squeaking out there. Every single one of those bats, large and small, made it thru the ordeal. Hopefully no more bats, no more shrieking women.
How did you go about catching them? It took me about an hour to catch one flier for a neighbor years ago. Obviously I’m no expert.
So do we call you Batman now? 
I hope you had avoided any chance of skin contact. Bat teeth are so sharp that you can't feel them bite, or tell that it's happened afterwards.
Also, were any of them in the living space while anyone in the family was sleeping?
I recommend reviewing all of this with your county health department.
The ones in the attic were easy pickings. Just picked them up with leather welding gauntlets. The flyers were either caught with a blanket, or I just waited until they were tired out and snatched them out of the air. Only took a couple of minutes each on average to catch a flyer. They tire out quickly as long as you keep them flying. Much easier if you have them confined to one room. Use the blankets opened up and held high to herd them where you want them to go. Sort of like how I herd my chickens at night back into their cage. Not worried about any bites from these guys. Pretty easy to stay away from the teeth. Compared to some of the other animals, I've caught and handled over the years, these guys are easy. Pissed off venomous snakes, thats another story. I've been an animal lover since I was able to walk. Brought home my first eastern diamond back when I was in kindergarten. Grew up in a small town near State College Pa. where there were so many copperheads that you could catch them and leave them in a pillow case hanging from the mailbox. Mailman would collect them and drop them off at Penn State's herpetology dept. You literally had to look out the window every time you left the house to make sure there were no bears between you and the car. Living here in Mass now is pretty boring, unless you like turkeys.
Try a Mercat. Here in MA they are becoming more prevalent as more development occurs they are betting forced to live closer to humans. The ones we have in the area have greatly reduced the cat population over the last 6-7 years. You don’t want to get between them and there food or there baby’s. Mean nasty creature. I did not realize how big they are until I saw one skirting the edge of my back yard hunting something.
In reply to dean1484 :
What the heck is a mercat?
Floating Doc said:
spitfirebill said:
In reply to dean1484 :
What the heck is a mercat?
??????
Oh, I know! The rare Mercury Bobcat!
I thought they were only dangerous when approached rapidly from the rear!
In reply to dean1484 :
Do you mean a fisher cat?
