Bat House Forum

[marieb]

We've had bats in our home every year for the past 10 years; started with one stray, now it's up to 6.  Always coming inside the first week of August.  Old 110 year old, Victorian home, so sealing up every crack and crevice is impossible.  Any ideas?
But, our current problem, is that we found a hibernating bat in a pocket door in the first floor of our home; our cat detected it; the bat was probably moving around when we had a heat wave in early January (temp in MIchigan is usually freezing this time of year).  Not pleased to discover that we have bats hibernating; we thought they left and came back in late spring.  Do we just wait until spring and hope it finds its way out of the house and not into our living quarters?  We can't get to it in its present location.  Is a hibernating bat a sign that we have more than just a few bats?  Like maybe a colony?

Thanks.

[Terry Lobdell]

It is probably a big brown bat which sometimes hibernate in attics or walls. It does not neccesarily mean you have a colony. I'll send you a link with info on how to safely exclude them.

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is the link:

http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=51&idSubPage=48

[IowaNate]

 Best thing to do would be to just leave him/her be where it is. If you suspect it entered into the living area near the pocket door and the area isn't commonly used, I would put something to block access out of that room (towel or blanket) if there are gaps around the pocket door. I assume the bat found it's way through the wall and out through the frame of the pocket door. Just be sure not to block the exits that the bat likely came out of. I know of a few houses that bats routinely hibernate in, and the numbers are quite small (less than a dozen bats) and they generally don't occupy those houses in large numbers during the summer months. As Terry said, finding a few bats during the year doesn't neccesarily mean a large colony is occupying your residence.

  I lived in an 80 year old farmhouse for 5 years that had bats living in the attic and walls during both the summer and winter months, and only two bats ever made it into the living area. One bat came through the attic access door that was left open and the other through a gap in an interior door frame. Keeping the attic door shut, and caulking the gap in the door frame solved the problem without the difficulty of having to seal the many exterior cracks and holes on the house. It was a way of sharing my home with the bats, yet keeping them out of the human occupied parts of the house.

  I hope some of the advice you find on the site helps!