Here's my short saga. I'm in Richmond, VA. County extension service says they're getting LOTS of bat calls right now.
Friday night-discovered bat trapped in a recessed light fixture in bathroom. Due to closed environment, I didn't feel safe removing the cover to remove it myself. I turned off all lights, left the room closed up and turned on the outside light hoping it would find its way out.
Saturday-no bat there in the morning. Pulled off the covers of the lights and exhaust fan and found a dead bat that appeared to have been there for a while. Discovered the flaps on the exhaust fan exit outside the house were broken and this was likely where it (they?) came in. Had the roof redone over the winter and all other vents were checked/replaced, looks like this one was missed.
Saturday night-hear scratching in the ceiling above me, search the bedroom thinking it's in there, realize the sound is coming from above. Go up to attic bedroom and discover a small bat. I trap it and put it outside on my deck railing because I'd read they need a high spot to drop down off of to take flight. I return to the attic to search for others and entry points and hear more squeaking and scratching in the ceiling of the attic room. I return outside and the bat has dropped down to the deck ledge. I check later and it's gone.
Sunday-Next to the deck is a shed and I find the bat (still alive) just inside the door. I leave it be hoping it will fly away during the evening. I check again in the evening and it's gone. I check the shed thoroughly (although I know they're very small) and don't find evidence of any others.
Tonight-my dogs (!) find the little guy stuck to the side of the house at the foundation. After hurrying them away into the house, I watch it for quite a while, hoping it will fly so I won't be so worried it's a baby. It crawls around the foundation for a while and then drops down to the ground and starts crawling all around on the ground. Now I'm worried that I or my dogs will step on it in the night (this is their fenced yard) so I move it (without touching it) to the front of the house in a flowerbed next to my porch where there's a nice perching area under the porch that I hope it will move to.
When I shined the flashlight at its face, it didn't appear to have any eyes that I could see. Could this mean that its a babe and its eyes haven't opened yet? I'm worried now that I should contact a rescue to come get it. I'd feel much better if I'd seen it fly, then I'd know it could take care of itself. I'm worried it might be a babe that blundered out of the attic somehow and the scratching and squeaking I heard was Momma inside the walls.
I'm willing to peacefully co-exist until October which is when the extension office said abatement would be safe. I've sealed up areas where I think they could get into the interior of my home. But I am worried about the little guy falling prey to neighborhood cats or my dogs blundering onto him and killing him since he appears not to be able to fly and he's hanging out so close to the ground (or on it!).
Help! Should I call a rehabber? How do I determine if it's a baby or just an adult not ready to fly (early in the evening)? Here are some pics I took tonight.
And a chopped off pic of his wing, maybe that would help with determining his age:
Thanks for any help or advice you can provide. I really don't want to find the little guy dead.
Last edited on Tue Jul 1st, 2008 03:21 am by loverofdogs18
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