Bats in the walls - cost for removal and remediation?
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Thanks for the information. I've asked a couple additional questions of the specialist, but I think I'll probably go with him rather than cheaping out.
You might want to check with the Department of Natural Resources or similar state agency. In Maryland there are only a few weeks a year when you are allowed to remove bats from a building. They are a protected species. A neighbor worked for two years to remove bats legally from his attic.
I was too concerned about the health and homeowners insurance implications. As it was, I went and had rabies shots as a precaution because I had woken up with the bats flying around our bedroom, which admittedly, was probably not necessary.
Getting the rabies vaccine was advisable unless the bats were captured and shown to be negative for rabies.
"But 90 percent of human rabies cases in the United States (about one or two per year) originate from contact with bats. Some cases involved sleeping people who didn't know they were bitten, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
"Anyone finding a bat at home is advised to close the doors leading to the room and contact animal control to remove the bat. If the animal had access to a bedroom overnight, alert the local health department that the bat needs testing for rabies. A negative result could prevent unnecessary distress, pain [from the immunoglobulins and the vaccine used to prevent rabies] and financial hardship [treatment is expensive]."
"But 90 percent of human rabies cases in the United States (about one or two per year) originate from contact with bats. Some cases involved sleeping people who didn't know they were bitten, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
"Anyone finding a bat at home is advised to close the doors leading to the room and contact animal control to remove the bat. If the animal had access to a bedroom overnight, alert the local health department that the bat needs testing for rabies. A negative result could prevent unnecessary distress, pain [from the immunoglobulins and the vaccine used to prevent rabies] and financial hardship [treatment is expensive]."
Yep, that's why I got it. I did some of this research and it worried me enough to get the shot. I remember posting about it in the c-d forums back when it happened. I had to twist my husband's arm to get the shots. He did not complete the full protocol, but it happened 10 month ago, and we are both still around
Of course, the number of people who get rabies in the U.S. is extremely rare (as indicated above), but one of the main reasons the number IS so low is because of the ease and availability of the shots now.
If you're willing to spend a weekend or so out of the house (motel), you can use a "bat bomb" to kill or remove them. Be sure you know where you have to patch up before you leave, or they will return:
Dried guano (bat poop) is not harmful. It is prized as plant food. Go outside after sunset and see where the bats are leaving your house. Seal up all possible exits except that one and put the one way kit over that one.
End of problem. I think $2,000 near Philadelphia is a good price IF the company will guarantee their work.
If you think the guy you had out to your house seemed good, and you've checked references, I'd just bite the bullet. You need a bat free house. But you might get more info about the guano in the walls. Eventually it will dry up and become a possible contaminant. Can it ever enter your home as dust particles? I'd want to know that. And what kind of guarantee this guy will give you. And is he licensed and bonded?
In NJ, it is a state law that you cannot remove bats from a home between April 1 and Aug 1.
This is because baby bats cannot fly during this time and you might not get them out and they die. Since they are a protected species, this is bad
You must wait past Aug 1. for eviction.
I had them in my attic/wall once.
If you do yourself, you have to find where they are entering.
Sit outside around sunset and watch for flying bats coming in or out.
You may have to move your chair around the house and watch a few days
Assuming you find where they are entering.
Get some light weight chicken fencing and make a half tube and attach to house where top is closed and around hole
make this "tube" about 2-3 ft across, closed on top and open on bottom.
Theory is, they come out of house, hit the wire and fall down and out bottom of tube
when they come back, they don't know to fly in bottom and up, they fly straight at hole, wire blocks them.
They can't get in.
Leave up on house awhile a few weeks/month, once you are sure all bats are out, seal hole with something, expanding foam or caulk.
Worked for me, I left up for 3 months, sealed, no bats came back.
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