Bats now also next to the belfry

[loopybretonbunny]

Hi,

thought you fine bunch may be able to help with this problem. Our house in France is behind the village church and from research I have done we seem to have new guests in the roof - in the form of bats.

I don't want to hurt the bats (it may be law not to in France like UK?) but they do tend to be a bit noisy and I've heard that their droppings can be a bit of a toxic hazard.

I was wondering whether I could use one of those ultrasonic devices like the ones you can use on mice & cats but as they use ultrasound to navigate will it affect them? Will their navigation go mad and make them crash in to everything?

Any ideas?

[paddy]

Bats are good leave them alone.

[Milims]

Bats have several different types of roost - anything from maternity to rest roosts - thats the kind where they boys stop off for a breather when they are out on the pull - so not residential! You need to wait until autumn to find out if it is a permanent roost and alos contact the environment agency or equivalent to ask for their help. Maybe if you go on a UK National Trust sites there should be links to the Bat preserevation societies who could give info on similar in Europe.
The only toxic hazard I've heard of with bats is psosids but they are really only a problem if you have stored food underneath where the bats are pooping!

[red]

my last house had bats in the attic. - I don't recall it being noisy or a poo problem (we did keep things in the attic but in boxes with lids) I think technically we should not have been using the attic as the bats were there - but there was a half we could not get too, so we figured it was ok to share. only problem was the day I brought the Xmas decs down and there was a bat roosting in the box.... he did not wake up until that night.. when *I* woke up to find a bat flying round the room...

what sort of noise are they making? are you sure thats the bats and not mice or rats?

[paddy]

See them all the time round my place and one even came in to the toilet one night.......dont know if he was house trained or not But i am told they eat many many insects and do nothing but good......cant get tangled in your hair washed or unwashed .........dont turn into vampires and dont suck blood unless they are vampire bats which live in south america i think.

I have heard them moving under the tiles on the felt in a house and they can sound like mice i suppose and sometimes make a mad buzzing noise like bee's but i know they were bats cause it was the same time every night.

If you have an oldish house or tiled roof's or just an odd gap it is an odds on certainty you will have the odd bat living with you maybe the tiny pipa....somethings.

I have had a rat in a house i lived in and you will know if it is a rat sooner or later they leave banana shaped droppings with a point at one end and quite larger than bats or mice......mice droppings are like pieces of brown/black grain and bats are longer knobblery black droppings.

[loopybretonbunny]

Not 100% they are bats. We have a doormer window and tiled roof and and they are making a noise on the wall of the doormer. They sound a bit like squelching water . Haven't checked out the poo situation in great detail other than the fact that it looks like mice poo and is in the gutter and on the roof around the window. Also I have found some on the car outside (don't worry its only a C5).

It sounds like I should leave them alone - just better check its not rats!

[the.fee.fairy]

If its bats, then thank your lucky stars!
Their poo (guano) is extremely rich in nutrients and one of the best thngs you can put on the garden, and in the compost heap!!

However...i've not seen any guano on my bat hunting expeditions (there's a batman round here who leads walks with an ultrasonic listening device - its fascinating to hear them tlaking to each other!!) but i didn't think it looked like mouse poo. I've only seen it on TV, and it kinda piles up.

If it looks like big mouse poo, then you might be looking at rats.

And the diddy bats are Pipistrelles - possibly the cutest things you ever did see (on a par with the long ears!).

See if your council has a local batman (really...that is what they're called...) who can advise you. Or, call pest control - they'll be able to help you.

In the UK, you aren't allowed to touch a live bat unless you are a batman, so if you do have bats and pest control are there, they probably won't be allowed to touch them or destroy them, but they might have contacts who can gently persuade them to move on to newer pastures.

I love bats - if you get the chance to take a pic, please do!

[paddy]

One thing Fee as regards photographing bats i think you need a special licence or something.

[the.fee.fairy]

Do you?
ooh, i never knew that - i just thought it was touching them you needed a licence for.

Maybe its because i've always been out with the batmen!

[red]

bat poo is differnt to rodent poo - as already said.. its sort of like gritty lumps - whereas mice poo is rice shaped

What you are hearing might be roosting birds.. they can make quite a racket in my experience.

[madasafish]

We put plastic sheeting down on the loft floor under our (occasional) bat visitors.

And empty it once every 2-3 years...

[Millymollymandy]

Hi Loops me old mate! If the poo resembled mouse poo, could it be you have the fluffy and very cute Loir or edible dormouse? I've never had them in the loft, only the dreaded Fouine whose parties would keep us awake at night.

If you go on Total France there is a chap there who is a real expert at all sorts of wildlife and there are always loads of queries about fouines, loirs (also known as glis-glis) and all matter of critters that get up to mischief in attics!

His website gives some info about bats in France anyway:

http://www.planetepassion.com/SPECIES%2 ... robats.htm