Matryoshka Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Yeesh. I love bats - they eat their body weight in mosquitoes every day! But would they please stay out of my living area? Every year, the first week in July, they come visit us. We did have two years without any, I thought we'd plugged all the holes, but we just got our third bat this week! Yesterday one hit me in the head!! :willy_nilly: :svengo: And dh gets annoyed when I run into the other room and slam the door instead of calmly staying in the room and watching where it lands. :eek: :gnorsi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Bats completely freak me out! I can't imagine how much I would freak out if one touched me. Yuck! We lived in a house that was frequented by bats. It was horrible. From what I've read, the only real solution is to hire a professional. Sorry you're dealing with this. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowing Brook Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 You have my sympathies. Here is my recent bat experience. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/479229-if-this-doest-win-me-house-cleaner-of-the-year-award-nothing-will/ Although a couple years ago I saw what appeared to be two bats having teA. That was quite interesting and something I don't think I will ever forget. I was out at a dock fishing about eight o'clock at night and when I left at midnight the two bats were still at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I know how you feel. I hate it when bats come to visit. Half the time they find their own way out and that's kind've creepy too. Our house is quite old. I don't think we could find all the little holes they fit through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 I know how you feel. I hate it when bats come to visit. Half the time they find their own way out and that's kind've creepy too. Our house is quite old. I don't think we could find all the little holes they fit through. This would be the exact problem. Our house was built in 1880 - so many tiny holes! Do you know how small a hole a bat can fit through - well, if you also have an old house, you probably do... I don't want to have to get rid of them entirely - they eat so many mosquitoes!! I just don't want them flying around inside the living area!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 You have my sympathies. Here is my recent bat experience. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/479229-if-this-doest-win-me-house-cleaner-of-the-year-award-nothing-will/ Although a couple years ago I saw what appeared to be two bats having teA. That was quite interesting and something I don't think I will ever forget. I was out at a dock fishing about eight o'clock at night and when I left at midnight the two bats were still at it. Oh my. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 So if I visited you, could I say, "We can't stop here. This is bat country!"? Because I've always wanted to say that. Sorry they're taking advantage of your hospitality. Little winged ingrates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrygal Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 ugh ((( shivers ))) I woke up a couple years ago with squeaking above me - it was hanging on my headboard. I had nightmares about getting rabies. I guess I'm still alive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 ugh ((( shivers ))) I woke up a couple years ago with squeaking above me - it was hanging on my headboard. I had nightmares about getting rabies. I guess I'm still alive! AAAAHHH! My silly dh can't hear them. He got the one last night and it was squeaking so loud my dd came downstairs to find out what the ruckus was - he still couldn't hear it. We finally cried uncle and all got rabies shots, or I'd constantly be a mess. If they fly around when you're sleeping they can bite you without you're ever knowing until it's too late... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrygal Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I did ask a doctor about it and we have the larger bats (brown bats?!) not the silver-hair ones and he said I'd have to be quite intoxicated to not know if I was bitten by one of those. The smaller bats are the ones you can't feel. The county health department didn't seem too concerned either. Creepy. I did grow up with bats frequently in the house and we thought nothing of it then, but it really bothers me now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaOfalotta Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 We have a ton outside (we live in the country) but never in the house. Whew. That stinks OP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 We had one in our house a couple years ago. It was terrifying for me! We ended up calling "Batman" and he inspected our house. We had a colony of them living in our attic. ACK!!!! I still sleep with a tennis racket by my bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 If there are bats in your home while you are asleep you need to consider rabies risk. Talk to someone in your area who is knowledgeable, you can start by asking your doctor. In my area rabies is a big problem, and anyone who has bats in their house while asleep is urged by the CDC to get rabies shots. I think the risk varies by area, but don't ignore the possibility. If someone in your family is bitten, it will be too late to treat them once they show symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 There are 1 or 2 human case of rabies every year in the USA. 1 or 2. In the whole country. The crazy fear of bats—who have a very important role in suppressing populations of insects like mosquitos—is overblown. Keep perspective. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 There are 1 or 2 human case of rabies every year in the USA. 1 or 2. In the whole country. The crazy fear of bats—who have a very important role in suppressing populations of incests like mosquitos—is overblown. Keep perspective. Bill Yeah, but 100% of the rabies deaths are from bats, exactly because people don't realize they've been bitten, which is what allows the disease to progress to where it's no longer curable. If a raccoon or a fox bites you, you know it. there are about 40,000 cases of exposure to rabies per year in the US, only a small percentage of them are from bats, but all the deaths are from bats - everyone else gets treatment and doesn't develop rabies. As I said in my OP, I love bats. I love the natural mosquito control. I love going out at dusk and watching them swoop and dive. But I don't love them in my living space, and the medical community's advice is definitely to get your rabies shots if you've been asleep in a room with a bat. Which is why we've all gotten our shots- because we do love bats and I'd rather just get the shots and deal with shooing them out one week a year than getting rid of the bats. But I'd also love to find all those little holes and keep them on their side of the wall!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSOchristie Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 We found a bat in the house two years ago. We had to capture it, take it to the health department, they sent it to Richmond, chopped off it's head and tested it for rabies. The bat was acting weird in the house, so we were afraid it was sick, and we had a four month old at the time. Those were two of the longest days of my life! Thankfully, it was negative for rabies, but I really don't want to ever go through that again :/. If one was on my headboard, I might honestly have a heart attack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhschool Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 What about maybe drywalling the inside of your house? I might do that if bats were getting in. That would plug up the holes I think. Bill, you misspelled insects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Bill, you misspelled insects. Insects, incest, what's the difference? :D Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 There are 1 or 2 human case of rabies every year in the USA. 1 or 2. In the whole country. The crazy fear of bats—who have a very important role in suppressing populations of insects like mosquitos—is overblown. Keep perspective. Bill I'm not sure exactly what this means. Bats are great outside. If you wake up with one in the house, then talk to a local expert in bats and rabies for your area. You don't have to do anything to the bat at that point (unless you can catch it), but if they say get the shots get the shots. Once rabies is diagnosed in a human it is not treatable and fatal. The CDC says this of the low rate of rabies deaths: The number of rabies-related human deaths in the United States has declined from more than 100 annually at the turn of the century to one or two per year in the 1990's. Modern day prophylaxis has proven nearly 100% successful. In the United States, human fatalities associated with rabies occur in people who fail to seek medical assistance, usually because they were unaware of their exposure. http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/usa/index.html First note that the number of deaths not cases in the US is 1 or 2 per year. Based on further reading on the CDC website this does not include anyone who sought early treatment for a suspected bite only people who are not diagnosed until later and eventually die. As for anyone possibly exposed to rabies note the bolded section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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