Should I tell 'em?

[azsnowman]

gather up the batpoop and make your own mascara.

So....is this why *some* woman have such a crappy outlook on life?

Actually....I've read where bat guano was used in rocket fuel!! Wonder if they eat jalapenos?

[O Town]

So I was watching Animal Planet a few minutes ago and Miami animal police was on.
They went to this fellows house and he had 2 bats inside, they caught them and let them go outside but also found there were more getting in the attic through a broken slat on the attic vent. What they did was put some mess wiring (more like screen thats softer I believe) over the slat area with the bottom part hanging on the outside so it was like a doggy door, they could fly out but not back in. You know the bats will leave every night so it seemed like a simple solution to the problem. They said sure enough 30 more bats flew out of this guys house that night.

I can't believe your neighbor has that many!! They were also saying what a health hazard the bats are as well, all the diseases they carry and how the feces can actually rot out your roof to the inside. GROSS.... I really think they need to know and somehow be set free. I think the above idea is great. Maybe if you get involved and suggest this idea maybe the bats could be set free without returning and remain unharmed. Oh yeah and they were also saying how quickly the population will grow, they had a certain name for it, but those hundred can turn into thousands quickly.

[Stephanie]

gather up the batpoop and make your own mascara.

So....is this why *some* woman have such a crappy outlook on life?

Actually....I've read where bat guano was used in rocket fuel!! Wonder if they eat jalapenos?

DOUBLE EEEEEEWWWWW!!!!

[abajan]

First off, bats are mammals not rodents so they are NOT flying rats. The incident referred to occurred in Venezuela were 38 people died from the consequences of bites from vampire bats (yes such things do exist). Not all bats are protected in AZ only certain species of them. AZ, too bad your neighbors don't have a bell tower because then you could tell them that they have bats in their belfry

Steve

Of course bats are not rats but both are mammals, aren't they?

[azsnowman]

So I was watching Animal Planet a few minutes ago and Miami animal police was on.
They went to this fellows house and he had 2 bats inside, they caught them and let them go outside but also found there were more getting in the attic through a broken slat on the attic vent. What they did was put some mess wiring (more like screen thats softer I believe) over the slat area with the bottom part hanging on the outside so it was like a doggy door, they could fly out but not back in. You know the bats will leave every night so it seemed like a simple solution to the problem. They said sure enough 30 more bats flew out of this guys house that night.

I can't believe your neighbor has that many!! They were also saying what a health hazard the bats are as well, all the diseases they carry and how the feces can actually rot out your roof to the inside. GROSS.... I really think they need to know and somehow be set free. I think the above idea is great. Maybe if you get involved and suggest this idea maybe the bats could be set free without returning and remain unharmed. Oh yeah and they were also saying how quickly the population will grow, they had a certain name for it, but those hundred can turn into thousands quickly.

OTOWN...I thought I had miss counted on the bats so I've been outside just at dusk and recounted and recounted and I've come up with the same number, 183! Two years ago I did half @zz count and came up with 110-120 and now I'm thinking it WAS an accurate account!

Yeah, the diseases the little boogers carry is unreal! Do a Google search on "Bats in Az." and you'll pull up thousands of webpages dealing with the bat issues....the one disease they excrete in their guano is BAD..it's a blood born illness that is first inhaled.

Ya know why Vampire Bats are SO BAD??? Some of them, if you're squimish, don't read THIS Vampire bats have been known to sleep in the guano hence the reason for their bites being so bad!

The bats as I said from the information I've gathered off the websites are getting ready for the trip down south of the border! SO...with that said, my gut tells me different but just knowing the neighbors and how they REALLY are, I'm not going to tell them, they will eventually KILL them and I would have that to deal with! I will however tell them before spring arrives so they can block the entrance...I'll just fix a "Bat Cave" for 'em and welcome them home with opens WINGS

[artist]

they've been there for 2 years or more?? I know they may be the neighbors from hell, but we also reap what we sow...
Now, you are better than this!

[azsnowman]

they've been there for 2 years or more?? I know they may be the neighbors from hell, but we also reap what we sow...
Now, you are better than this!

I know,I AM better than that BUT....as I've said, this people will KILL them, a protected species of bats! I will tell them here in about a month when the bats leave THEN they can deal with the bat poop and all but until then, I will contact the AZ Game & Fish Commision for ideas on dealing with these bats.

And...actually, the bats have been there for OVER 10 years. I've just noticed them again due to the HUGE population!

[Stephanie]

I think that's the best idea. Hopefully they (or the landlord) can close up the openings so the bats can't get back in.

[Pburgh]

Bat guano is really great for your garden.

I'm also surprised that you aren't going to tell them.

[Aslkahuna]

Actually, the bats were originally there LONG before any humans and are protected so that they can reestablish themselves. There are drawbacks to having them around but bats also do good and many local flora would not be able to exist without them.

Steve

[Persepone]

"I guess that I would tell them and warn them about the fact that they are federally protected and will have to be removed, not killed. You're the police after all."

The suggestion to contact the landlord is probably the right one--but make sure that you also tell him that the bats are protected and must be "removed" rather than "killed."

I'm sort of torn about the bats. If they have rabies, they are a health hazard if they bite you. If they live in your attic and it is full of bat droppings, that's perhaps a different hazard--we had guys on Nantucket who got something akin to Hanta virus (and died, I believe) several years ago as a result of cleaning up massive quantities of mouse droppings.

I don't know about the bats in your area, but here, if they are living somewhere other than your attic (bat houses, under bridges, in trees or wherever they live when they don't live in your attic), I don't think they pose a health risk unless they bite you. You'd have to do something to provoke a bat I think to make it bite you--we see ours flying--but they are pretty high in the sky. And they eat mosquitoes. Since we have equine encephalitis and west Nile virus and other nasty mosquito-borne stuff here, the bats are probably a good thing for public health--as long as they are not inside a house.

It think it is the droppings--not the bats per se that are the health hazard unless you come across a sick one. And if you come across a bat, it probably is "sick" or it would not be anywhere near humans in its normal life.

I think what you do to get rid of them is wait until night (after they have flown out) and go in wearing protective gear (e.g., something like "turnout gear") and make sure there are no stragglers and then do a really good job sealing up (rat wire or something similar) the way they were getting in and out. We did something like that years and years ago--but we were talking 3-4 bats maximum, we think. Our inspection turned up no bats, and we sealed up really, really well--and kept checking for months... then our inspections sort of got semi-annual. No bats.

Professional exterminators know how to deal with bats according to regulations.