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Melinda Ryba
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Posted: Thu Jun 13th, 2002 01:44 am |
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I found out where the second bat has been for the past few days: in my basement in a box!!! I would hear scratching over by one wall for the past few nights when I would go down to clean out the litter boxes. Even though it's been pretty warm, I felt sure it was a mouse making a home back there. When I started to move things around that were sticking out of the box, I heard the unmistakable chittering/warning sounds from a bat. I took him outside to check him out better, and found to my dismay that he must have been trying to get out in the worst way. The spot he was in was peppered with specks of blood, the poor thing. I wanted to check him out better, but let me tell you, he was a ball of fire! I thought his wings might be hurt, but after I tried to get a hold of him, he flared up his wings and gave me an earful!! That at least gave me a chance to look at them and see if the were broken. I must say he had beautiful white teeth and seemed healthy enough. But I am so MAD at myself---even though I had my gloves on and have had the pre-rabies vaccination, I was too nervous to pick him up. Everytime I tried to get a hold of him, he would freak out and try to fly up and out of the box. Now I know that bats arent supposed to be able to fly from the ground; they need a launch pad. But he finally did just that and launched himself up and out and disappeared around the house. I checked my bat house, but neither bat was in there. My question is: Do you all think he will be all right? Like I said, he got around in the box pretty good and his wings looked normal when he flexedwings out. I would just feel awful if he might still be injured but I don't have the experience to successfully handle bats and I was afraid I would squish him in my attempt to keep a hold on him. Ive held baby bats before (they are CUTE, CUTE!), but that's nothing compared to trying to get a hold of an adult, scared bat...!!!!
One more thing.....this is the second year that bats have visited my basement. I was thrilled to have a Big and Little Brown visit at different times (not together though), and even though I knew where they were coming in, I didnt want to seal it because I liked their visits; I got some pretty nice pictures that way. I believe the two bats are males; I never see any babies in the bat house. I know that males generally are solitary, but isnt it possible for two males to hang out together? And if they are both males, wouldnt it seem right that there would be no babies in my basement so that if I did seal up the place they are coming in, I wouldnt be sealing any pups in as well? I would NEVER want to do that, but after today, I want to prevent any other poor bats from getting stuck and unable to get out. Im sorry I wrote a book, but know I can get some good feedback from my other bat loving friends!
Thank you so much :grin: I appreciate any suggestions or tips you all might have!
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Posted: Thu Jun 13th, 2002 03:52 am |
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Melinda,
Windchimes discourage bats from using an area. A bats eardrums are much thinner than humans. One of the reason bats ultrasonic echolocation is so good. However some sounds such as waterfalls or rushing water interfere with a bats hearing and you will not find bats roosting or feeding in these areas.
Windchimes cause discomfort to bats ears, especially metal to metal contact. I have had people ask me about reason they do not have bats in their bat houses placed in good bat habitat area. Usually they have windchimes near the bat houses. Also different decibels of lawn mower engines will cause bats to leave an area.
If you hang several windchimes in your basement and have a fan on a timer best time to run fans 5 am to 10 am. will discourage bats from using the cellar.
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Joe Spencer
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Posted: Fri Jun 14th, 2002 03:26 am |
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| melinda :thumbup: great info, it is so hard to know whether your bat suffered any permanent negative effects from either its encounter with you or its predicament. You mentioned it had been warm so I am assuming the bat had access to the outside and had been emerging to feed. Yes more often than not it is a male bat or bats in a basement if used as a seasonal or diurnal roost since males prefer slightly cooler temps. It would probably not be to the liking of females so your probably Ok to not worry about potentially sealing in young however there is always the potential to seal in another adult bat. It is always best to do the exclusion in the fall for then you know at least all the little brown bats have left for hibernation since they don't hibernate in homes, however the big browns do frequently and you have to check for them in the fall before you seal things up. Also I think I remember reading somewhere that big browns during hibernation prefer to lie horizontally if still safe from predation. So this might add to the places where a bat could go and be found hibernating. Great info glad u could share this with us. :thumbup: :tanbigeye:
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Joe Spencer
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Posted: Fri Jun 14th, 2002 03:32 am |
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Great info on the chimes Kent I will let people know about this and have them give it a try. There are always those people which won't put up bat houses and would rather harm the bats than exclude them safely. At least the CHImes approach might help in this situation and others. 
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