Bat's....How to get rid of them

[Jay Jolliffe]

Some bats have moved into the soffit of my house & I really don't want them there. Anyone know how to get rid of them.

[Charles Goodnight]

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you NOT get rid of your bats until you talk to the Maine DNR or something. Bats are an essential part of the ecosystem (they eat thousands of mosquitoes per bat). About two years ago the white nose syndrome arrived. Nobody knows where it came from, and I would never speculate about the New Zealand spelunkers that explored a cave in an upstate New York immediately before the disease showed up. In any case the New England bat population has been devastated, with population levels dropping 90% or more. Last year I did not see a single bat. This year I have seen a few. ANYTHING we can do to help these little insect vacuums is great. Please consult with somebody before you get rid of them.

It probably actually makes sense to get rid of them before they hibernate. If you expel them after that you might as well just kill them.

The usual technique is to wait until dark when the bats are out foraging, and then seal their exit hole while they are gone. They often have a couple of holes, so find the obvious one, seal it when they are gone, then figure out how they got in when they show up the next morning. While you are trying to get rid of them its not a bad idea to put some plastic or newspaper under the area they roost in to make it easier to clean up the poop (and wear a respirator when you are working up where they roost. )

[Eric DeSilva]

I wish I had bats. Maybe make a bat house nearby before sealing their existing door so they have a place to go? And can still eat mosquitos in your environs?

[Gary Max]

I have a pair living in one of the eves---heck the are a hoot to watch. They fly like they have been drinking.

[Curt Harms]

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you NOT get rid of your bats until you talk to the Maine DNR or something. Bats are an essential part of the ecosystem (they eat thousands of mosquitoes per bat). About two years ago the white nose syndrome arrived. Nobody knows where it came from, and I would never speculate about the New Zealand spelunkers that explored a cave in an upstate New York immediately before the disease showed up. In any case the New England bat population has been devastated, with population levels dropping 90% or more. Last year I did not see a single bat. This year I have seen a few. ANYTHING we can do to help these little insect vacuums is great. Please consult with somebody before you get rid of them.

It probably actually makes sense to get rid of them before they hibernate. If you expel them after that you might as well just kill them.

The usual technique is to wait until dark when the bats are out foraging, and then seal their exit hole while they are gone. They often have a couple of holes, so find the obvious one, seal it when they are gone, then figure out how they got in when they show up the next morning. While you are trying to get rid of them its not a bad idea to put some plastic or newspaper under the area they roost in to make it easier to clean up the poop (and wear a respirator when you are working up where they roost. )

+1 to what Charles said. There is (was) a huge colony in a cave not far from here. After the fungus or whatever became known they put up a barred gate to limit human access trying to keep the white nose out. The disease still got in and the thinking is 90+% mortality. This is a big thing when bats feast on the carriers of the West Nile virus among other mosquito borne diseases. Maybe there's somebody that can relocate them like relocating bee colonies.

[Brian Libby]

Bats are VERY GOOD. Contact cooperative extension in your area or State agriculture department.

[Jerome Stanek]

I've tried to get bats to move into my bat house but they just won't.

[Jay Jolliffe]

I'll catch the ones I have & ship them to you Jerome. I don't want to kill them, I would rather they didn't live in the soffit of my house. They are fun to watch. Months back my wife & I were laying in the back yard waiting for the meteor storm we were suppose to be able to see & they were dive bombing us. That didn't go over to big with my wife so we went in. I could tell you a story but you wouldn't believe me. No one has yet. It's about a bat the flew through a wall......

[Dan Hintz]

I've tried to get bats to move into my bat house but they just won't.

Good luck with that. When the University of Florida built their bat house (about 10' x 10', on 30' stilts), it took 5 years (give or take) before the bats started moving in. You can't really attract them, just hope they like the new digs and stay. Now I believe that tiny spot houses over 100k bats. It's cool to watch them come out and swarm all around you, throw your hand up and they change course mid-air and swoop around it.

[Jerome Stanek]

The bats weren't after you it was the mosquitoes that were around your head they were after.

[Rick Gibson]

Put some lights in there and leave them on 24/7 they will move on their own. I've got one that likes to hang above my back door. As long as I leave the light on they go somewhere else.

[Walt Nicholson]

Take an old CD that you don't use anymore, hang it with some fishing line a couple of feet below the peak of the roof near where you have seen the bats. They will go away quickly. Don't know why it works (someone said it messes with their radar) but I have seen it work on several occasions. Wish we had more around here. They do a great job keeping the mosquitos away.

[John Fabre]

Does anyone want a old bat, I mean mother-in-law, she's really good on keeping mosquitos away.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Does anyone want a old bat, I mean mother-in-law, she's really good on keeping mosquitos away.

Let us know where you end up when you get kicked out of the house................

[Dan Hintz]

Does anyone want a old bat, I mean mother-in-law, she's really good on keeping mosquitos away.

Why would I trade one small blood-sucking beast for a larger one?