Anyone ever had to deal with a bat?

DinghyDog

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rrivers

Travels With wrote:

rrivers wrote:

I too will not be able to sleep tonight thinking about the bat crawling under the door! I have heard that mice can get in really small spaces so I guess bats are the same. Holy fuck!!!!!!!!

I know it is late for everyone (11:30pm Pacific time), but please wake up, original poster, and tell me which part of Northern California you live in and please make it far from my part of Nor Cal!!!!!!!!!!!

Wake up??? Like I can sleep at all tonight. What kills me is my wife is sleeping like a baby. Unbelievable! I live in Nevada County.

I live in Placer County.

I'm a Dodger fan so I think being a Giants fan is scarier than the bat!

ledvedderman

You can't catch a bat with a pot, moron

megatron

i had bats in my chimney years ago.
we set phonebooks on fire and waited on the roof with pool skimmers..looked insane and almost fell off
idiots
but they didn't come back

Arcticangel

whoprincess wrote:

All the laughs aside I'm really kind of surprised. I thought bats didn't mess with people and are harmless if you leave them alone. I've never heard of them coming inside a house. :?

Well they pretty much live inside some old houses in the city.. we used to be able to hear them in the walls scratching at night...
Then when they would try to get outside to eat or whatever, sometimes they would get confused and wind up coming through cracks in the closet or whatever instead.
We tried to get out landlords to plug up all the holes inside and outside of the house... but that was pretty much an impossibility.

Sorry the thread makes you sad Thorns - I'm sure they're harmless little creatures in the wild, but I don't like them sneaking up on me!

ledvedderman

Arcticangel wrote:

Here's another bat story for you. This was actually at a different house too! It was our first night moving in and a couple of neighbors stopped by (on their way home from the bar) to welcome us to our new house. Of course we offered to give them the grand tour... showed them all the rooms and said "The basement is really sketchy, I don't think you want to see it."

Being boys, they insisted. So I walk them down to the basement.. and I'm on the steps behind them when all of a sudden a bat DIVE BOMBS my head! I mean it went right by my face!! I screamed and ran upstairs... shutting them in the basement. When I finally calm down and open the door to let them out... I see them, drunkenly dancing around the basement... one with his shirt off trying to parachute it over the bat (not a very effective strategy :? ) while the other has his baseball cap off swinging it around.

The one guy finally connected with his baseball cap and knocked it to the ground where him and his buddy both stared at it for a second... then stomped the shit out of it!! :shock: The one guy scooped it up with his hat and threw it out the back door...

The next day we went over to their house with a six-pack as a thank you. We handed them the beer and said "hey, thanks for taking care of the bat for us last night..."

Their response... "what bat?"

Somehow I was expecting this at the end of this story...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8EOY6F1 ... r_embedded

tybird

whoprincess wrote:

All the laughs aside I'm really kind of surprised. I thought bats didn't mess with people and are harmless if you leave them alone. I've never heard of them coming inside a house. :?

To the bat's way of thinking.....house/building=cave=possible place to live. One of the places that my class stayed in Costa Rica had a minor bat infestation....we saw the guano, but never saw the actual bats.

As a rule, bats are harmless....but they can carry rabies.

Another thing to remember is that many species of bats here in North American are endangered species, thus they are legally protected from harm.

captainwisejam

Arcticangel wrote:

Drowned Out wrote:

Arcticangel wrote:

Oh man, "heeeeeeere's BATTY!" That is EXACTLY what it felt like! I swear that as long as I live I will never forget what it looked like to have that thing crawling under my door... just digging it's little claws into the carpet and pulling itself along. *shudders*

Are Travels With and Captainwisejam the two guys from your second story or wtf? :?
Why are people quoting your story without responding or even a ??
funny stuff too, btw!...except it's a little disturbing to hear about something being stomped to shit :shock:
...and oh, do I have mouse stories. A few. I guess most people would, but this one's special.
We got a couch back from storage that was INFESTED....somehow, none of us noticed anything out of the ordinary while moving it...we get it in the house, put it down and went for drinks...go back in the room, my sister sits down, and one runs across her lap.....she loses it, we look up, and there were DOZENS of mice crawling thruout the brick around our fireplace...it looked like it was moving. had to move out for a couple days while exterminators did their thing :shock:

I have no idea why people are quoting my story without commenting. One was a fluke.. but two now. Neil? Neil's roommate whose name escapes me? Is that you?

Ew. Mice. Plural.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the middle of your story with my simular story :oops:

rrivers

RACE THAT CANT BE WON wrote:

i had bats in my chimney years ago.
we set phonebooks on fire and waited on the roof with pool skimmers..looked insane and almost fell off
idiots
but they didn't come back

This continues to be the funniest thread I've ever read! Phone books on fire is hilarious!

Travels With

I just got the phone call from animal control -- the bat was NOT rabid. A huge relief before the weekend. I was willing to get the shots if needed but I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old I was most concerned about.

Drowned Out

Travels With wrote:

I just got the phone call from animal control -- the bat was NOT rabid. A huge relief before the weekend. I was willing to get the shots if needed but I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old I was most concerned about.

Good news man! happy for ya...
And I was just playin when I commented on your mis-quote.

tybird

Travels With wrote:

I just got the phone call from animal control -- the bat was NOT rabid. A huge relief before the weekend. I was willing to get the shots if needed but I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old I was most concerned about.

Did it really bite you? :?

Arcticangel

Travels With wrote:

I just got the phone call from animal control -- the bat was NOT rabid. A huge relief before the weekend. I was willing to get the shots if needed but I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old I was most concerned about.

Glad to hear that.
Just keep your broom/ball cap/stiletto.. etc handy for next time!
(Hopefully there is no next time!)

eeriepadave

thank god i searched this and found this thread.

My cats were staring at the laundry room door in my apt. I was wondering why and so i said out loud to them there is nothing in there. So i open the door and there is a bat in there. Almost gave me a heart attack. Got the cats out of the way, took a pic first. Then decided to open the door so it would hopefully fly out. So i opened the door and didn't see it. I'm sure it's still in there. More worried about the cats than anything.

dr0ptheleash

eeriepadave wrote:

thank god i searched this and found this thread.

My cats were staring at the laundry room door in my apt. I was wondering why and so i said out loud to them there is nothing in there. So i open the door and there is a bat in there. Almost gave me a heart attack. Got the cats out of the way, took a pic first. Then decided to open the door so it would hopefully fly out. So i opened the door and didn't see it. I'm sure it's still in there. More worried about the cats than anything.

AHHHHH! Get that little bastard out of there! I had one in my house not too long ago.. We armed ourselves with helmets and clothes baskets (sadly) and then finally "tapped" him with a broom to knock him down, then took him outside under a bucket. I have a cat as well and she was the first to discover it, like yours. It kept hiding in our dark curtains. We locked her in a bedroom for all the nonsense to ensure she'd be safe. Cats prowl at night, so until you get that thing out of there, keep the kitties away! Good luck!!!

eeriepadave

I called the office mgr. to our complex last night to let them know. They sent two of the maintenance people out to capture it. Unfortunately they couldn't find it. Not sure if that is good or bad :? I'm gonna look for it again a little later tonight since bats like to appear at night. They said said just turn on all the lights and open up the door to my patio and hopefully it will fly out since they don't like light.

Given To DragonFly

Wow, everyone getting in a tizzy. Most bats do not have rabies (94% of those captured & tested). We've found a bat in our condo hallways several times (old brick school, built in 1893). They fly in circles because they're looking for 2 things-- either food, or a way out to get food. People are not food, insects are. But, bats will swoop near your head for good reason--- they know that mosquitos gather over large mammals, & that's what they're looking for. They won't typically crash into you or attack you. You're more likely to get bitten if you actual handle the animal. The easiest & safest way to get them out is to simply hold the door open. It may take him a few fly-bys, but he should eventually find the exit. They don't like being trapped, & they're more afraid of ppl than we should be of them. They find their way into houses for warmth & shelter. Savagely killing a bat is a desperate & ignorant act toward a likely innocent creature that plays a HUGE roll in all of our eco-systems. Many bat species are going endangered/extinct here in New England... we're seeing the effects with growing numbers of insects, who pester humans, destroy crops, & spread other diseases.

Nowadays, there are only about 2 documented cases of rabies in the US each year... but it's true, if action is taken too late, it's usually fatal. I do agree that the OP should get the shots. Since they were sleeping before finding the bat, it's hard to know if they were bitten. Ideally, if there was any concern they were bitten, they should have safely captured the bat (or had the experts do it), so that it could be tested, potentially letting them avoid the shots. But better to be safe than sorry at this point. It's just unfortunate that so many ppl panic & go into kill mode whenever they see a bat... please educate yourselves.

http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/

This little guy was sleeping up by the ceiling in the hallway outside our unit last summer. He became more active at night, which is when I let him out.

The more I look at it, it seems like there's another little head up top, under the fur. This might have been a momma & baby. The babies suckle milk for about 2 months, clinging to their moms for warmth (they're born hairless & can't fly for the 1st 6 wks). The timeframe was correct-- they're usually born in the warmth of summer.

Given To DragonFly

Travels With wrote:

I just got the phone call from animal control -- the bat was NOT rabid. A huge relief before the weekend. I was willing to get the shots if needed but I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old I was most concerned about.

Sorry, I didn't see this post... that's great news

Woah, & I just noticed the dates on this thread I'm a bit late.

eyedclaar

I'm obviously late to this party too, but I just need to clarify that you are all a bunch of pansies. Well, most of you. Bats... sheesh. Oh no!

Dissidentman

Sorry, thought this thread was about my ex mother-in-law.