Uninvited Guests

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I'm not including any photos with this post.  If you make it to the end, you'll understand why.  You're welcome.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that we woke up at 4:30AM to find a bat flying around our bedroom.  I never gave an update, though.

My cousin saw the bat outside the next morning, so I called animal control to pick it up.  They euthanized it and tested it for rabies.  Fortunately, it was negative {the rabies vaccine is $$$}.  We thought that it was an isolated incident and went about our business.

Monday night, as I was getting ready to type the Quilt-A-Long post, I noticed a funny shadow out of the corner of my eye.  I looked over and saw that there was a bat flying through my dining room and living room.

I may have been the calm one the first time, but Monday night I freaked out.  I hid on the kitchen floor for a few seconds, trying to decide how to get to the baby.  

I ended up crawling through the dining room, living room, and up the stairs.  In that time I lost track of the bat.  I woke Mike up and went to get Gene.  

We never found the bat.  Since I was flipping out, we packed our bags and stayed at a hotel for the night.

I spent a good chunk of Tuesday morning making phone calls, desperately trying to find someone to come and take care of our bat problem.  I finally found a guy and he agreed to come and take a look.

The Bat Man arrived at dusk Wednesday evening.  We walked around the house, looking for any cracks where the bats might gain access to our house.  He located a couple and we stood near them and waited.

We didn't wait long.

We watched and counted as twenty-two bats flew away from our house.  Bat Man said that only 2/3 of the colony generally leaves on a given night, so he estimates there are approximately 30-35 bats living in the walls of our house.

I just sat there, dumbfounded.  It was like something out of a horror film.  I mean, have you ever seen a bat's face?  It looks like the evil Gremlins.  They're not cute.

So, what's the plan?

Bat Man {yes, we refer to him as the Bat Man} will build bat exclusion devices to fit over the spaces where they are gaining access to the house.  It will be a tube that extends to the edge of the roof.  The bats will be able to crawl out, but they won't get back in {they crawl into cracks/holes, not fly}.  After two weeks, he will remove the exclusion devices and seal up the openings.

It sounds simple enough.  I wish he could do it tomorrow, but he's the only guy in town who deals with bats.  He will take measurements early next week and then get started.

So there you have it.  We are currently sharing our home with a colony of bats.

Excuse me while I vomit.