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Bats in the attic (and everywhere else)


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We have bats in our attic and peaceful co-existance is becoming more challenging by the year as the size of the colony is seemingly getting larger (if amounts of guano are anything to go by) together with the number of them that my husband is having to escort out of the rest of the house of an evening.

Are there companies 'licenced' to get rid of bats, or is this an environmental health issue to take up with our local council?

Any other advice on encouraging them to live elsewhere gratefully received...

Thanks

Hells Bells

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As has been said, bats have full article 1 protection in France, perhaps you could say where abouts in France you are, it would then be possible for the right people to come round, identify and assess the situation.

Many of the species of bat in France are rare and endangered, they do absolutely no damage what so ever to buildings and there droppings are dry and smell free, in fact they make excellent fertiliser.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you wish.

Chris

 

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Chris,

wonder if you could help, we have a colony of bats in our barn, (Somme, 80) and they seem to be slightly diminished this year. Is there anything I can do to encourage them? I already have a large area of 'wild' garden and shallow water sources for the birds, hedgehogs etc. But is there anything I can grow/ introduce to help the bats?

Thanks

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Chris I am sure will be able to give a fuller answer, but bats are insectivorous, so everything you do to increase the numbers of flying insects will help. 

The problem I suspect is that your oasis is in the middle of a sea of heavily sprayed wheat and other grain crops.

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Thanks Andy,

Heavily sprayed potato crops! The three fields surrounding our house and barn are pasture for horses with plently of trees. I don't use any chemicals on the garden, so I suppose that may help in some small way. It just seemed curious that last year at dusk we could see 10 to 15 bats in the air at once, and this year there only ever seems to be five or six.

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Hi Kiera, It's not totally straight forward, no surprise there. Different species of bat eat different prey, have different methods of hunting, some use hedgerows, some fly over the tree tops, some over water etc. So it really does help to know what species of bat are present.

All, however will eat spiders, mosquito type insects and beetles, even though these may not be their chosen prey, so anything that you do to encourage these will help.

All bat colonies are of great interest to your local bat people and a bat colony can be as few as 4 or 5 bats for some species, if you feel up to it you could contact either Picardie Nature on 03 22 97 97 87 or Tél : 03 44 08 61 95 .who I can assure you will be pleased to have a look at what you have got. Bats are one of the creatures that are at the top of the list for conservation.

Chris



 

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Thanks for that Chris, I would love to identify them! I'll get in touch with these contacts when I get back over at the end of the month. I have never got too close to them in the barn as I have always been afraid of disturbing or frightening them. They are quite small and spend the evening swooping into the light coming from the house. This used to terrify my B&B guests, but the kids and I love them!

Thanks again for the contacts.

Kiera

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Back to Hellsbells original plea.

You seem to be concentrating on the negatives and not the positives.

I bet you don't have a problem with mozzies and other biters.  The bats will be seeing them off.

I doubt they are entering the house to expand the roosting area, and they are exceptional route finders so they will likely be entering for a good reason.

So to some strategies to stop them coming into the house.

Turn off lights in rooms not in use.  Lights attract insects and insects attract bats.

Close shutters at night on doors and windows.  Should keep them out.  Windows can be left open behind to give ventilation.

Avoid handling them.  They found their way in and unlike birds should be able to find their way out.  If you do handle them and get bitten or scratched seek immediate medical attention.  I hesitate to mention this but bats can rarely carry a form of rabies - different from that in cats, dogs and foxes.  It is extremely unlikely to be present in an established and growing colony, but better safe than sorry. 

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"Any other advice on encouraging them to live elsewhere gratefully received..."

teenager available for loan - bats don't seem to like Iron Maiden, Motorhead or Nirvana. Our bats arrived to what they thought was their quiet summer residence, and very soon left again!
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[quote user="Chezstevens"]Gentle approach to discussing Bats with Officialdom - they are protected in France.[/quote]

And so they are in UK... So first is not to alert the Gremlins at the Ministry of Officialdom, then to get rid of them and not harm any, provide yourself with a ladder long enough to reach the eve of your roof, wait for dusk and observe where they are coming out of your roof space.

When all bats are out feeding block the hole! with some netting nailed to the underside of the eaves. They can't come back and they'll find other places to go to roost. It will take perseverance but after a week or so, depending on the roof area you have, you should be rid of them.

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What is it about bats that makes people think this way, they are endangered to the point of extinction for some species, doesn't that count for anything?

I find it difficult to understand how anything so harmless can cause so much ill feeling.

Chris

 

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That's bizarre, that's how I see Sports, harmless but terribly exciting to millions but extremely

annoying to others...funny old World Saintie! but there you go, it

takes all kind and it's about simply getting on as best one

can....................

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Re: handling them. Somebody died from rabies from a bat bite in Scotland a few years ago (though he was somebody who was working with bats and then refused any treatment after he was bitten so not too much of a surprise (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2509375.stm).


I think they are amazing flying around at dusk. I find an occasional one sleeping by itself during the day (i.e. behind shutters) but no colonies in any barns yet. I think the mill pond might attract them as there can be quite a few insects over the pond in the evening.

Unsure about what sports has got to do with this or who "Saintie" is (but them I'm probably a bit slow).


Ian

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Thanks for all the advice...

Just removed another one from under the baby's bath. Thought it was dead until I had scooped it up in a cup whereupon it began to flap around. Not that I'm particularly squeamish or anything but they are getting a bit much. I'm also quite concerned that our one year old may find one before we do and begin 'playing' with it.

We are in the Haute Garonne (31) and whilst I am fully grateful for the job they do with the flies (we have a lot of sheep around here and more flies than Australia) they are becoming a real nuisance in the house. Perhaps the bird netting is the way to go, we just need to find a ladder that will reach the four stories from cellar to attic.

Anyway, if there is a local conservation group which can tell us what to do with them would be interested to hear.

Thanks again

Helen

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Advise for Hellsbells! We had bats in the attic and although they never came into the house, they made quite a mess on our terrace. At the same time we were overun with 'wingless bats'!(Mice). So I purchased a sonic mouse repeller which I plugged into the power plug. It got rid of the mice and surprisingly, the bats went  as well!
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En 2006, la 11ème édition de la Nuit européenne de la Chauve-souris aura lieu le week-end du 26-27 août.

Once again across Europe the weekend of 26th / 27th August is European Bat night, with different events taking place for people to understand more about bats in their Region, typically in France there will be slide shows and talks, usually followed with a walk outside with bat detectors, although it will vary from region to region. If you speak a bit (or a lot) of French it can be quite interesting and good fun.

If you click on the link you can find out if there is anything near you (in France). It's possible that more events will be added.

http://www.sfepm.org/NuitChauveSouris/programmeRegions.htm 

Chris

 

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