Bat House Forum

[Ruscyn]

I have a very successful bat house on the side of my house.  I can tell it's successful by the amount of guano underneath it.   I know that it makes a great fertilizer, but I am concerned about handling it, ie rabies.

Any ideas about handling, processing, disposal?

[BatMan]

I believe and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the guano poses much of a health risk when it's outside. If it were up in an attic or inside a wall then you need to take precautions like using a HEPA vac and wearing a respirator. But since it's outside I would just scatter it around the yard.

[Erik]

The chances of getting exposed to a bat with rabies or even getting infected by handling guano from bats are very, very small. But rabies is a very serious disease and therefor you always have to minimize the risk of getting infected.

I think you can use the guano for you garden. To be safe make sure you wear latex gloves when handling the guano. Aerial infection of rabies is very very rare and I think has only happened in a lab where scientists where working with the rabies virus.
But if you want to wear a mask before your mouth as well, don't hesitate to do so.

If you are uncertain of using the guano because of fear of rabies, then don't use it.
Before I was vaccinated against rabies (I am a bat ecologist) I was once in situation that I realised that I could have been infected. That was very scary!

I don't know how the health system in the US works, but I would suggest that when you work with bats a lot, make sure you know everything about rabies and preferably make sure you get  vaccinated (and keep it up to date).
When you have bat houses in your garden there is also a chance that you will find youngsters that have fallen out the bat house or dead bats.
When you are vaccinated you still need a post-exposition booster in cases you get bitten by a bat (which is easily to prevent) but it gives you more certainty in cases  when  there is  a small risk of exposure with handling a bat or in this case, bat guano.

And by the way: huge piles of guano on attics or in caves or not so much a rabies threat, the risk of getting histoplasmosis from spores of fungus growing in bat guano. It only grows on bat guano in very humid and very hot conditions with poor ventilation. That's not the case with guano underneath bat houses.

I realize I am a Dutch Bat Worker with a background in European bats and European rabies. If bat workers from the US think I am writing the wrong message here, please let me know!

Erik

[Terry Lobdell]

A rubber maid tub under a bat house works very well to catch guano for use as fertilizer. I just put a stick in it in case a bat falls in so it can climb out.

[Joe Spencer]

The easiest thing I found to do is to find some old broken window screens (boarder/frame dented but no rips in screens) and shore them up on a wood frame used as a heightened boarder for excessive rain.  It traps the quano but allows urine and rain to pass through until you're able to dump the guano into your garden trees etc.  I dumped mine a couple times a month and at the end of the season I just turned them upside down and let the next rain wash them out.  It worked great!  If you can't find screens, buy some fiberglass screening at the local hardware store and make your own quite cheaply.  My screens lasted for many seasons.  Agree with Erik. You need not fear guano any more than your pets' dung when it is exposed to outside air.  Finally, one cannot contract rabies from bat guano. 
Joe