Bats

BFassassin · 01-06-2009 11:52am #1

Hi there.
We have bats in the attic and they are no problem at all.
However I found one in the house this morning flying around the place. It must have come through an open window during the night.
I have caught it and put it in a pillow case in a dark room. I will release it after dusk tonight.
Is that the right thing to do?
It happened before and we just caught it with our hands and left it on the windowsill all day but unfortunately it died shortly after.

PS. They were out really early last night when the sky was still blue. I got some pictures I must upload later.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 02-06-2009 8:48am

You did just the right thing!.

BFassassin · 02-06-2009 1:03pm

Thats good to know for again. We sat him out on the window sill last night and after a while he just flew away.
Here are some pictures though.

h2s · 12-07-2009 8:05pm

We have Bats in our estate, obviously living in someone attic, maybe mine for all I know.

I really only discovered this last week as I saw what I thought is was a lump of dirt on the ground at the abck of the Car, but on closer inspection I found it was a tiny Bat, this was Monday of last week then on Saturday morning I found another this time just outside the gate, also dead. They were tiny about 1.5 - 2 inches long with a wing span of about 5 - 7 inches

I wonder what happened, the bodies were perfect, no damage at all, so that ruled out any of the cats.

I was wondering if they slammed into something, if their radar was disrupted by perhaps wireless interference from Wifi, or are the frequencies different?

Anyone any ideas what may have killed them

Cul a cnoic · 12-07-2009 11:04pm

h2s wrote: »

Anyone any ideas what may have killed them

Have a look through the following link:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/wildlife/msg1116340029654.html

Alun · 13-07-2009 9:12am

h2s wrote: »

I was wondering if they slammed into something, if their radar was disrupted by perhaps wireless interference from Wifi, or are the frequencies different?

No. Their so called 'radar' actually might be more actually described as 'sonar. They use very high frequencies, for most bats around 40-60 kHz or thereabouts which we humans can't hear, so there's no possibility of any wireless signals interfering with it.

I have a bat detector which allows me to hear their radar clicks as they fly around catching insects, fascinating and highly recommended (if a little expensive) if you're interested in bats.

h2s · 13-07-2009 8:19pm

Interesting to read that other forum.

I did use gloves when I picked up that bats.

We took a picture as below:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 15-07-2009 10:28am

I wouldn't get too paranoid about handling bats. The site linked ablove is an American one and of course they would worry about rabies as a cause of death. There was a first case of rabies in over 100 years in the UK back in 2002 and the victim was a Bat handler. But this was exceptional. Here bats are more likely to have died from starvation as almost always the bodies show serious depletion of fat reserves. This could be due to a reduction in available prey due to weather, habitat changes etc. Old age, and general ill health affect all animals (even us). The severe wet weather lately hasn't helped them as insects are hard to hunt in heavy rain. Some young bats die this time of year as they can make errors when learning to fly, or just not be experienced enough to hunt properly.

Cul a cnoic · 15-07-2009 11:02am

Reyna Wet Octopus wrote: »

I wouldn't get too paranoid about handling bats. The site linked ablove is an American one and of course they would worry about rabies as a cause of death. There was a first case of rabies in over 100 years in the UK back in 2002 and the victim was a Bat handler. But this was exceptional. Here bats are more likely to have died from starvation as almost always the bodies show serious depletion of fat reserves. This could be due to a reduction in available prey due to weather, habitat changes etc. Old age, and general ill health affect all animals (even us). The severe wet weather lately hasn't helped them as insects are hard to hunt in heavy rain. Some young bats die this time of year as they can make errors when learning to fly, or just not be experienced enough to hunt properly.

Thanks Reyna Wet Octopus.

A question for you, I put up Bat Boxes on my garage on the south facing & on the east facing sides. The bat boxes/houses are 12'-14' above ground level. These are up about 3 months now, and I do see the odd few flying around at night, as the place is a midge haven. I have been told that it can take years for them to use them, if ever.

What do you think are the odds of them taking up residence and is there anything I can do to entice them to roost here?

Thanks,
Cul a Cnoic

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 15-07-2009 12:43pm

Cul a cnoic wrote: »

I put up Bat Boxes on my garage on the south facing & on the east facing sides. The bat boxes/houses are 12'-14' above ground level. These are up about 3 months now, and I do see the odd few flying around at night... I have been told that it can take years for them to use them, if ever....

What do you think are the odds of them taking up residence and is there anything I can do to entice them to roost here?

It's like putting up bird boxes. As you say it can take time. You can't do much to encourage them. The height and aspect seem OK. Being on a wall as opposed to a tree can reduce your odds but not greatly.
This article covers it all, although you seem to know most of what's in it already.
http://www.batconservationireland.org/pubs/reports/Leaflet_3_batboxes.pdf

Give it time. Good Luck

Cul a cnoic · 16-07-2009 12:09am

Reyna Wet Octopus wrote: »

http://www.batconservationireland.org/pubs/reports/Leaflet_3_batboxes.pdf

Give it time. Good Luck

Thanks Reyna Wet Octopus. excellent link.

BFassassin · 18-08-2009 5:29pm

Should bats be flying around during the daytime?
I saw one the other evening at around 7 but I just looked out the window there now and there is another one flying about.

Last night too there was a few that came into the house. We got one out the window and then later on when no windows were open another one was flying around. We have come to the conclusion that they are coming in through the attic.
We dont mnd them being in the roof space but being in the attic and coming inside isnt ideal.

Bats

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