bat hole built into house ???

[marshymy]

I've moved into a new build housing association house and on the outside of the building near the roof there's this hole with a bat symbol on it ???

Is this a hole for bats to come into the loft?? I was told when signing the tenancy that i should not store things in the loft and shouldn't go in there but i thought that would be due to fire hazards?

How wonderful. I’d love that. I wonder if it’s difficult to replace old brick with a bat or bird brick?

It might get a bit smelly and unhygienic in the loft, if there are a lot of bats up there. They'd need a sealed off space.

Several of my developments have bat bricks, bat boxes and my most favourite wonky tiles so they can nest under the tiles.... if you move into a new build and after a storm notice that a couple of tiles look slightly wonky can you just check that they aren't deliberately wonky. It costs me a fortune to have the special bat tiles put back again and have the surveys re done.

We’d love a bat brick. We used to see them when we lived rurally but not now.

We have a new build and we’re also told not to store anything in the roof.

You're so lucky OP.

We had rats in our loft when we moved in. I'd have given anything for bats. Sadly we don't see bats much round here but I'd happily share my loft space

I have bats under my fascias. They are lovely and gorgeous too watch at dusk. I had a very long chat with the local bat society about it. You generally only get a pair and one (maybe two) babies, so you don’t have to worry about colonies. I invested in a bat monitor to see what they were (common pipistrelles) and discovered that there are loads of different bats round my area.

The only thing to know is that, if you have building work done near their nest, you need to get them moved first. The local bat society are incredibly helpful and sorted it all out for my neighbours with the minimum of fuss.

I've bats. I don't find them lovely to watch. I also didn't know they were there, until the first night I heard them scratching in the walls. It's an old listed building and the loft entrance is boarded over. No way I'd unboard it and go in there, I suspect there is a lot of bats as they only have one baby a year and I often find many babies in odd places round the house, as they crawl down nooks and crannies and then fall down the chimney and into the rooms.

The adults also get confused at dusk so I need to keep the windows closed when it starts to get dark or they fly in sometimes by mistake.

I don't mind them being in the loft as long as they don't come into my living space, I'm not a fan of that. And I'm not really a fan of watching them fly around at dusk or dawn, as they swoop quite low and fast, other people find them fascinating though.

I also need to explain to overnight guests what rhe noise is, as the top floor rooms you can hear them scratching in the ceiling above your head. The other rooms you can hear them in the walls. If you don't know what it is it can be a bit creepy 🤣

Bizzarely though if I don't hear them for a few nights I get a bit worried about them and wonder where they are and if they are ok. 🙃

I love this! It's my dream to one day live in a house with bats.

okay, there are other things I would like, but bats would be brilliant!

Wow. I would love that. We have bats swooping around our estate at night and they're fascinating. We helped to treat and release a baby bat last here year that was rescued.

If you don't like the idea of bats, just know this: they eat up to 3000 midges PER NIGHT. Each. They're wonderful creatures.

I love the idea of a bat flat.

When the local church had to take down their steeple (as it was threatening to come crashing down), we lost the only colony of bats in the area. Had the houses around been fitted with bat boxes/bricks, that would have made a huge difference.

In the same way, I wish they'd been fitted with ones for swallows, swifts and house martins, as we've lost all of them this year - normally they'd be all over the skies round here, swooping and shrieking as they demolish the midge, mosquito and later, the flying ant population, but people have knocked the nests off their eaves and now - not a single one.

I want a bat flat

We have bats too, and like pp said it is lovely watching them in the evening

You need to look for the entrance to the batcave.

Are we saying bats are the new citronella candles?

I've got bats too. Terrified of the buggers but I find the more I watch them the more desensitised I'm becoming to them.
They dive bomb out pond at night for the insects. Its amazing to watch actually.

Bats are awesome. They eat the little blighters that bite me and cause huge horrible itchy welts

Here’s the little bat dude of someone I know is fostering

How cute is he?!

Aw he's lovely! I think listening to bats in the garden is one of the most comforting sounds you can hear. A bit like rain on a caravan roof. 😊

They often allow access into a box behind rather than into the loft

I am not so sure they have boxes behind. Rather, I think the brick is made with a hollowed centre. The bats we have will climb into much less - a twisted roof tile or similar is enough for them to get between the tiles and the membrane.

Bloody hell! Bats in my area of North Carolina are likely to carry rabies and we have the BatMan on speed dial should one get into the house.We've called him out a couple of times and he comes really quickly. No Bat Cack Sickness for us, no sirree.

We've called him out, should have been.
He comes with a big net and everything..

There is a slight chance of British bats carrying Lyssaviruses, which is why you have to avoid touching them or at least wear gardening gloves - and bat conservation workers/volunteers can (and should) get a free Rabies/Lyssavirus vaccination on the NHS before starting work. But there has only been one death in over a hundred years.

It's not that much of a concern here - unlike the US, where I understand bats are the most common cause of human Rabies infection.

Katinski you have shattered my dreams...
I always imagined Batman being a stayer....

As Mitsik said, risk of rabies from bats in the UK is really minimal. @marshymi - that design of box is definitely 'discrete' i.e. the bats only have access to the box, not your wall cavity or loft.

There is a picture of the inside of one here bat-surveyor.co.uk/2019/10/02/ibstock-bat-bricks/