Bats in my belfry make for a long nightBy Jolene FarleyThere must be healthy bat population this year. The first indication I had that my home had become a local hangout for bats was when I had my house painted this spring.My painter told me while painting the third story, he heard movement and rustling in certain areas of the house. (My house is a two-and-a-half story with an unfinished walk-up attic.) In the three years I have lived in the house, I have disposed of two bats, with no "bat detail" in the last two years. There are two doors to the third story, one at the bottom of the stairs and an insulated door at the top of the stairs.We take extra care to make sure the attic doors are always shut, which makes sense considering the attic walls aren’t insulated and I wouldn’t be crazy about my utility bills if the door was left open.We also plugged a hole that was drilled in the wall to run new electrical wiring to the third story. Since the extra precautions, we have had no more bats in our living area. But, this summer I have heard scratching or scuffling noises outside my bedroom walls. The noises have become increasingly louder and more frequent.Sunday night was the worst. I was trying to sleep and it wasn’t going well with constant movement, beginning at nightfall, outside my bedroom. I am fairly certain the animals cannot get into the house, but the noise they made isn’t conducive to a good night’s sleep. The bats and I keep different hours.After a while of listening to the noise Sunday, I decided I needed to call in reinforcements. I didn’t feel up to an encounter with a flying mouse. My helper started by shining a flashlight around outside to see if he could see anything. He said he didn’t notice anything unusual.The next step was scouting out the attic. I assured my helper that if I heard him scream while he was in the attic, I would call 911.He opened the first door and turned the light on, then he slowly opened the door at the top of the stairs. He shone the flashlight into the cracks and crevices. He disturbed a bat, but he managed to shoo it outside after opening an attic window. My hero. We both thought his work was done — he had rescued a damsel in distress.The bat had other ideas. Apparently, the animal wanted to get back in. I was awakened by more scratching and scuffling noises. On a mission, I contacted the local Extension Office and they tracked down some tips to relocate my bats. One solution involves bat watching in the middle of the night, then climbing a ladder to the third story of the house, again in the dark, to plug all possible entrance routes.I wonder who I can talk into doing that. …If you see me, and I have deep, dark circles under my eyes, you know all my efforts haven’t worked — the animals still live at my house and I haven’t slept. The bats have won.
