I have a question for you bat experts out there. I am doing a bat removal job of a small colony of bats (+-30). My plan is to trap the adults via an excluder cage then physically remove the pups from the gable vent. I then plan to put all inside a bat house and cage them inside until I hang the house on a pole or tree with a SE exposure on the owners property. The gable vent is directly over the main entry to the residence causing a hugh mess and the homeowners were granted permission from the state DNR to remove the bats. The homeowners would like to keep the bats around but do to the mess with small children they have to get them out of their current location. Can anyone offer any suggestions or a more recommended method of relocating the colony?

Just me but I would wait until the pups were flighted and then do a standard exclusion. To me mess does not meet my criteria for having to handle non flighted pups.
I can and have installed guano diverters to prevent the mess until the exclusion can go forward.

That's not going to work , you can't force bats to live in a bat house . The bats will just fly over to there other roost site . Putting bat houses on your property is a bad idea as well . Bat houses breed bat bugs that will feed on humans as well . Being coverd up in bat bugs is not something I wish to ever happen to me again . You will also find that the male bats are using the bat house . Your not going to find a right way to relocate bats with pups . Your home owner will always have bats around . Also if dig around in a bat turd you will see there not eating what you think . Doing bat exclusion when bats have pups is looked down on by bat guys . Do we still do them sure . Like when there flying around a kids bedroom at night then yes they need to go . I did one last week alady found one in her toilet . That one should have been check for rabbies . I told her to check with the health dep about needing shots .They should have done it in the spring . If there's that much crap then it's been going for sometime .

tell us more...

Customer asked me to move her bat house which was full of bats but there droping were causing problems . She also asked me to move the bats with the house because she felt they would not find it if I didn't . Seeing I had just done a 11,000 sq foot bat exclusion on her house I would have jumped of a cliff for her . So I placed hardware cloth over the house and took it down and rehung it about 100 yards from the house . After I climbed down I seen this red tick looking thing on my arm and hundreds of friends all over my neck,back,legs ect at that moment I then striped down to my underware and grabbed her garden hose . After when getting dressed and explaining my actions I noticed blood on my shirt so I did get bit by this vampire bud that feeds on bats . I also went back to where the bat house was hung at first and took a stick and dug around and found them bugs all over . They claim the bug will lay dormant for years after a bat exclusion and will go down and feed on humans as well . It looks very close to a bed bug . Nasty thing it is beware .

Warrior, do you have any examples of the guano diverters that you have installed? The other questions is that if all the bats are placed into a bat box, will the female abondon the pups or will they continue to feed them. the relocqation site is less thsn 20 yards from the current nest site and their current roost would be sealed. Pesky, I am with you on the bug thing but those same bugs are falling right into the homeowners doorway so if I dont move them I am sure the homeowner will, and with much less compassion for the bats.

bat bugs are host specific. They may feed/bite humans but are unable to reproduce off of human blood consumption...

Google: Bat Bug's and read the Wikipedia, very informative.

Well thats good I would hate to think I have children crossed with a bat bug or red bat tick which ever there called

No pics of diverters. I use only when I have to pull a client off the ceiling when I make them wait. Yes, I make them wait! Diverters can be as simple as stapling a trash bag below a gable vent or as complex as metal troughs to run it into a downspout, I've done both. The main thing is that I have satisfied my own ethics that I will not orphan the pups and have met the clients needs.
Yes, I know we need to place our clients safety and well being ahead of the animals otherwise were are as bad as those other folks but I seriously believe that we can meet the needs of both with just a little accomadation. Besides I charge extra to do an interior seal of a home.

By the way, is this a case of the client dictating how the job is to be performed? If so you need to nip it in the bud.

Speaking of waiting. I just got a call for my big bat job of the year so far. Classic log cabin job that I looked at back in early April. I told them then about the pups and the schedule I operate under and submitted my quote. Today after waiting all this time they call and give me the green light, after talking to several others that were cheaper, and I told them that they will have to wait.

David, thanks for your posts! Folks need to work hard
on this issue, as most do. If by some chance pups have to be removed
by law I would work with a bat rehabber otherwise they must
be euthanized, there is no way the xfer to a box forced is
going to work.

I hope you can convince them to accommodate the maternity
season. Emphasize that once this is over no more problems.

Try the diverter,

Tune out some of the noise in this post too!

Justin

By the way Ranger, what species of bat are we talking about here?

I would think the DNR would be less likely to sentence pups to death in your neck of the woods
with WNS all around, realizing we live in a private property rights country and knowing no govt.
employee wants the public calling and harassing them about the guano all day.

Hope you can find a better solution and since they are in a visible location you can emphasize
that you can see when all pups and adults are leaving every night versus the vast amount where
bats are behind walls or hidden and unseen.

Justin

quit yanking his chain

Yes quit yanking his chain.......no, keep yanking. No, stop. Arrhhhg. Pesky, what do you say?

There is a rumor that the PGC will consider putting browns on the endangered list at their meeting this Sept. This is a rumor at this point and if true have no idea what that would mean for we who do bat control.

I think he really wanted to hear about me getting attacked by bat bugs . Nasty vampire things . I seen one bat that had so many it could not fly

Just really suprised Peskycritter didnt take precautions before moving the bat house.....
This is how people get seriously hurt, no knowing what they are doing, but doing it anyways. slow down, do some research and stay safe.

Well bud when your at level that I'm at I will take note at what you say . What you have two years expernce .now your some kinda expert . One look at your web site and one can tell your a rookie that would just run from a charging animal . You must spend half the day scratching your head . When your building little things that you hope you can sell I'm up working on custom built homes . How many 11.000 sq ft exclusion have you done.. Go over to LT site and take a look at the 3 story castle that me and son just did . if I don't no what I'm doing then why do I keep getting referrals on such top end jobs . Bat bugs are something that even the best bug guys know little about and that's if they even know anything about them . There is very little study on these bugs . I'm not a bug guy and know little about bugs . I would never say differnt . My son will soon know a lot about bugs because I'm sending him to MSU just for bugs . When gets out he will be a very well trained in all things pestcontrol . Born and raised fur trapper . Born and raised ADC trapper , worked full time from age ten for a differnt company . Working with me doing exclusion ,then add a degree from MSU in pesticide . That's the things I worry about teaching my kids and helping them biuld a future for them selfs . There's no handouts at my houses but there's always work they can do to earn . I hope you find your way bud

Im not comparing business' Peskycritter, just saying that the image you portray in the wildlife industry is backwards and upside down. using ill methods, not knowing all aspects of work in which you are suppose to be THE professional. Have you had any zoo-onic diesease's?

i can P farther than you.... oppppsss did i just say that??