Bats in my bedroom (Chicago, Atlanta: apartments, leasing, how much)

[southkakkatlantan]

For the 2nd time within 4 days I've been awoken by a bat flying above my face. The first time last week, by the time animal control came out they couldn't find it. And three people looked that day.

Today the second person is here and can't find it again. The problem is it's coming out in the middle of the night and burying itself somewhere in the apartment before day breaks. No one can come out to look for it in the middle of the night.

I have bad nerves and can't catch a bat myself. I had a panic attack and took off this morning. Do I have any recourse with my leasing office? Can I break my lease? The CDC has been ringing my phone off the hook apparently animal control reported it to them and the CDC is saying I have to get these expensive rabies vaccinations now. I haven't slept in 5 days.

HELP!!

[emathias]

Originally Posted by southkakkatlantan

For the 2nd time within 4 days I've been awoken by a bat flying above my face. The first time last week, by the time animal control came out they couldn't find it. And three people looked that day.

Today the second person is here and can't find it again. The problem is it's coming out in the middle of the night and burying itself somewhere in the apartment before day breaks. No one can come out to look for it in the middle of the night.

I have bad nerves and can't catch a bat myself. I had a panic attack and took off this morning. Do I have any recourse with my leasing office? Can I break my lease? The CDC has been ringing my phone off the hook apparently animal control reported it to them and the CDC is saying I have to get these expensive rabies vaccinations now. I haven't slept in 5 days.

HELP!!

1) Don't delay the vaccinations. The chances of you catching rabies from a trapped bat are not extremely high, but they are very, very real and once you have symptoms it's too late - you will die. I hate to add to your nerves, but seriously, get the vaccinations today. I don't know for sure, but it would shock me if you can't get the vaccines for free if you can't afford them. Rabies are rare but very serious and very preventable when addressed early.

2) Call your landlord and tell him you need this taken care of immediately. He can and should immediately call an exterminator who is specialized in bats. If he fails to address it, you can break you lease over it, but give him a couple days. If you can, stay with friends until the exterminator is done.

[southkakkatlantan]

Originally Posted by emathias

1) Don't delay the vaccinations. The chances of you catching rabies from a trapped bat are not extremely high, but they are very, very real and once you have symptoms it's too late - you will die. I hate to add to your nerves, but seriously, get the vaccinations today. I don't know for sure, but it would shock me if you can't get the vaccines for free if you can't afford them. Rabies are rare but very serious and very preventable when addressed early.

2) Call your landlord and tell him you need this taken care of immediately. He can and should immediately call an exterminator who is specialized in bats. If he fails to address it, you can break you lease over it, but give him a couple days. If you can, stay with friends until the exterminator is done.

I did start the vaccinations 2 days after the sighting. I had my second set of vaccinations today.

The leasing person has been sending out a pest control company; one visited the first sighting day and one visited today. No one has been able to find it. Because it keeps appearing above my bed/head mg nerves are shot. I'm ready to walk out on my lease; I can't deal with this. I took off work today because of this and I simply cannot do that again. But I also can't get dressed with a bat flying around my head either. I'm so tired and stressed out right now. I really think my landlord sees me as more of an annoyance right now that anything. I don't get the impression he cares. How many more times am I supposed to see one and request someone come out? Can't wait until I've been bitten for this to become a serious issue. He says if I'm so concerned to stay with a friend...this is pissing me off.

[southkakkatlantan]

I've finished my vaccinations.

I haven't seen any bats but that's because I'm living on my couch. I've blocked off my bedroom and haven't been in there for weeks. I even have a towel underneath the door so none that come in through there can enter my living space.

I thought maybe it was gone, but I was awoken Friday night by a ton of noise from the wall/ceiling. It started around 3 am and ended by 6 something. The noises started above my couch and 'moved' through to the bedroom area. I keep all of the lights on every night. I finally slept last night after getting a hotel downtown. But I can't keep living like this.

I need a recommendation on a temporary place to stay until I can sort all of this out. My landlord isn't going to do anything more until I can prove there is a bat or bats in the apartment. I have a camera installed but with all of the lights on I don't know how long it'll be before one enters my living area to catch it on camera. Quite frankly I'm too scared to cut the lights off as the last time I did that is the last time I saw one. I already have anxiety as it is and the first encounter I had with the first one in my bedroom came straight at my face.

I've talked to an attorney and my alderman and the Chicago tenants association. They all said I have to allow the landlord to fix the issue. Every time I've called the landlord they have sent pest control out to look and no one has been able to find a bat because pest control keeps coming in the day after it's already returned to wherever it's hiding. So in the eyes of the law the landlord is doing their part. I have no grounds to break the lease is what all of them told me. Yet no one has been on the roof and I swear they are nesting up there and that it's highly unlikely it's just one of them in the building.

[2nd trick op]

Bats are attracted to any part of an older building that they can penetrate without being disturbed; for me, that meant the attic and crawl space in an older house I came by twenty years ago. I lived with the problem of one occasionally finding its way downstairs until about five years ago.

Then when I had the roof re-done, I finally found a contractor who located and sealed off the crawl space. Since then, I've had to deal with a stray bat on only two occasions, and it's quite possible that those two were nesting in other older houses nearby.

When you get the financing issue settled, ask around until you find an exterminator / pest controller who has previous experience with bats. It will be well worth the effort.

[breeinmo.]

I feel your pain. I woke once to something flying in circles above me, and thought my parakeet got out. When I saw it was a bat, I freaked! It took 3 days to find it, they can lay so flat and hide very well. It had flattened against the wall behind a box. I don't have much advice except to keep the room closed, dress in protective gear and go through everything with a fine tooth comb. We used a net to catch it. Good luck OP.

[southkakkatlantan]

Originally Posted by breeinmo.

I feel your pain. I woke once to something flying in circles above me, and thought my parakeet got out. When I saw it was a bat, I freaked! It took 3 days to find it, they can lay so flat and hide very well. It had flattened against the wall behind a box. I don't have much advice except to keep the room closed, dress in protective gear and go through everything with a fine tooth comb. We used a net to catch it. Good luck OP.

I live alone and my nerves are so bad I can't see myself chasing after a bat. If I see it again is it ok to spray it with something until it falls down? That way I won't be so scared to approach and catch it? I'm 5 feet tall and have tall ceilings. Last time I saw it it flew in circles around the ceiling and I didn't see it fly any lower. There's no way I could catch it in that state.

What kind of net did you use? Did it try to come after you while you were trying to catch it?

First bed bugs and now bats...I honestly never had to deal with these things in Atlanta.

[southkakkatlantan]

Originally Posted by 2nd trick op

Bats are attracted to any part of an older building that they can penetrate without being disturbed; for me, that meant the attic and crawl space in an older house I came by twenty years ago. I lived with the problem of one occasionally finding its way downstairs until about five years ago.

Then when I had the roof re-done, I finally found a contractor who located and sealed off the crawl space. Since then, I've had to deal with a stray bat on only two occasions, and it's quite possible that those two were nesting in other older houses nearby.

When you get the financing issue settled, ask around until you find an exterminator / pest controller who has previous experience with bats. It will be well worth the effort.

I've spent quite a bit of time on the phone with exterminators. I found one yesterday who will do a full external building inspection. Issue is they need my landlord to grant them access to the building. I don't know if they will. But I will ask. $150 to inspect it.

Medical bills, a night vision camera, inspection costs...this is all adding up. Shouldn't the landlord have to reimburse me for at least the inspection?

Bigger issue is, could it really be just one bat? I've been dealing with this for almost a month now. One bat is living in my ceiling by itself? Seems unlikely. Means it would be leaving the unit to eat at night and returning to my unit alone during the day.

[southkakkatlantan]

So after much anxiety about returning home from my hotel room today I came back and upon entering a huge bat flew out of the spare bedroom right at me. I had just gotten home, it was 2:30 pm and I was so shaken all I could do was run out.

Got a neighbor to come in, video tape it, then he shooed it out of a window unfortunately. I'm preparing a very long letter to my landlord right now.

[personone]

Originally Posted by southkakkatlantan

So after much anxiety about returning home from my hotel room today I came back and upon entering a huge bat flew out of the spare bedroom right at me. I had just gotten home, it was 2:30 pm and I was so shaken all I could do was run out.

Got a neighbor to come in, video tape it, then he shooed it out of a window unfortunately. I'm preparing a very long letter to my landlord right now.

That is a serious health hazard. As you mentioned, it's required by the CDC that you report your exposure to the health department, and get immunized like you did. The fact that you are still finding bats in your place is dangerous, and you're spending money to live in a hotel. That's got to be disrupting your life in general. I'm surprised that your landlord isn't rolling down the red carpet for you, given what you've gone through.

How much penalty is it if you break the lease? It seems like now, with the bats still being there after they tried to exterminate them, that you definitely have legitimate grounds for breaking the lease. For me, the stress and impact on life would be too much to continue living there. The only other suggestion is that you could threaten bad press (negative reviews) if your landlord doesn't let you out of the lease. You couldn't get in any trouble because you aren't lying and everything is documented.

That's one reason I usually go for newer apartments or at least well maintained brick apartments, even though they are pricier. You usually don't have to deal with these rodent issues. In these older buildings, squirrels can be a problem in the winter to, so be careful. I have had to deal with a squirrel in the apartment once, and since then I've opted for newer high rise apartments!