Hard to say what is the "most common" spot missed, but the common denominator in all the missed spots is lack of detailed sealing. Some guys don't check the highest ridge peaks or ridge vents because "it's too hard to get to". In that case, you have no business doing it. There are NO short cuts with bat work.

Low entry points are far more common than most people think. I had a home that bats were entering/exiting from a mortar gap TWO BRICKS above the driveway. Watched them do it, after seriously questioning the lady who said "that's where they come out every night". They were roosting in the first story wall cavity, directly behind the TV! They would crawl out the gap, then crawl UP the brick wall about 2 feet before dropping into flight. It was very cool to see.

Also had a home where the huge wrap-around porch (only 3 feet high) had several old metal grates for vents. Bats (big browns) were going through the diamond-shaped holes in the grates, then flying UNDER the porch about 12 feet to a basement window. Mortar was missing in a 3-inch area above the window. The gap was almost touching the underside of the porch floor. Bat guano pellets told the story. Can't overlook ANY cavities when bat-proofing, no matter how difficult to access.

Did an inspection today at an historic home. Two primary entries. One up high, and the other UNDER this porch where an electrical wire passes through the bricks. Of course this porch is fairly tall, but no matter how low, every area on every home must be closely inspected.



Guano pellets on the bricks in the passage through the wall, and accumulated on the dirt below the opening.

The answer to this question is always an easy answer. The most common spot missed is the one you don't expect or the one you don't see or consider. There certainly is skill and experience needed in doing a thorough bat structural seal. Just about the time you think you have everything under control your eyes and mind get another lesson in humility. But that is what getting an education is all about.

Nothing like paying your dues and realizing when you think you know it all you find out one more thing that you didn't know.

I have seen spots that dont seem possible except that guano islodged in the opening where they were squeezing through.

Down near branson i found a bat entry under the door in back of the house...i always check the foundation since that one and have wondered how many i might have missed in the past?

We moved my oldest grandchild into his college dorm today. While he was giving us all a tour of the campus, everyone was looking in

the rooms except me; my eyes were looking out the windows. "Grampa, what are you looking for?" "I found it; bat droppings. If we can

do one exclusion a year, we've got this tuition thing licked!"

Paul... Judy and I just got back from moving Clayt in to his dorm. He's on the 3rd floor (top) and there were a dozen bat guano pellets on his window ledge. Historic old college.... probably with some senior-aged bats!

Hands down ground level... Bat entry under decks is a very common occurrence, something we see on a regular basis. Had to remove deck lattice and crawl several feet to a inside corner where a 8" hand hewed deck beam was pocketed into a field stone foundation. The beam pocket chiseled into the foundation was over sized creating entry into the basement and it had several droppings sitting on top of the beam.

Three last week; one case where the bats were landing in landscape mulch and crawling through a 2" hole in the foundation.

Another where the homeowner cobbled together plywood to close off a broken window leading to a basement.

Bats landing in grass and going through a gap under a steel cellar door. (That was a interesting one and almost lost all of my hair on that one six years ago)

I can go on and on, and sitting here... I can think of over 4 dozen cases of what I thought was a unique entry at ground level.

Customers and some operators have a hard time comprehending bats entering ground level, but we need to remember bats enter hibernaculums (mines and caves) at ground level. It is actually much more common then most people think it is.

I was hoping you would see that post Ron. After watching the whole high school graduation / getting ready for college thing this last

year, the bats aren't the only ones that are feeling senior-aged. Gramma and I will be married 47 years tomorrow. We're going out for

lobster to celebrate. ( I told her I would pay for the tip. What a lucky woman! )

It's my 2nd year anniversary tomorrow Paul. (We started dating in Jr High though)

For our anniversary we are doing a bat inspection! Then dinner at lake tahoe

The ground level entry brings up a question to you guys who see it fairly commonly, are the homes places where others including the homeowner tried already to exclude the bats
or straight up places they are roosting even with higher locations available?

Also associated question, if you have ID'd them in these cases, do you see little brown, big brown or other doing that more?

Some researchers from Canada presented on finding a hibernating colony of little brown bats on Prince Edward Island at the WNS conference two years ago. The foundation was stone, and the secondary location of hibernation for a portion of the colony was an open well pit that was dug and had a mesh placed over it for human safety but large mesh squares that the bats went through.

Of course though this was a huge find for them in terms of novelty for the first hibernating bats there on the island, they were all dead within 2 years of the finding due to WNS...

****

I've had plenty of bats low on buildings we have here including log cabin faux cupped out log window framing and door framing, have run my gloved hand around the interior of the frame and had big browns just inside more than often enough to call it common.

On "normal" structures including log cabins and wood sided metal roof structures, we see the common roosts being at least above my head level (6' 2") and typically tied more to the type of structure like dormers and other interfaces as described by others, fascia/trim boards, etc...

Have had them pack behind flashing that was tight against the wood by squirming in there, 100+ in one little section of flashing with no other entry than to push under..

As was stated by most, every time you think that isn't a likely place they will show you otherwise... One of my first fails, I sealed the whole house after excluding, all was good and then the following summer the client called and there was guano being put down right over his front door on the mat...

I went and looked and sure enough about 200 bats were inside a trim board just above his shaded, covered porch, totally not what I expected and since then I stopped guessing and just follow the rules in terms of everything gets attention, period....

As Jason eluded to, great group of species to work with if you want to lose your hair early!

My most difficult entry point to date was an outside mercury light. The bats were flying up into the housing then crawling along the wires that ran through the housing arm to enter the house. It took me two years to find that location.

As for species at grade/below grade level, it has always been big browns in terms of colony usage. I like to use grade as the description as I've had more of these happen with "walkout" basement style homes that have been cut out of a hill than with a standard foundation where work was performed for window wells or storm cellars.

Justin, the house where I had them entering 1 1/2 inches off the concrete driveway then climbing into the attic was a case where I was the third person addressing the house for bat removal. You know I talk about this case in the bat management course, but I never thought of it possibly tying in to work others did as there was so much that still needed addressed that would have been easier for the bats to use.

X2

They crawled down the door, under the damaged weather strip, back up the inside then flew to the open and exposed attic.

Flashing around chimneys and tuck pointing on chimneys I have been following behind a couple of guys low balling estimates and not returning calls . I have had 5 jobs from these fools this year . And 3 of them were tuck pointing and flashing gaps. Another was roof vents.

Great thread here.

So what is the best way to find/detect low level entries? Look for dropping and staining? Treat it like a rodent exclusion and seal all the gaps you find on the lower ends of the structure. Just looking to improve on my work and our business.

Mike

As long as we're discussing bats, I have a question. ( Wow, that's unusual ) I know that it is against the law nearly everywhere to

kill bats and that you can be fined. What I'd like to know is if there are any cases of people paying fines and what the cost was. I

looked it up in Wisconsin and couldn't find anything but I'm not exactly Sherlock Holmes when it comes to searches.

I've not heard of anyone around here being fined... Although, I'd like to see that the guy who's been sucking them up in a shop-vac, piling them in garbage bags and dropping them off at the landfill get caught.

Muddawg, our Wisconsin bat laws ( Which I just read more of last night ) were crafted specifically for your shop-vac violator. We

will not be fined for an occasional dead bat but if you are a bat serial killer, they're out to get you. I was just interested in

what the penalties were for that kind of behavior.

Paul maybe muddawg can set up a sting operation and get us the info We need

You mean like hiding inside a garbage bag at the dump?

IF you do miss just one spot, what are the odds of a bat finding it?