OT: Bat in House

[uconnphil2016]

Just moved into a house this winter in Glastonbury, and as I'm sitting on the couch watching TV tonight I keep seeing what looks like a shadow over my head. I look up and see an bat. Freaked me the heck out. We can't get the damn bat out, and now I'm upstairs holed up. Called pest services but no answer on a saturday night. Any tips?

 

[huskymedic]

Just moved into a house this winter in Glastonbury, and as I'm sitting on the couch watching TV tonight I keep seeing what looks like a shadow over my head. I look up and see an ***** bat. Freaked me the heck out. We can't get the damn bat out, and now I'm upstairs holed up. Called pest services but no answer on a saturday night. Any tips?

AMHERST COLLEGE - BAT RESPONSE PROTOCOLS

Bat Capture Procedures
- Both primary response police cars are now equipped with bat protective gloves and containers, and one is fitted with an extendable net for bats in flight.

o Bat on Ceiling/Wall – with bat gloves donned,

§ clear the area or room and close the doors and windows
§ slowly (because bats are sensitive to movement) place a large open mouth container over the bat
§ slide a piece of cardboard between the wall and the container relocating the bat to the inside of the can/container.
§ place appropriate cover over top of can/container while simultaneously removing the cardboard.
§ screw on or tape down the cover to prevent bat from escaping, and
§ label lid of container BAT – Do Not Open

o CO2 Fire Extinguisher (option 2)
§ If the bat is in a bad location, such as a corner of the area or room, spray the bat with CO2 from a CO2 fire extinguisher.
· the bat will drop to the floor into a pre-placed container that you can place a cover on, or
· pick the bat up with either the bat gloves, kitchen tongs or forceps and place it into a container with securable cap or cover
§ label lid of container BAT – Do Not Open

o Bat in Flight – with bat gloves donned
§ With the net, you need to capture the bat from behind.
· Once the bat is in the net pull and secure the draw string to keep the bat from escaping
§ To transfer the bat from the net, freeze the bat with a CO2 extinguisher and transfer with either the bat gloves or large kitchen tongs/forceps


I wouldn't go w/ the extinguisher option. No net use a bed sheet.

Have to admit - I saw the headline and checked Twitter to see if Randy lit the bat signal again.

 

[uconntailgater]

If you have a baseball glove handy that works well.

 

[sportsart]

Maybe you could use Randy's bat signal to draw it out.

Oh wait, he has a Husky signal. Nevermind.

 

[huskymedic]

Don't Freak Out LOL...

 

[uconnphil2016]

Don't Freak Out LOL...

May be a bit late for that! May or may not have cursed at family members a few times during the process. No door in the room where the bat was found, but it's confined to 3 rooms downstairs. Just sort of waiting it out now hoping it flies out. Thanks for the info!

 

[CTMike]

@ help Mike out!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The other day somewhere on this board someone was looking for advice on a bug problem. If the two of you get together you may be able to solve each other's problem.

 

[Scalito]

Just moved into a house this winter in Glastonbury, and as I'm sitting on the couch watching TV tonight I keep seeing what looks like a shadow over my head. I look up and see an ***** bat. Freaked me the heck out. We can't get the damn bat out, and now I'm upstairs holed up. Called pest services but no answer on a saturday night. Any tips?

Open up a window and doors. It is nighttime. The bat wants to be out hunting and will feel the draft.

 

[Scalito]

Just moved into a house this winter in Glastonbury, and as I'm sitting on the couch watching TV tonight I keep seeing what looks like a shadow over my head. I look up and see an ***** bat. Freaked me the heck out. We can't get the damn bat out, and now I'm upstairs holed up. Called pest services but no answer on a saturday night. Any tips?

I have had a couple bats since I moved into my place. If he is on your first floor, he probably just got in for the night and pest services isn't going to help you too much. What is gonna cost you is if he lives in your house. Bat proofing is expensive.

 

[UCFBfan]

So this is so bizarre because I had this happen to me last night. Wife was out with friends and kids were in bed. Sitting watching tv and all of a sudden this damn bat starts flying circles in the room. We have a pellet stove in that room but I didn't think anything could get in so I figured it came in when we had the door open.

Wife comes home to me outside with a broom in my hand, windows open and door open. The damn thing wouldn't go anywhere. Just flew in circles. I tried throwing a blanket on it, shooing it with a broom, nothing.

Finally, the bat landed on the brick above the stove and I swatted it with the broom. It made a thud on the doorway and the wife went to go pick it up with a shovel when it flew away!

Fast forward 10 mins later and the damn thing comes back in through the pellet stove! So we discover d the entry point. At this point I called Animal Control. They came right over and caught it in what looked like a container you get from a Chinese food restaurant! Insane.

The officer said he couldn't recommend any services to check if there's a colony in my chimney but said if you google search CT NWCO there will be a PDF link to NWCO licensed folks who can help you out.

Right now my pellet stove is covered in duct tape over any opening. We've had a blanket up all day covering the entrance from the room to the rest of the house.

Supposedly, July-August is when the young bats start learning to fly and get lost or caught up.

I will say, we had the door open for a good 35 min and the bat never flew out. Call Animal Control or the police dispatch number.

 

[UCFBfan]

To add to it. We called at 10:00 at night and Animal Control was there in 10 min. If you call the dispatch number you're more likely to get someone out to you. I live in Southington and the Animal Control guy told us that they have hours on weekends but if you call dispatch when they're closed, they'll page one of them and have them come out.

 

[Scalito]

So this is so bizarre because I had this happen to me last night. Wife was out with friends and kids were in bed. Sitting watching tv and all of a sudden this damn bat starts flying circles in the room. We have a pellet stove in that room but I didn't think anything could get in so I figured it came in when we had the door open.

Wife comes home to me outside with a broom in my hand, windows open and door open. The damn thing wouldn't go anywhere. Just flew in circles. I tried throwing a blanket on it, shooing it with a broom, nothing.

Finally, the bat landed on the brick above the stove and I swatted it with the broom. It made a thud on the doorway and the wife went to go pick it up with a shovel when it flew away!

Fast forward 10 mins later and the damn thing comes back in through the pellet stove! So we discover d the entry point. At this point I called Animal Control. They came right over and caught it in what looked like a container you get from a Chinese food restaurant! Insane.

The officer said he couldn't recommend any services to check if there's a colony in my chimney but said if you google search CT NWCO there will be a PDF link to NWCO licensed folks who can help you out.

Right now my pellet stove is covered in duct tape over any opening. We've had a blanket up all day covering the entrance from the room to the rest of the house.

Supposedly, July-August is when the young bats start learning to fly and get lost or caught up.

I will say, we had the door open for a good 35 min and the bat never flew out. Call Animal Control or the police dispatch number.

You might be in trouble timing wise. At least in NY, you are not allowed to "exclude" bats from your home when the bats are raising bat babies.

 

[UCFBfan]

You might be in trouble timing wise. At least in NY, you are not allowed to "exclude" bats from your home when the bats are raising bat babies.

We spoke to a NWCO person today and told them what we did and he didn't have any problems with it. Animal control recommended same thing. The NWCO company is coming out Monday hopefully to check out the chimney and see if we have an issue or not. Hoping it was just a rogue bat who got in!

 

[UCFBfan]

We spoke to a NWCO person today and told them what we did and he didn't have any problems with it. Animal control recommended same thing. The NWCO company is coming out Monday hopefully to check out the chimney and see if we have an issue or not. Hoping it was just a rogue bat who got in!

Plus they can get back out the top of the chimney. That's how they got in, that's how they can get out. We'll hopefully find out more Monday and be bat free until then.

 

[UCFBfan]

Hey @uconnphil2016 we called Wildlife Control Services and their number is 860-236-2683. They seem to have multiple locations but they specialize in humane bat removal. The Animal Control officer told us to make sure any pest service you call specializes in bats amongst whatever else they get rid of.

 

[Scalito]

We spoke to a NWCO person today and told them what we did and he didn't have any problems with it. Animal control recommended same thing. The NWCO company is coming out Monday hopefully to check out the chimney and see if we have an issue or not. Hoping it was just a rogue bat who got in!

I didn't mean to suggest you did anything wrong, just that you might have trouble hiring pest services to install exclusion doors for a while (they install one way doors that let the bats fly out but not in). I am no expert on bat mating times, just know that NY prohibits the bat doors when bats are raising little bats (you wouldn't want them starving and rotting in your walls anyway).

Any way, good luck---I feel your pain. I accidentally caught the last bat who invaded in between my window and the window screen.

 

[UCFBfan]

I didn't mean to suggest you did anything wrong, just that you might have trouble hiring pest services to install exclusion doors for a while (they install one way doors that let the bats fly out but not in). I am no expert on bat mating times, just know that NY prohibits the bat doors when bats are raising little bats (you wouldn't want them starving and rotting in your walls anyway).

Any way, good luck---I feel your pain. I accidentally caught the last bat who invaded in between my window and the window screen.

View attachment 23853

Thanks. I got what your saying now. We just checked out the site of the company we called and they focus on humane removal. They said that you don't wanna do any exclusion during these months for the reason you said, the young bats will die and the odor will be nasty.

Hoping none of this matter sand it was a random bat that entered the house through our stove. If not and we have a colony in the chimney, chalk up another joy of home ownership!

 

[Purple Stein]

Years ago, we had a bat in on house. My wife is a veterinarian, and we had a dog -- both of them were of course rabies vaccinated. And then there was me, an IT guy with no rabies vaccination on board, elected to deal with the bat.

My strategy was to open all windows and run at it with a broom raised high in the air, screaming vowel sounds. After about 45 minutes, this "worked" (as in, the bat found an open window). All my screaming made my annoying neighbors angry, too, so it was a win-win.

 

[JMick]

I didn't mean to suggest you did anything wrong, just that you might have trouble hiring pest services to install exclusion doors for a while (they install one way doors that let the bats fly out but not in). I am no expert on bat mating times, just know that NY prohibits the bat doors when bats are raising little bats (you wouldn't want them starving and rotting in your walls anyway).

Any way, good luck---I feel your pain. I accidentally caught the last bat who invaded in between my window and the window screen.

View attachment 23853

and screamed like a little girl

 

[Scalito]

and screamed like a little girl

You better believe. I don't do nature inside my home.

 

[Fishy]

Just moved into a house this winter in Glastonbury, and as I'm sitting on the couch watching TV tonight I keep seeing what looks like a shadow over my head. I look up and see an ***** bat. Freaked me the heck out. We can't get the damn bat out, and now I'm upstairs holed up. Called pest services but no answer on a saturday night. Any tips?

I prefer Hyatts, but in a pinch, a Marriott will do.

Before you go, turn on all the gas burners and shut the windows. Nature and the laws of thermodynamics will deal with the bat.

 

[huskymedic]

I prefer Hyatts, but in a pinch, a Marriott will do.

Before you go, turn on all the gas burners and shut the windows. Nature and the laws of thermodynamics will deal with the bat.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I love it. Phil is holed upstairs in his new house because a bat has invaded his home and of course the first thing that comes to mind is "let me post on the BY for help".

 

[TheDrifter75]

The bats are your friend.