Bat in the House

Wagtail · Feb 8, 2016

As I sat down in my favourite chair to watch the evening news (6pm, cloudy outside) a little bat flew out from behind the TV, as quiet as, well, a bat. [He/she? I'll call 'him' Barry. Which means he automatically gets the Aussie nickname "Bazza"] The house has cathedral ceilings, so wee Bazza went upstairs to hang out in the guest bedroom to either find his way out (however he got in) or wait until it got truly dark. I'm not concerned, all Tasmanian bats are of the micro variety and only eat insects. A quick Google confirms that none are carrying any virus.

I'm not an All Lights Blazing sort of bloke. Subtle lighting for me. So around 9pm, Barry came down from upstairs looking for mossies to eat... going around & around the livingroom.

Hmmmm... how do I help poor Barry out. I don't have a net. He's of no harm to me and I wear my hair as a #2 buzzcut, so there's no chance of him getting tangled. What to do?

K.I.S.S.

I opened the door and stepped back. Out goes Bazza!

I'm going to miss the wee bloke. :wave:

Ed of all trades · Feb 8, 2016

That is a great way to look at it, many would have tried to kill it or ...... Instead you have a good memory. We should all act more like that wather it is a bat or a broken tractor. Ed

Al 2 · Feb 8, 2016

As you did. Open a door or window and they pick up on the air currents and out they go.
Al

TomSeller · Feb 8, 2016

I had one get in the house and lightly trapped it with a sheet since it didn't seem to want to leave. Got lucky actually. I took the little fella outside and let it go. Cool looking little guy. I have been meaning to make some bat boxes, they are good to have around.

oosik · Feb 8, 2016

The couple of times I've had a bat fly in - just open the door and they will quickly exit. The less you disturb them - the quicker they are able to concentrate on finding the open door.

jimmyj · Feb 8, 2016

We've had a few over the year too. We always shoo them out or catch them with a box or something and let them go. Good story.

gwstang · Feb 8, 2016

I just watched a show about a teenager that was sleeping and a bat got in his room and evidently bit him and he didn't even know it. Started feeling worse and worse over a couple of weeks. He had rabies and died from it. He never knew it got him until it was too late. Terrible. Never fool with a bat. Find out where it got in and stop it. Those things can be carriers and not even get sick from it.

Wagtail · Feb 8, 2016

Well, gwstang, as I wrote, I did a bit of Googling to confirm that our Tassie bats weren't carrying anything... rabies was mentioned but, hey, darn near any critter can carry it or other disease. The only advice given was that, if you need to handle one, to wear leather gloves to avoid scratches and to see a doctor if you were scratched. Sensible advice.

There's been no sign of Barry in the house today, so he must've slipped in Sunday night when I came in from having a pipe outside. As I've also said, I'm not concerned. All 8 varieties of Tasmanian bats are micro & eat only insects. None live in caves... they live in tree hollows.

Too bad, as I would certainly set up a bat-box if I thought it would encourage them to live around me and eat the real disease carriers = mosquitoes.

kco · Feb 9, 2016

We seem to get a bat once or twice each summer. We usually try Oosik's suggestion of simply opening doors. It often does not work because our house is an open 2-story type so they often go up to the 2nd storey. And even that is "open" as the walls are partition walls that don't go to the roof. So the bat has the complete run of the house.

I always put on a leather gloves and can often catch them if I let them land on a wall or the brick chimney. They will stay there if I don't move too fast. What I discovered two years ago was to keep them moving until they tire. They are often too high to get from a chair or step ladder so I gently wave a broom to keep them moving. After 10 minutes or so of not letting them rest they seem to tire and are more inclined to stay on the wall.

We have a bat house for them about 200' from our house. On nice summer evenings we see them every night at dusk. Bats are protected in BC.

MH8675309 · Feb 9, 2016

A neighbor of ours got bit by a bat that was between their mattress and the wall. They caught it killed and sent it for testing and it tested positive for rabies. Best thing for getting them is a bad mitten racket or in this case a Bat Mitten racket.