Too much guano: Getting Bats out of barn - ideas?

[JDL538]

We have Bats in the barn..We don't have any Mosquitoes very few bugs of any kind...Bats are not a problem for us.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, here's our bat story. I've told it here before, but what the hey....

- Bat flying around in house.
- Kids were sleeping with bedroom doors open.
- Caught the bat in a net.
- Called the health department.
- They said to call the humane society.
- Called humane society.
- They came and got the bat.
- Said they had to send it to bat lab in Indianapolis for testing and would call us if it tested positive for rabies.
- I asked if they'd call us if it tested negative.
- They said NO. Only if its positive.
- I asked how I'd know if they ever tested our bat at all?
- Made them say "Hmmm?"
- Humane society took the bat to a local veterinarian (happened to be our Vet) for euthanization, dry ice packaging, and shipment to Indy on a bus.
- Called the health department again and asked about call if tested negative.
- Health department said they'd never had that request before.... stupid Hoosiers!
- Health department (very sarcastically) said they'd call the bat lab special for us to ease our mind.
- Get call from health department later.....
- They lost our bat. %^&*$!!!
-
- 4 family members will have to get rabies shots at $600 per person not covered by health insurance!!!
- Call my Vet, who shipped the bat.
- He is livid.
- Three other families had bats shipped that day as well.
- He makes some calls. Finds the Indy bat lab picked up the bat at the bus station.
- Gives me the number of the Indy bat lab.
- Call Indy bat lab. They deny picking it up.
- Tell them the name of the person who signed for the bat.
- OH! They'll call me back.
- Find out the Indy bat lab has been closed for a couple weeks for remodeling.
- Call Vet back and he's double livid. Doesn't know where any bats have gone for a couple weeks.
- Local media gets involved.
- Vet finds out Indy has been sending all bats to Kentucky for testing.
- I Google Kentucky Rabies Bat Lab and find a phone number.
- Call number and they tell me the head of the bat lab will call me back.
- Sure he will....
- Head of Kentucky bat lab calls me back and says they have our bat and will test it ASAP.
- Sure they will....
- Mr. Kentucky bat lab calls me back the next day and says it tested negative.
- Sigh of relief. Kentucky bat lab rocks!
- Call Vet. Thanks a lot.
- Call Humane Society. Thanks a lot.
- Call Health Department. You suck!
- Call local media. They report health department sucks.

Epilogue:
Two local families had to get rabies shots because they never found their bats. The procedure was changed to notify everyone of all results, positive or negative, of bat testing. Rabies is NOT curable. Get your pets vaccinated. Don't sleep with your bedroom doors open. Chances of contracting rabies from bat is low. Its blood or saliva has to get into your blood our saliva. Rabies virus dies fast with contact of air. If infected bat spits in your eye or open mouth or bites you (bites are extremely hard to detect), you could be infected. General rule of thumb... if your kids were sleeping unattended by an adult, and you found a bat in their room, its best to have it tested for rabies. If kids were awake, they'd probably know if they had contact with the bat. Chase the bat out of the house. Don't touch it if at all possible. Same thing applies to adults as kids. If you find that kids have been playing with a dead bat, you are screwed. Its probably too decomposed to test for rabies (they look at fresh brain tissue under a microscope) and you're kid should get shots. If you find a dead bat, don't handle it directly.

Enjoy! :laughing:

 

[roadhunter]

I have to ask. What does having the bedroom doors open have to do with attracting bats?

 

[MossRoad]

I have to ask. What does having the bedroom doors open have to do with attracting bats?

It has nothing to do with attracting bats. It isolates the rooms the bats can get into and out of easily.

 

[beowulf]

Do you think you could direct a powerful fan towards where they are sleeping, can you get to their location, maybe some expanding spray foam could fill the void that they are in . If I remember right they dont like mothballs with fermaldihyde ?

The problem is that the barn is very large - about 45 x 65 - and very high with a loft and places everywhere to roost. I have learned that they do not roost directly above where they habitually drop the guano - it seems they go there and crap and then go elsewhere to roost. I found some of the roosting areas but likely they are in many other places. The one thing that stirred them up was spraying them with wasp spray - but they returned. Too large to foam everything. I am going to try those rat sticky pads located near a few roosting locations and then smoke and some of the other suggestions. Then if I also add some bat houses outside the barn like mapper mentions maybe I will have some success.

 

[MossRoad]

Don't let it get out that you're trapping them with sticky pads.... all bat species are protected in CA.

Being ‘Bat Smart’ Benefits Both People and Bats | CDFW News

 

[comancheflight]

Good luck. I had bats in the overhang of my house. Didn't bother me, didn't bother them and living on a lake the mosquitoes were almost zero. After a few years of multiplication factor I had hundreds of bats. Now they are stinking so I decided to get rid of them. I tried everything and nothing worked. The only way I found was to seal up their access. I sealed it up in the winter and springtime, when they returned, they tried to get into absolutely any crack or crevice they could find ...they can get into really tiny spaces. Slowly I got everything sealed..took almost 2 years to get them to give up. Again, good luck.
And if you decide to kill them (again, good luck) you might keep it to yourself since a lot of bats are a protected species.

Some additional info - I tried a lot of things listed so far. I used a lot of moth balls that is listed in books. I even resorted to a BB gun when they came out a dusk. Smart Lil buggers - didn't take long till they would peak out to see if I was there. That was fun but they still won. I think a barn will be a nightmare to eleminate them...
Is the barn insured? Nevermind

 

[Rocky J]

I had a problem with birds in my tire warehouse, they perched on the truss rafters and po oped all over ever tire in the racks, we had it on our hands , clothes shoes, just not good, had to keep plastic wrap over the desk and paper work. The chirping at times was overwhelming. One day we had a Anhydrous tank stop by for a tire repair, the driver said he would run them off. He ran the vapor line into the building and shut the doors, gave it a 30 minute leak and the next day they were gone, must have flew out the hole they came in. It even fixed the mouse problem. It must have left a coating on all the rafters because they stayed gone.The only negative was it changed the color of all the carbon copy work orders to brand new colors. So maybe you could buy a few gallon of the cheap Ammonia at the store around $1.50 a gallon and put it in pans for a few day and stink them out or maybe a pump up sprayer on there roosting area, it will kill germs also. I have used it to strip floor wax and it ran me off a few times.

 

[jimmyj]

I assume the barn has a zillion entry points for the bats so blocking them probably isn't a reasonable suggestion. But, I have also read about people who put big bat houses outside their structures right beside the main bat entry, and then blocked the bat entry and the bats moved into the "new home". Whatever you do, lights, etc, if you give them alternate housing I bet it will work better.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Well, here's our bat story. I've told it here before, but what the hey....

- Bat flying around in house.
- Kids were sleeping with bedroom doors open.
- Caught the bat in a net.
- Called the health department.
- They said to call the humane society.
- Called humane society.
- They came and got the bat.
- Said they had to send it to bat lab in Indianapolis for testing and would call us if it tested positive for rabies.
- I asked if they'd call us if it tested negative.
- They said NO. Only if its positive.
- I asked how I'd know if they ever tested our bat at all?
- Made them say "Hmmm?"
- Humane society took the bat to a local veterinarian (happened to be our Vet) for euthanization, dry ice packaging, and shipment to Indy on a bus.
- Called the health department again and asked about call if tested negative.
- Health department said they'd never had that request before.... stupid Hoosiers!
- Health department (very sarcastically) said they'd call the bat lab special for us to ease our mind.
- Get call from health department later.....
- They lost our bat. %^&*$!!!
-
- 4 family members will have to get rabies shots at $600 per person not covered by health insurance!!!
- Call my Vet, who shipped the bat.
- He is livid.
- Three other families had bats shipped that day as well.
- He makes some calls. Finds the Indy bat lab picked up the bat at the bus station.
- Gives me the number of the Indy bat lab.
- Call Indy bat lab. They deny picking it up.
- Tell them the name of the person who signed for the bat.
- OH! They'll call me back.
- Find out the Indy bat lab has been closed for a couple weeks for remodeling.
- Call Vet back and he's double livid. Doesn't know where any bats have gone for a couple weeks.
- Local media gets involved.
- Vet finds out Indy has been sending all bats to Kentucky for testing.
- I Google Kentucky Rabies Bat Lab and find a phone number.
- Call number and they tell me the head of the bat lab will call me back.
- Sure he will....
- Head of Kentucky bat lab calls me back and says they have our bat and will test it ASAP.
- Sure they will....
- Mr. Kentucky bat lab calls me back the next day and says it tested negative.
- Sigh of relief. Kentucky bat lab rocks!
- Call Vet. Thanks a lot.
- Call Humane Society. Thanks a lot.
- Call Health Department. You suck!
- Call local media. They report health department sucks.

Epilogue:
Two local families had to get rabies shots because they never found their bats. The procedure was changed to notify everyone of all results, positive or negative, of bat testing. Rabies is NOT curable. Get your pets vaccinated. Don't sleep with your bedroom doors open. Chances of contracting rabies from bat is low. Its blood or saliva has to get into your blood our saliva. Rabies virus dies fast with contact of air. If infected bat spits in your eye or open mouth or bites you (bites are extremely hard to detect), you could be infected. General rule of thumb... if your kids were sleeping unattended by an adult, and you found a bat in their room, its best to have it tested for rabies. If kids were awake, they'd probably know if they had contact with the bat. Chase the bat out of the house. Don't touch it if at all possible. Same thing applies to adults as kids. If you find that kids have been playing with a dead bat, you are screwed. Its probably too decomposed to test for rabies (they look at fresh brain tissue under a microscope) and you're kid should get shots. If you find a dead bat, don't handle it directly.

Enjoy! :laughing:

I would take the health threats seriously. There have been some rare, but real instances of people who entered bat caves, exposed to guano and the material suspended in the air, and contacted rabies. I'll take mosquitoes over bats any day.

Oh. One thought...it might be worth it in the long run to contact a professional exterminator.