BATS!!!!!!!

[TeachyTeacher]

Hope it's the right topic to post on! We have bats in a part of our roof that we can't access and they're driving us nuts!
Last year we heard a couple but it seems that this year there's more and it's awful! We can't access the roof internally, possibly could externally but it's very high up so I think it'll cost a lot for someone to come out and we just can't afford it. Any cheap ideas or experiences that may help us? Also waking kids throughout the night 😭

Bats are protected. You’ll need a specialist company to come and deal with the issue. Heavy fines for disturbing them without permissions.

We have them, bats are protected as the pp said, you will be made to move before the bats. Can I ask what is causing rhe issue for you, for us irs just scratching noise?

Contact Bats Protection Trust (and I’d be surprised if they are bats - they’re generally very quiet)

Agree and they are our hunting at night, we head scratching but that’s it. The scratching is as they move through the walls roof and their claws.

If they are bats, there's not a lot you can do, legally anyway.

www.bats.org.uk/advice/what-do-i-need-to-know-about-having-bats/can-i-get-remove-or-rehome-bats

your incredibly lucky, they are amazing creatures. Get yourself some bat detectors, find out what ones they are and embrace them, they are keeping your mosquitoes population down after all.

in more helpful news, they will be hibernating soon

Why are bats protected

Hiya, bats only roost in houses in the summer. They are all gone to winter quarters now.
It's far more likely to be nice or rats.
The poison used for them bats wouldn't eat and so either way a few mouse poison stations wouldn't do them harm.

I agree DanmAuto, I LOVE seeing them flying in their circles at dusk! One of my favourite things to do - stand and watch them in my garden.

Oh lord 🙈 yes I do agree they're amazing and last year I liked the idea but the noise, shuffling/scratching/causing dust from the attic to fall (I think) is disturbing! I don't want to harm them, just want to sleep and the kids to sleep 😭

I wondered this... WHEN??? 🤣

My other worry, after a Google rabbit hole, was that breathing in their droppings is dangerous?

If it's keeping your children awake it's very unlikely to be bats. Generally you'd only ever hear bats if they were stuck inside and panicking.

As others have said: mice, rats, squirrels all tend to make noise enough to keep people awake.

What makes you think it's bats?

I love bats too, we used to see many at dusk where we lived before, fascinating creatures. Not helpful to your predicament though OP. The advice up thread about contacting bats protection or conservation charity may be useful. If you want it checked incase of mice, rats or squirrels your local council may be able to help also.

Can you fit bat boxes and then seal up where they are getting into the roof (although admittedly they need only a tiny space to get access)?

www.bats.org.uk/advice/what-do-i-need-to-know-about-having-bats/what-is-bats-are-being-a-nuisance

This might help?

If only to reassure re no human health risk and the seasonality of them.

My DB thought he had bats in his roof and it ended up being squirrels. I think you need an expert to have a look up there and identify what is living in your roof.

Only if you’ve lots and climbing in their house (E.g climbing through caves).
We’ve lived for centuries side by side. Genuinely, they are a benefit to your home. there’s lots of bat rescues and the people working their don’t wear protective stuff (apart from covid when they thought the humans might infect the bats).

if your googling anything make sure it’s about U.K. bats. Ours are tiny, gentle and quite cute really. a real bonus to your environment.

You’re not in edible dormouse territory are you?
they are an absolute bugger. Rothschild did alot for our animal knowledge development, but fucked up there.

I don’t think they are bats either.

and I’d be surprised if they are bats - they’re generally very quiet

Not really. We stayed in a barn conversation for 9 months between house moves. Bats were up near the apex of the roof, in the plaster wall cavity. Quite a lot of noise, sounded like rats would but obviously higher up. Definitely bats because I used to watch them flying in and out at dusk.

Lovely little things though.

Definitely bats! We see them flying around the roof area at night, they're gorgeous little things and amazingly so quiet when they fly outside which is why it's shocking that they can wake us 🤣

Thanks for the recommendations and advice, I promise we won't harm them and thanks for the reassurance about the droppings...that's calmed me! No more Google rabbit holes...

Definitely the same! We're in an old farm house! Little rascals!

This has a lot of advice about living with bats.

www.bats.org.uk/

I'd invest in a pair of very think, leather gauntlet gloves. IF you find a bat flying around in the bedroom (happens more than you think) or one around the house, outside on the ground etc, they will protect you from a bite if you need to pick it up.

Not to alarm you, but even UK bats have a risk of rabies. Especially the colony around Dorset, but if anyone is bitten by a UK, please seek medical advice from A&E or your GP who will ring a hotline for advice and organise vaccines.

If you find a dead bat, it can be posted off for rabies testing.
www.gov.uk/guidance/rabies-in-bats

I agree that if it is bats, they will be hibernating soon, if not already, so it could well be mice, rats or squirrels!

This is why I mentioned squirrels too. I lived somewhere with bats (say them fly in out/saw the poo marks outside the entrance) and they started to make a lot of noise.

Turns out it wasn't them, it was a squirrel. Found out when the little bugger dug a hole through the bathroom ceiling!

Once the squirrel was gone, the bats remained and all was quiet again.