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I think I'm living with bats!

38 replies

WTF99 · 24/06/2022 00:08

Opened my loft hatch this morning, to find a summer dress as my summer clothes are stored up there, and this fell out! Fortunately it was deceased and didn't land in my hair.
Blimmin marvellous....first time ever my wardrobe is organised and I've got bat lodgers in my storage space.
Any advice from seasoned bat fans?? Can I charge them rent?

I think I'm living with bats!
OP posts:
dubyalass · 24/06/2022 06:54

FGS stop spraying them with aftershave. Bats are a European protected species under the Habitats Directive, their numbers are in free fall along with all our other wildlife. They need our help and live in our houses because we’ve destroyed all the habitats they would otherwise live in.

I can’t tell from the photo what species it might be - I suspect long-eared - but you need to contact a local ecologist or the Bat Conservation Trust for advice. You can’t remove them or block the entrance/exit holes, and it’s an offence to disturb them - only a licensed bat worker can handle them.

The rabies issue is if they bite you, but it’s still sensible to wear gloves to handle dead ones.

www.bats.org.uk/advice/bats-and-the-law

FWIW spraying with aftershave would constitute intentional disturbance so you’re already breaking the law.

Brody77 · 24/06/2022 07:05

We discovered we had bats in our roof a few weeks ago, have lived here for 15 yrs, happened to be outside near their exit at dusk and spotted them- we were so excited! Have had to go in loft since to put something up but they must be between the tiles and the felt as no sign of them- perhaps why we haven’t spotted them before? Going to get a bat detector and work out which ones we’ve got Smile

CherryReid · 24/06/2022 07:17

They leave in the autumn, head for the woods I believe so are just summer visitors. Also keep down the midges and mosquitoes imv.
Possibly hang a curtain to keep them in one part of the loft so that you can use the other half.
I think I'd just keep quiet about them, you don't want someone ordering you to stay out of the loft for the summer months or similar, you certainly cannot do, for example, roof repairs if there are bats - we've had bats forever, old house, the poo piles in the wall gaps are probably feet high - imagine 100 years of bat poo!

Reluctantadult · 24/06/2022 07:25

Thank you @dubyalass

Op in my eyes you are very lucky 🤩

It's probably a pipistrelle (can't tell from you photo. Look it up. Individuals creep under your roof tiles. You might not necessarily have any more.

Ring the bat line if you need any advice www.bats.org.uk/our-work/national-bat-helpline

WTF99 · 24/06/2022 16:18

dubyalass · 24/06/2022 06:54

FGS stop spraying them with aftershave. Bats are a European protected species under the Habitats Directive, their numbers are in free fall along with all our other wildlife. They need our help and live in our houses because we’ve destroyed all the habitats they would otherwise live in.

I can’t tell from the photo what species it might be - I suspect long-eared - but you need to contact a local ecologist or the Bat Conservation Trust for advice. You can’t remove them or block the entrance/exit holes, and it’s an offence to disturb them - only a licensed bat worker can handle them.

The rabies issue is if they bite you, but it’s still sensible to wear gloves to handle dead ones.

www.bats.org.uk/advice/bats-and-the-law

FWIW spraying with aftershave would constitute intentional disturbance so you’re already breaking the law.

Calm down! I haven't sprayed anything anywhere.
At the moment the only living creature at risk is me from possibly contracting rabies.

OP posts:
MrsMAgain · 24/06/2022 16:25

We've lived with bats for decades and see it as an honour. We remain rabies free.

WTF99 · 24/06/2022 16:27

Reluctantadult · 24/06/2022 07:25

Thank you @dubyalass

Op in my eyes you are very lucky 🤩

It's probably a pipistrelle (can't tell from you photo. Look it up. Individuals creep under your roof tiles. You might not necessarily have any more.

Ring the bat line if you need any advice www.bats.org.uk/our-work/national-bat-helpline

Yes, I have looked it up. It's tiny and I think it's probably a pipistrelle. My research suggests that they are pretty low maintenance as house guests so hopefully we can coexist happily.
I do love watching them flying about at dusk.
Thanks for comments everyone, even the ones suggesting that I was a bat killing law breaker 🙄

OP posts:
MrsMAgain · 24/06/2022 16:32

Very good for keeping the local midges and mosquitoes down too, OP.

I know you said you were just thinking of spraying in the loft and not on the bats - if you have any more, you might not - but please don't. Just leave them be. All will be well.

catwithflowers · 24/06/2022 16:33

We have bats in our new home. The house is very old and rural and its lovely to watch them flying around at dusk. We had them in our previous place too. We also have an owl which is really cool and swallows nesting in the woodshed 😍🦉 😃

dubyalass · 24/06/2022 18:16

WTF99 · 24/06/2022 16:18

Calm down! I haven't sprayed anything anywhere.
At the moment the only living creature at risk is me from possibly contracting rabies.

I'm quite calm thank you. You're the one writing about spraying your loft with aftershave, which is of course a perfectly rational response.

I see so many posts on here where people are freaking out because some poor creature has dared take up residence in their home ("omigod I'd burn the house down" or "kill it with fire" are two I see often). We are one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. We're building housing developments all over the place, forcing wildlife to find somewhere new to live.

A single Pipistrelle can eat 3000 midges in one night. Some bat species can live to 40+ years old. They are amazing little things, hugely important to ecosystems, and we should be making room for them, not pushing them out. It's depressing to see how disconnected we are when in fact we're just another animal species. But you keep on with your hyperbole.

Gardeningdream · 24/06/2022 18:30

What’s going on here then? Bats in the uk don’t have bloody rabies. The uk has been rabies free for decades. There is a rabies like disease in wild bats but it’s incredibly rare.

op, we have bats. It’s not a big deal. That pic is of a very old one as in died a long time ago. The freshly deceased are not so ehrm mummified.

if you do have a bat habitation , and one bat doesn’t signify you do, it could easily have just flown in, and got stuck, then you will hear them scratching in the walls and in the ceiling. They will,live in the eves, you will see them come out at dusk. It’s very hard not to know you have them, in fact I’d say impossible

they won’t come into your living space don’t worry, if they do you’re not expected to live with them. Ours do fly in if the windows are open after dark as they get confused, but you just leave the room , shut the door, put the lights off, and they fly back out again.

id say it’s unlikely bats are living there, and that’s just a random., if they are then it’s likely a summer roost. If your loft Is as used as you store clothes there rhen I doubt you have Bats living there permanently. As said, it’s impossible not to know. Plus the little babies either fall off their mummies tummies when they go out hunting at night and you find them dead in random places, or they crawl in places they shouldn’t and suddenly appear like out the fire place and onto the hearth.

if that’s the only evidence I’d not be concerned, but if you do, then it is no big deal

Lavenderosemary · 25/06/2022 02:44

If you really do believe you have bats inside your home, then stop and spend a few days researching the law and think VERY carefully about whether you really want to flag them up and have to run circles legally.

I love bats, we have a vast number around us and we've done a lot to support our huge local population- but if any ever make it into any part of the house (which hasnt ever happened to date) they'll be quietly asked to leave and I won't be drawing attention to them! They can have the garden, I'll put bat boxes up, I have multiple ponds and wildlife areas to attract insects for them, I'm letting the ivy take over the trees for them... but I'm damned if I'll ever be banished from areas of my own home. :)

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 25/06/2022 03:03

@WTF99 You could try these people. If you’ve not found a free bat expert yet.

I think I'm living with bats!
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