I tried to avoid making a batman joke, but I couldn't help myself
August 12, 2010 9:54 AM Subscribe
California-girl in New England shenanigans filter: A bat flew into my house (and then MY FACE!) in the middle of the night last night. It didn't touch me, but it flew around my bedroom for about 30 minutes (while I stood in the hallway with a broom and a very bewildered look on my face) and then basically disappeared as quickly as it materialized. My question is this: WTF do I do now?
I have absolutely no freaking clue how batty mcbatterson got into my house. I was simply chilling in bed watching Netflix at around 1am when the bat suddenly appeared in my room, buzzed my head, and then flew around my room in a confused, terrified circle while I called my boyfriend and shrieked into the phone like a maniac until he came over.
By the time he came over, it was gone. I saw it fly up, above my door (I was outside the room, in my hallway at this time) and then I did not see it anymore. I then left my apartment and stood outside for a while, because I was simply too creeped out. We went through my entire apartment, no sign of the bat (haha, no batsign) and were unable to easily see where it might have come from. I have absolutely NO clue how it got out. There is an open space at the top of my hall closet (about half a square foot wide), but I don't know where it goes, and I did have one window open (but the screen was closed).
Is it still in my house, hiding, somewhere? What should I do in the future if it rematerializes? Is there something I can put in my house to repel it? Should I call my landlord or am I overreacting? This is not something that happens in Southern California...
I live in Boston, MA, on the first floor of a three story apartment building on a busy city street among a zillion other apartment buildings. No chimney, no porch, no easy access for bats (or so I thought!).
I have absolutely no freaking clue how batty mcbatterson got into my house. I was simply chilling in bed watching Netflix at around 1am when the bat suddenly appeared in my room, buzzed my head, and then flew around my room in a confused, terrified circle while I called my boyfriend and shrieked into the phone like a maniac until he came over.
By the time he came over, it was gone. I saw it fly up, above my door (I was outside the room, in my hallway at this time) and then I did not see it anymore. I then left my apartment and stood outside for a while, because I was simply too creeped out. We went through my entire apartment, no sign of the bat (haha, no batsign) and were unable to easily see where it might have come from. I have absolutely NO clue how it got out. There is an open space at the top of my hall closet (about half a square foot wide), but I don't know where it goes, and I did have one window open (but the screen was closed).
Is it still in my house, hiding, somewhere? What should I do in the future if it rematerializes? Is there something I can put in my house to repel it? Should I call my landlord or am I overreacting? This is not something that happens in Southern California...
I live in Boston, MA, on the first floor of a three story apartment building on a busy city street among a zillion other apartment buildings. No chimney, no porch, no easy access for bats (or so I thought!).
It could be hiding in that crawl space. If it shows up again, open the windows and doors. It also might be living up there, rather than just being trapped. I personally wouldn't mind sharing some attic space with a bat, but if that bothers you or your landlord, the next call would be to an exterminator.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 10:08 AM on August 12, 2010
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 10:08 AM on August 12, 2010
My guess is that if it is not still in the house, it still has access to the house. There are actually people who will trap (and release) the bat for you.
On a negative note, one of my children was sleeping in a bunk with a bunch of other children when a bat flew in. Although they could not confirm that anyone was bit much less touched, after consulting with doctors and others, we decided the best course of action was rabies shots. It wasn't the whole 12 into your stomach thing, but it was a series and it hurt the little guy.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:09 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
On a negative note, one of my children was sleeping in a bunk with a bunch of other children when a bat flew in. Although they could not confirm that anyone was bit much less touched, after consulting with doctors and others, we decided the best course of action was rabies shots. It wasn't the whole 12 into your stomach thing, but it was a series and it hurt the little guy.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:09 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Bats can fit through an opening less than 1/2 an inch.
Since it's a rental, call your landlord. They should be responsible for calling a "critter ridder" to take care of the bat problem. Call your landlord every time you see one until the issue is resolved.
The good news is that the rabies fear that everyone has regarding bats is largely unfounded. Only about 1% of bats carry the disease. The bad thing is that there's no way of telling if the bat(s) has rabies unless you catch it alive, without damage to its head. If you can do that, you'll be able to have it tested.
Do you live alone? If there are any old people or young children in your apartment (or the building) they should consult a doctor.
It can be hard to tell if you've been bitten, especially if the bat has been in a room in which you sleep. Without proof that the bat does NOT have rabies, most doctors will recommend a rabies vaccination course for you. There is a shortage of the vaccine, though, so if you can avoid it by getting the bat tested, that would be best.
Also, the whole thing about them getting tangled in your hair is bullshit. Their sonar makes the likelihood of them bumping into anything very unlikely. Don't freak out when you see a bat because it'll probably not go anywhere near you (again).
posted by wwartorff at 10:10 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Since it's a rental, call your landlord. They should be responsible for calling a "critter ridder" to take care of the bat problem. Call your landlord every time you see one until the issue is resolved.
The good news is that the rabies fear that everyone has regarding bats is largely unfounded. Only about 1% of bats carry the disease. The bad thing is that there's no way of telling if the bat(s) has rabies unless you catch it alive, without damage to its head. If you can do that, you'll be able to have it tested.
Do you live alone? If there are any old people or young children in your apartment (or the building) they should consult a doctor.
It can be hard to tell if you've been bitten, especially if the bat has been in a room in which you sleep. Without proof that the bat does NOT have rabies, most doctors will recommend a rabies vaccination course for you. There is a shortage of the vaccine, though, so if you can avoid it by getting the bat tested, that would be best.
Also, the whole thing about them getting tangled in your hair is bullshit. Their sonar makes the likelihood of them bumping into anything very unlikely. Don't freak out when you see a bat because it'll probably not go anywhere near you (again).
posted by wwartorff at 10:10 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
My dad had good luck getting bats to stay away with something like this this.
For future reference, to remove a bat from a room it is stuck in, the best thing is a tennis racket---just hold it up in its path. It will tend not to see the strings, hit them and stun itself. You can then put it on the tennis racket and move it outside.
posted by chiefthe at 10:12 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
For future reference, to remove a bat from a room it is stuck in, the best thing is a tennis racket---just hold it up in its path. It will tend not to see the strings, hit them and stun itself. You can then put it on the tennis racket and move it outside.
posted by chiefthe at 10:12 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Bats sometimes live in houses too. I was on a tour of Biltmore (the Vanderbilt mansion) last summer and watched an especially amusing event where the staff chased a bat around the smoking room. The bat ended up flying into a small hole in the corner of the room and pretty much disappearing.
posted by wayland at 10:18 AM on August 12, 2010
posted by wayland at 10:18 AM on August 12, 2010
Since you have a landlord, get on his/her case about this. In my state, if a landlord doesn't act when it is a bat issue, you can get the department of health on their case. This is because bats, while being very cool in a lot of ways (can eat around 1,000 mosquitos in a single night? What's not to love!), can carry rabies. Rabies is a very not-funny issue, and for this reason bats in the house cannot be taken lightly by anyone involved.
Btw: My father's tip for getting bats out of the house: Turn off all the lights & open the door. Then, starting at the back/top of the house & working your way to the door, start turning on lights. He says they'd rather be in a dark room, so they'll usually head to the darker part of the house. Seemed to work last time I tried it, although getting to all the lightswitches with a bat going bananas over my head was not really fun.
posted by Ys at 10:24 AM on August 12, 2010
Btw: My father's tip for getting bats out of the house: Turn off all the lights & open the door. Then, starting at the back/top of the house & working your way to the door, start turning on lights. He says they'd rather be in a dark room, so they'll usually head to the darker part of the house. Seemed to work last time I tried it, although getting to all the lightswitches with a bat going bananas over my head was not really fun.
posted by Ys at 10:24 AM on August 12, 2010
Mass Audobon has a page on bat info. Scroll down to "SITUATIONS AND SOLUTIONS".
p.s. bats are cute and you can often watch them flitting about most squeakily above buildings right around sunset.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:32 AM on August 12, 2010
p.s. bats are cute and you can often watch them flitting about most squeakily above buildings right around sunset.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:32 AM on August 12, 2010
Bats eat mosquitoes, and can eat lots of them. They're like a friendlier version of spiders. I would build a bat box and embrace next summer with mosquito free BBQ's.
posted by yeahwhatever at 10:32 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by yeahwhatever at 10:32 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Without proof that the bat does NOT have rabies, most doctors will recommend a rabies vaccination course for you.
This. Talk to your GP soonest. The good news: This happened to two friends of mine (also in Massachusetts) a few months ago, and apparently the vaccine is much, much less unpleasant than it used to be.
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 10:32 AM on August 12, 2010
This. Talk to your GP soonest. The good news: This happened to two friends of mine (also in Massachusetts) a few months ago, and apparently the vaccine is much, much less unpleasant than it used to be.
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 10:32 AM on August 12, 2010
One thing you should be aware of: If there is any trapping of bats involved, the bats will be destroyed. In Massachusetts, to trap animals you need a trapping license. It's also illegal to relocate wildlife in MA, so a trapper must always kill what they trap. There's a bunny population explosion going on right now in the Boston area (I saw SO many baby bunnies the other day), and when people find out that trapped bunnies must be killed, many decide to just let them be.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:39 AM on August 12, 2010
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:39 AM on August 12, 2010
I went through the rabies vaccination routine just under a year ago. Nearly all the shots were done into my thigh. I think I probably had five or so sessions, which started off within days of each other, and then the last two were some weeks apart. The most painful thing about it was the cost of the shots.
The reason I got them was because a bat flew in the house where I was sleeping and I was exposed to a possible bite.
posted by Atreides at 10:53 AM on August 12, 2010
The reason I got them was because a bat flew in the house where I was sleeping and I was exposed to a possible bite.
posted by Atreides at 10:53 AM on August 12, 2010
Tennis racket. Smack the sucker out of the air, scoop it up, dispose of it in a trash bag. Quick and effective. Since they're pretty neat creatures in their own right, I do feel bad for the poor guys that I have had to take out in that manner because they just kept coming back. Of course, the humane solution is probably more in line with Greg Nog's answer.
posted by ganzhimself at 10:55 AM on August 12, 2010
posted by ganzhimself at 10:55 AM on August 12, 2010
This is the time of year in the north, (I am in Michigan) when bats start to hibernate. I have had lots of bat problems, LOTS of them. Usually when they come in a house this time of year, they are lost. The ultrasonic plug-ins do work, but you have to have a few of them. They only cover about 25 square feet.
Get the rabies shots. The virus is transmitted in body fluids, so a bat does not have to bite you. It could pee or drool and this could do it. I have had both the old and new rabies shots. I had them when I was about 9 years old, 14 of them in the stomach, and they totally sucked. It isn't like that anymore, it is much, much easier. Most ER's have both the gamma globulin and the initial vaccines. The chances are very small that you have been infected, but rabies is not survivable, and the slightest chance of exposure really calls for getting the vaccine. It isn't something to fool around with.
It can be almost impossible to find out where they have come in. Professionals sometimes use smoke bombs to find the openings to the outside. But bats are really good for the environment so it is cool to not kill them. Also bat houses can take years for the bats to accept. Bats are fussy like that.
posted by chocolatetiara at 10:57 AM on August 12, 2010
Get the rabies shots. The virus is transmitted in body fluids, so a bat does not have to bite you. It could pee or drool and this could do it. I have had both the old and new rabies shots. I had them when I was about 9 years old, 14 of them in the stomach, and they totally sucked. It isn't like that anymore, it is much, much easier. Most ER's have both the gamma globulin and the initial vaccines. The chances are very small that you have been infected, but rabies is not survivable, and the slightest chance of exposure really calls for getting the vaccine. It isn't something to fool around with.
It can be almost impossible to find out where they have come in. Professionals sometimes use smoke bombs to find the openings to the outside. But bats are really good for the environment so it is cool to not kill them. Also bat houses can take years for the bats to accept. Bats are fussy like that.
posted by chocolatetiara at 10:57 AM on August 12, 2010
If scared wildlife has been in your house and you neither see it now nor know where the body is, assume it is in your house. Call your landlord and a doctor. They finally came up with an effective treatment for symptomatic rabies in 2005; it apparently saves 8% of those they've tried it on. Cute as they may be, do not pity the bats in your home.
posted by SMPA at 11:07 AM on August 12, 2010
posted by SMPA at 11:07 AM on August 12, 2010
Sheesh. All this rabies stuff seems a terrible overreaction given that the bat made no contact with her. It's probably long gone. Personally I'd forget about it unless it comes back. If it does, then I might contact the landlord.
posted by rhymer at 11:09 AM on August 12, 2010
posted by rhymer at 11:09 AM on August 12, 2010
Do you have curtains? They hide in the folds of curtains, to my recollection.
posted by RedEmma at 11:16 AM on August 12, 2010
posted by RedEmma at 11:16 AM on August 12, 2010
Well, there's always this method (Warning: extremely loud & bad quality audio on this vid, turn your speakers down).
posted by blind.wombat at 11:20 AM on August 12, 2010
posted by blind.wombat at 11:20 AM on August 12, 2010
ganzhimself: "Tennis racket."
Do not do this. The way to trap flying animals is to cover them in a towel or catch them in a net.
Bats generally do not need to be relocated. What you do when you want to rid yourself of a bat infestation is to deny them entry to the building. Usually you hire an expert who comes in, finds their entry points, and attaches little screens which allow them to wriggle out, but which makes it difficult for the little batties to come back in the house. You don't kill any bats; they relocate themselves when they find their old nest blocked.
posted by beerbajay at 12:04 PM on August 12, 2010
Do not do this. The way to trap flying animals is to cover them in a towel or catch them in a net.
Bats generally do not need to be relocated. What you do when you want to rid yourself of a bat infestation is to deny them entry to the building. Usually you hire an expert who comes in, finds their entry points, and attaches little screens which allow them to wriggle out, but which makes it difficult for the little batties to come back in the house. You don't kill any bats; they relocate themselves when they find their old nest blocked.
posted by beerbajay at 12:04 PM on August 12, 2010
1. Be stoked you have bats. They are fun and helpful.
2. Like yeahwhatever said, build a batbox. That's just the first link from goggling "DIY batbox". A decent batbox will encourage them to hang out there, and not in your house. If you don't have anywhere that you could stake a big pole, it's pretty easy to make one that hangs from your windowsill or something. Plus, if it hangs from your window you can hear them. It's a very neat, relaxing chirp, and one that you hear all the time, but probably don't realize it.
posted by gally99 at 2:26 PM on August 12, 2010
2. Like yeahwhatever said, build a batbox. That's just the first link from goggling "DIY batbox". A decent batbox will encourage them to hang out there, and not in your house. If you don't have anywhere that you could stake a big pole, it's pretty easy to make one that hangs from your windowsill or something. Plus, if it hangs from your window you can hear them. It's a very neat, relaxing chirp, and one that you hear all the time, but probably don't realize it.
posted by gally99 at 2:26 PM on August 12, 2010
I've lived in a house with frequent bats. My approach was to find that narrow spot in the house (in this case a hallway) where the bat tended to fly when scared. I became expert on catching them in a butterfly net and dumping them outside....
posted by HuronBob at 3:40 PM on August 12, 2010
posted by HuronBob at 3:40 PM on August 12, 2010
Oh I have a bat story, much like Greg Nog's:
When we were kids, my mother's side of the family rented a cabin out near a lake where people could fish, hike, boat, etc. One day, most of the adults were out fishing or something near the lake, leaving one uncle and the pack of us kids at the cabin. All was calm until a bat materialized, flying around inside the cabin. My uncle, brave adult that he is, ran out of the cabin and we didn't see him again until that evening. So that left us kids and the freaked out bat.
I had a handmade slingshot my father had fashioned for me so not having any better ideas, I tried shooting the bat down with rolled up pieces of paper. I was a poor shot and/or the slingshot didn't have enough force so the bat continued flying around unscathed. By then, it was making swooping parabolic arcs over the staircase, latching on to one wall, then swooping again and latching on to the other wall, repeat.
Our next idea, because it was making these arcs, was to use a blanket to capture it. We held the blanket up as the bat made one of its swoops down, and brought the blanket down on it onto the stairs. I bade one of my relatives to get me a kitchen glove and as we slowly rolled back the blanket, I was able to grab hold of the bat in one hand.
It was sooo small compared to what we had seen flying around. Wingspan really makes it look bigger. I had one of my cousins take a photo of me holding the bat, then I got the idea that I would go show it to my parents, wherever they were outside around the lake. I ran outside, but didn't see my parents or any other relatives before the bat had squirmed halfway free of my grip. Wanting to avoid being bitten, I tossed the bat up to its freedom and it flapped away into the bright sky.
I don't know where that photo went, but I like to use this story when asked "Name one thing you've done that nobody else in the room has (likely) done."
posted by Seboshin at 4:07 PM on August 12, 2010
When we were kids, my mother's side of the family rented a cabin out near a lake where people could fish, hike, boat, etc. One day, most of the adults were out fishing or something near the lake, leaving one uncle and the pack of us kids at the cabin. All was calm until a bat materialized, flying around inside the cabin. My uncle, brave adult that he is, ran out of the cabin and we didn't see him again until that evening. So that left us kids and the freaked out bat.
I had a handmade slingshot my father had fashioned for me so not having any better ideas, I tried shooting the bat down with rolled up pieces of paper. I was a poor shot and/or the slingshot didn't have enough force so the bat continued flying around unscathed. By then, it was making swooping parabolic arcs over the staircase, latching on to one wall, then swooping again and latching on to the other wall, repeat.
Our next idea, because it was making these arcs, was to use a blanket to capture it. We held the blanket up as the bat made one of its swoops down, and brought the blanket down on it onto the stairs. I bade one of my relatives to get me a kitchen glove and as we slowly rolled back the blanket, I was able to grab hold of the bat in one hand.
It was sooo small compared to what we had seen flying around. Wingspan really makes it look bigger. I had one of my cousins take a photo of me holding the bat, then I got the idea that I would go show it to my parents, wherever they were outside around the lake. I ran outside, but didn't see my parents or any other relatives before the bat had squirmed halfway free of my grip. Wanting to avoid being bitten, I tossed the bat up to its freedom and it flapped away into the bright sky.
I don't know where that photo went, but I like to use this story when asked "Name one thing you've done that nobody else in the room has (likely) done."
posted by Seboshin at 4:07 PM on August 12, 2010
Seconding the butterfly net. It's a great bat-catcher.
Talk to your landlord. He/she is responsible for hiring someone who can evacuate the bat and seal up the place. It would be really effective to talk to your landlord WITH A LIVE BAT in your butterfly net. It will get the point across.
posted by cleverevans at 4:16 PM on August 12, 2010
Talk to your landlord. He/she is responsible for hiring someone who can evacuate the bat and seal up the place. It would be really effective to talk to your landlord WITH A LIVE BAT in your butterfly net. It will get the point across.
posted by cleverevans at 4:16 PM on August 12, 2010
My former landlord came up twice to catch bats in a fish net. Worked fine.
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:06 PM on August 12, 2010
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:06 PM on August 12, 2010
Last year we had a bat in the house and could not verify when it got in, so we had to assume it might have been there overnight or longer. We (= my husband, with me shrieking in another room) managed to get it onto the sunporch and then made the stupid (uninformed) move of letting it out the back door. We now know that we should have called Animal Control to come trap it and test it for rabies. Instead, we either let a rabid bat out OR the whole family (5 of us) unnecessarily went through a moderately painful, expensive, and annoying series of rabies shots. Although the likelihood of a bat being rabid is tiny, this one was seen on the lowest floor of our house (unusual) in the daytime (also unusual), so that made us worried. Apparently they can bite people (particularly kids, who sleep soundly) in their sleep without them knowing, or they can drip rabid saliva on you. Anyhow, you don't know you have rabies until you start dying of it, and there's no cure once that happens, so we decided to take the overly cautious route. Now we can all become veterinarians or lion tamers without worry.
posted by wisekaren at 6:26 AM on August 13, 2010
posted by wisekaren at 6:26 AM on August 13, 2010
Response by poster: Hey, I realized I never updated!
So, about one week after the batcident, I was doing the dishes, when I noticed that a framed photo that I'd had resting against the wall (atop the lip of where the counter meets the wall), had fallen face down. I picked it up to right it, and underneath it, OMG DEAD BAT!!
Poor little guy. In his frantic attempts to get out of the house, he must have flown into it, and it must have fallen on top of him and he must have died trying to get out from underneath it. I safely and sanitarily scooped him up, sealed him into a plastic bag, and tossed him out. I thought about saving his body for animal control to be sure there were no rabies, but I could not think of a place where I could possibly store a dead bat in my apartment, so I simply tossed him.
I did call the landlord and told him about what had happened but I never heard back. Since I haven't heard or seen anything else in over a month I've decided to let it slide. No rabies shots, but so far I'm not yet foaming at the mouth. Me and the bat never really came in contact. I promise not to bite any of you, though, if you're worried.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:54 PM on September 28, 2010
So, about one week after the batcident, I was doing the dishes, when I noticed that a framed photo that I'd had resting against the wall (atop the lip of where the counter meets the wall), had fallen face down. I picked it up to right it, and underneath it, OMG DEAD BAT!!
Poor little guy. In his frantic attempts to get out of the house, he must have flown into it, and it must have fallen on top of him and he must have died trying to get out from underneath it. I safely and sanitarily scooped him up, sealed him into a plastic bag, and tossed him out. I thought about saving his body for animal control to be sure there were no rabies, but I could not think of a place where I could possibly store a dead bat in my apartment, so I simply tossed him.
I did call the landlord and told him about what had happened but I never heard back. Since I haven't heard or seen anything else in over a month I've decided to let it slide. No rabies shots, but so far I'm not yet foaming at the mouth. Me and the bat never really came in contact. I promise not to bite any of you, though, if you're worried.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:54 PM on September 28, 2010
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posted by valkyryn at 10:04 AM on August 12, 2010