I received a very rattled call from a tenant. Paula has been with us for two or three years. She had a bat in her house that she could not find. It was the second one that she had in two days. I was a little surprised by that. The house is an old one, one of the oldest in our town, 184 years old. It has two apartments, one a two bedroom all-on-one-floor, which our buddy Jim lives in. Paula lives in an open concept apartment with a huge sleeping loft upstairs. The bats seem to come in somewhere in the sleeping loft.
This happened once before. The first tenants that lived there, a lovely couple who moved out when they finally were able to buy their own home. We were awfully happy for them. We just got word that they are expecting this winter. We are even more excited. Anyway, Cheyenne and Michael had only been there a day when we received a call about midnight. Tim answered it, and was greeted by a loud scream and the phone disconnected abruptly. He leaped out of bed, pulled on his pants and rushed down the street. By the time that he got there, the husband had got the bat out. He was in the process of calming his wife.
We studied the situation, and figured out where they were coming in, and screened the entrances. We thought we had the problem solved, It had been quite some time since we had a bat complaint. Now, two bats in two days. Obviously, they figured a new way in, something we need to insure is closed off before winter hits.
So we took down some beers and some wine coolers and had a visit on her back deck last night at dusk. It was a friendly visit. We did not see any bats exiting, unfortunately, so Tim has made the decision to replace the roof. He can eyeball the underlayment for signs of rot that would create an entrance. We can replace that, screen the eaves and reshingle.
But it was a nice visit listening to the evening birds, watching the water and talking with a friend.
Haha, I love that ‘whine’😂Sorry about the bats, though! Replacing the whole roof seems radical- is there no other/easier way to solve the problem? - Ricki
ReplyDeleteIt was something that was going to need to be done in the next year or so anyway. Tim has suspicions that there is rotten plywood under the old shingles and that the bats are gaining access to the attic that way. Once in the attic space, they are gaining access to the sleeping loft. The only way to be sure is to remove the shingles and take a look. Might as well just get it done.
DeleteI wonder if bats enter houses here? I've not heard of it.
ReplyDeleteA good snigger at the end.
If they don't have an entrance to a hiding place, they won't.
DeleteI love seeing the bats in our neighborhood who come out at dusk, swooping and circling and eating mosquitoes. Having one in the house would be a whole other story, though! Although I can't imagine calling my landlord at midnight and screaming into the phone. That seems a bit melodramatic. Plus, I never had a landlord that would have picked up the phone at that time of night, much less get dressed and come over! I hope your tenants know how fortunate they are to have you and Tim.
ReplyDeleteI love bats too. It's just that they can carry rabies. (I have actually had experience with two that were rabid). They are not something you want in the house.
DeleteSome people are terrified of bats. They are a little creepy but really quiet little creatures. if you go bashing away at them with broom they can get a little excited.
ReplyDeleteI am not afraid of bats. I think they are pretty interesting charactors. We had quite a problem when we moved into our house 12 years ago. However. we eventually got all the entrances found (it's a big house). Occasionally, one comes down the chimney, but I can quickly direct them outside with a piece of cardboard.
DeleteHere it is illegal to disturb bats' roosting sites. We would have to live with them. Although I am sure some people just quietly go ahead anyway.
ReplyDeleteI would have to do more reading on that. A roost, in my opinion, is quite a different thing from an incident where a bat gains access to a house.
DeleteReplacing the roof will give you something to do to relieve your boredom. 😁
ReplyDeleteIt is something that would have been done this summer had we not had the great miracle -- a concrete guy with time to pour a basement and, simultaneously, an excavator who could dig that basement.
DeleteConfirming JayCees comment here.
ReplyDeleteIt is good that you are friends with your tenant.
Bats are a very useful part of life's system. I wonder if it will be possible to create a batroost for them...we do have batboxes here. Then there would be a place for them to go to when the roof is mended. Better bats than chemicals for reducing the mozzies!!
Love the tail end...
Bat houses are easy to make and it would not be a bad idea to put one in a nearby tree. The tenants would love it. Surely you cannot mean that you can't make a roof repair if bats move in????
DeleteThere are so many landlords here who would get rid of the tenants rather than the bats if it was cheaper to do so.
ReplyDeleteThat is foolish thinking.
DeleteI feel awful for laughing at that screaming phone call, but what the--!! Debby, my sister & her husband recently had a bat problem too (in their 1930s Sears Craftsman home). The bats were getting into their house thru the ductwork and up thru the floor register in the livingroom behind the couch. PS Love me some cooked goose :)
ReplyDeleteEvidently the bat was headed her direction when Tim answered the phone. She dropped her phone in her panic and disconnected the call grabbing for it. Tim's first thought was a fire.
DeleteWhen we first moved into this old house, juvenile bats started coming in through a chimney. The fireplaces had been unused for years. We think that they were living in the chimney and when the mama would go off to hunt in the evening, the young'uns would do what young'uns do and go exploring on their own. And I will admit- they freaked me out.
ReplyDeleteYou and Tim are mighty fine landlords.
Bats do freak Tim out. I'm not sure why. But bat removal is my job, and I must admit, I'm quite good at it.
DeleteI once lived in an apartment in Florida where every evening bats would POUR out of an opening between the roof and the eaves. They weren't in my apartment but they must have been all up in the attic. Anyway, the maintenance guys waited until night, when the bats were out flying, and then screened it off (apparently bats are a protected species in Florida and they had to do this without killing them). As far as I know, that solved the problem.
ReplyDeleteTim seems to be taking the need for a new roof pretty well! On top of everything else you've got going on (building your house) that seems like a lot to tackle!
We are in no rush to finish the house. The rush was to get it up and weather tight. We're not there yet, but we work on it daily. It will be buttoned up before winter. The roof is a two day job. We knew that it had to be done. It was on the list. It just got boosted up in priority.
DeleteYour politics over the pond are a complete mystery to us over here. Our own are no better. Ever get that feeling that things aren't what they used to be?
ReplyDeleteEvery. Single. Day. Pat, I am watching the first three seasons of All Things Bright and Beautiful, and I have to tell you, I always think how much simpler things were in those days. Not perfect. The work was harder. But all the things that they did not have to worry about!!!!
DeleteNo fun, that. We have had a couple bats get in, because a door would blow open. We would just wait for daylight and find it where it was roosting to get it out. Replacing the roof is a big job, but as you say, if it needs to be done soon anyway might as well get on with it.
ReplyDeleteThe whine picture is priceless! Thanks for the chuckle.