Tag Archives: bats

A Day in the Life

I’m no different than any other 17 year old girl. I go to school, hang out with my friends, go to the occasional party (where there’s parent supervision of course), and I work. Of course my job isn’t typical of a 17 year old. Most of my friends work in the fast food business, or even at a mall or some kind of clothing store. Now don’t get me wrong, I love food and I love clothes, but I would never want to work there. When people ask me about my job I usually tell them I’m a personal assistant for a private contractor. It’s just easier to say that instead of explaining what I actually do. I have the coolest job ever. It’s never boring, and it gives me the most insane stories to tell!

I’ve done everything from wrestling snakes, to saving baby birds! You get so much knowledge from a job like this. You learn all about problem solving. People always have problems like raccoons stuck in their chimneys, skunks in their window well, or even snakes under their porch! Can you even imagine your surprise if you walked out onto your porch one day to see a three foot long blow snake sitting on your porch?! Well, in my experience, not very many people would be very excited about that. Now you may be thinking, what kind of 17 year old girl finds this kind of job entertaining?

I’ve never been the kind of girl who screams when she sees a spider or a snake. I was the girl who was wrestling around with the guys and looking for snakes to take home for the weekend. Now, you would never classify me as the girl who works as a part time trapper. I wear high heels at least three times a week, I never leave the house without my eyebrows filled in. But after school you can catch me crawling under porches, into attics, and even down chimneys in order to catch invasive wildlife! In fact, my favorite part of the job is helping people restore their homes to the peaceful ways they were before the animals invaded. After all, no one wants to hear bats in the attic, raccoons in the chimney, or skunks under the house! Which is why I get so much joy in helping people solve all of their wildlife problems. After all, it’s just another day in the life for me.

A Blast from the Past

When you buy an older house you expect it to come with quirks like maybe it’s haunted or the doors are on backwards; we expected these kinds of quirks, but we were not expecting bats in the attic.  This house was built in the 1800’s and the attic is actually HUGE, so in reality we were prepared for the possibility of there being bats in the attic so we had an inspection done to check the house for any kinds of wildlife problems.  The inspector came out an hour later and gave us the all clear. No bat problems anywhere.

Two weeks later and here we are.  Six days ago I went to the basement to put some boxes away and I found a dead bat on top of the shelves; three days I had to pull a dead bat out from behind the stove when I started to smell something heating up as I cooked dinner.  From six days ago until now, I have found 8 bats dead in my house.  I thought to myself, ‘this has to be a coincidence, the house doesn’t have a bat problem!’ I started to dig around to find out if these dead bats were just old or if we were dealing with something larger altogether.  I didn’t have any luck finding any live bats and I was starting to become more hopeful that there wasn’t a bat problem at all, until I got to the attic.  I cracked open the door and shone my flashlight around the large space; I could see that there was definitely guano covering the floor so I moved my light up towards the ceiling and I almost screamed.  What had to be more than 100 bats were hanging peacefully from the rafters.

I am so unbelievably upset!  Not only are there bats in the attic of my house, but the inspector that was supposed to look for the bats was either incompetent or he lied straight to my face!  There is no way that a problem this extreme just happened in the last two weeks, especially since we actually moved in a week ago and we started finding bats immediately!  Okay, what I need is to first take a deep breath, and second is some serious help.  I need someone to get these bats out of the attic before I lose my mind and burn this house down.  I have been patiently dealing with the quirks of my (new) old house, but I cannot handle this without some professional help; be it a therapist or bat control. I need SOMEONE.

Bats and Snakes and Construction

Bat (1)snakesAs municipalities ramp up for spring and prepare for upcoming construction projects, leaders are discussing how bats and snakes may affect construction projects, including roads and bridges.  White nose syndrome has taken a massive toll on the bat population in America, particularly in the northeast, prompting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to explore placing northern long-eared bats on the threatened or endangered species list.  Lawmakers in Michigan and other states are petitioning for more time for public comment before USFWS makes their decision, because they say construction jobs are at risk if these bats are designated as threatened or endangered.  Implementing further protection laws may place “undue economic burden on regions impacted by white nose syndrome,” by putting construction projects on hold or eliminating the projects altogether.

This week just north of Washington State, at Boundary Bay in Canada, construction workers repairing a dike unearthed over 500 garter snakes hibernating under the rocks.  Construction was halted as the harmless snakes were gathered up in bins and buckets and delivered to British Columbia shelter, and shelter employees treated those snakes who were unintentionally harmed during construction work.  These snakes are due to be returned to the site in the spring, after the construction is done, but it’s a stark reminder how construction work affects local populations of snakes and other wildlife.

Mining companies may have to abandon mines where bats hibernate.  Electrical providers, road construction crews and oil companies laying pipeline may have to conduct surveys and bat relocation efforts before cutting down trees in which the bats roost.  Construction of buildings and roads will be halted or put on hold when snakes are unearthed.  Road and bridge construction crews may need to carefully work around bat populations.

It is a difficult and delicate balance, between the needs of human populations and the needs of our local wildlife.  There is no question that jobs are at risk, and so is the habitat of these wild animals.  Taking it one step further, when construction projects unearth snakes or disturb delicate bat populations, these wild animals are forced to seek shelter elsewhere, and sometimes that is a home or warehouse or office building.  That is where Allstate Animal Control comes in.  The wildlife trappers and technicians who work with us are local to you.  That means they are most familiar with the wild animals in your neighborhood, the federal and local laws protecting those animals and dictating how they are to be handled, and they have the experience and skill to humanely remove bats, snakes and other wild animals out of walls, attics, chimneys, crawlspaces or wherever else the animals have gotten into.  It is up to our lawmakers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine how best to protect both construction needs and jobs as well as our wildlife.  It is up to Allstate Animal Control to remove wild animals out of your home or property and keep them in their natural habitat.  It’s better for your safety and health, and it’s better for the safety and health of these wild animals.

Competitive Bats

Bat (2)Discover magazine just released an article discussing how bats are pretty competitive against each other.  They’ll send jamming signals to steal a rivals’ prey.  Bats, just before snapping their bug meal out of the air, will sometimes send out a series of rapid chirps so they can better home in on their target.  Lately, scientists have discovered nearby bats will sometimes send out ultrasonic jamming signals to confuse the hunting bat just so they can steal the bug for their own meal.

Bat Management

bat_caughtOf all the different ways to manage bat problems, one town in Australia is trying to discourage bats from roosting in neighborhoods by allowing residents to seriously trim back the trees lining city streets.  The hope is they will deter the bats from living in the trees and encourage them to move to a more suitable location in the wild.  Unfortunately, they may discover that the bats may end up moving into attics, chimneys, walls or eaves instead of seeking shelter in a more natural setting.

Bats aren’t the truly terrifying creatures that swarm around people’s heads or go for blood.  But, their presence in our homes, apartments, office buildings, out buildings and industrial spaces aren’t good for them and it’s certainly not good for us.  The mess they make with guano (or bat droppings) is smelly, foul, and attracts other vermin or bugs.  They can carry ticks or mites that drop off and infest the area.  They damage walls, soffits, eaves and other building materials, and leave a large greasy smudge around the areas where they access the building.  And, yes, they are a common carrier of rabies.  The problem is, their teeth are so small that a person may not even know they’ve been bitten.  So, health officials strongly suggest you never touch a bat with your bare hands, and if a person wakes up in a room with a bat, they should seek medical attention immediately.  Rabies is fatal unless managed properly, so don’t take a chance around bats.

Bats In The Attic

bat_wings        As a local handyman for hire, Tyler sees a lot of weird things, and it’s not unusual for him to be called to a customer’s home to take care of some problem or other, and have it turn out to be something completely different.  A “loose roof shingles” call may end up as a raccoon in the attic, accessing the space through a hole the raccoon tore in the soffit.  In another service call, an air conditioner unit that only worked sometimes was actually caused by a squirrel chewing through the wiring.  That one was sobering, because if Tyler hadn’t spotted the problem quickly, it could have resulted in a home fire or it could have electrocuted someone.

Once, Tyler got a call from a guy who didn’t want to tell him any specifics over the phone.  He just insisted on having a handyman come over and investigate the attic.  When Tyler got there, the man offered no further explanation other than he had heard odd noises at night coming from the attic.  He was so hesitant to explain the problem, and he was obviously terrified.

Finally, Tyler put him at ease and the man confessed.  “I think it’s the ghost of my grandmother.”

That was a new one.  And, Tyler wondered, just what was a handyman supposed to do about a ghost in the attic?

The man went on to explain that he had inherited the house from his grandmother, who had passed away two years ago.  He had lived among her things for a time, and finally got up the courage to pack up her keepsakes and stash them in the attic.  He’d done that almost exactly a year ago, and now he was hearing noises above his head each night and sometimes in the early morning.  He’d lost sleep over it, and was too afraid to confront the ghost in his attic.  Apparently, his grandmother had not been a very nice or understanding woman.

Fortunately, Tyler didn’t believe in ghosts and good-naturedly climbed the stairs up into the attic.  In the end, he almost wished it had been a ghost.  He was not prepared to find hundreds of bats in the attic.  His flashlight and movements disturbed the roosting bats in the attic, and they swarmed, hitting his head and face and shoulders in their panic.  He’d never seen so many bats in an attic, and it was all he could do not to scream as he climbed back down the stairs and explained what was really going on to his client.  The man was relieved it wasn’t the specter of an angry grandmother, but it was just bats in his attic.  Tyler felt differently.  He made it out to his truck, where he allowed himself a mild freak-out attack before calling Allstate Animal Control to get the bats out of the attic.

Bats in Weber County Utah

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It’s no surprise to Weber County, Utah residents that bats live in the area.  They are often to be seen in the night sky, flitting around silently, changing directions quickly as they chase after their meals.  Bats in Weber County do their best to keep the mosquito population down as well as preying on all different kinds of bugs, flying or not.  They’ve even been known to carry off crickets, centipedes and other large bugs.  At most recent counts, Utah has eighteen species of bats, and Weber County bats do their best to keep the county from being overrun with bugs.

Usually bats will roost in places such as caves, mines, rotting logs, but often bats discover warmer, more convenient places in which to roost or even nest.  Breeding season is coming up, for most bat species, and that’s the spring.  They’ll happily roost or breed in attics, chimneys, abandoned buildings, inside building walls, behind shutters, under eaves, and anywhere else that provides a relatively protected environment close to food sources.  You may not even know you have a bat or a colony of bats living inside your home or apartment until one makes its way inside your living room or bedroom or kitchen.

Do Weber County bats carry rabies?  Usually, no, but the chances are high enough that you absolutely should NEVER touch a bat.  If it bites a person or animal, seek medical attention immediately.  Keep your animals up to date on their rabies shots.  People who handle bats may not even realize the bat’s tiny claws have scratched them, so always seek medical attention if you have come into contact with a bat.  And, if you come across an active bat during the day time, it may be sick or diseased.  Keep children and pets away from it.

Discovering a bat or a colony of bats in your house or other buildings will come as a shock.  You may have a very clean house with a well-kept yard, and yet still have a bat problem.  The safest course of action is to contact us to send a professional to your home to remove the bat or bats.  Trying to remove a bat yourself may result in being scratched or bitten by it as it will be terrified and try to get away or defend itself.    Bats are protected under the law, as well, especially a nesting colony of bats, and our professionals know exactly how to handle the situation legally and safely.  A professional will also be able to safely clean the bat droppings from your building and even install materials to prevent bats from returning to your building.

It’s fun and interesting to watch Weber County bats flying around at night, but make sure it’s at a distance.  Up close and personal bat encounters can result in a trip to the emergency room.  And, if you discover one or more bats in your building, contact us to remove the bats and keep you and yours safe.