Anyone encourage Bats to their back yard?

[fintstone]

I had them getting into my house for years and it was very annoying. I could not find where they got in (in my basement). Once they were inside, they could not find their way out. They can squeeze through any hole a mouse can get through...so once inside, they can squeeze under doors, etc. and go elsewhere in the house. Wife was not happy.

[GG Allin]

I see bats in the summer all the time. What's odd is, I've never seen a dead bat. Where do they go?

[Evans, Marv]

I have two circulation fans on my patio (that I've actually never used). There is a small space between the fan hub & the housing. I've seen bats fly up to the fan (not running) and right into the space & into the body of the fan. Pretty amazing. One time I found a really small bat clinging to a patio support and poked at it with a long stick. It started screeching, and a bigger bat (I'm assumed it was the mother) flew up, landed next to the small bat and covered it with its wing. My wife was there watching with me & we both went, "Awww, how cute."

[Crowbob]

Aww, how cute...

...STOMP!

Mom and dad bought a near-derelict farmhouse they worked on until they both died. It was full of bats which they didn’t pay extra for. So one evening Dad and uncle Bill armed themselves with tennis rackets and did a room-to-room sweep of the upstairs bedrooms. When they got to the object room they switched on the bare light bulb and swang away! From a safe distance below we could see and hear the commotion. Then one of the operators smacked the buib and all went dark in mid-swing.

Then the commotion really came. I think the bats fought back mightily by the sound of it. A shout of pain and breaking glass then silence.

Dad took one on the side of his head and Uncle Bill broke a window.

Once the laughing died down, on to plan B...

[fintstone]

Mine in the basement eventually died because they couldn't get out, but more kept coming (that subsequently died). If you wait until daytime, they generally seem to be in a stupor and don't fly...and can be caught with a fishing net with a long pole. I eventually sealed up under the basement door and no more in the rest of the house.

There was one in our bedroom one night and we closed the doors to trap it. It eventually flew into the ceiling fan that knocked it out long enough for me to catch it in a coffee can and take it outside. They were pretty scary at first, but we kinda got used to them.

I bought some motion sensor cameras to try to see where they were getting in, but there was enough delay that they were already flying around when it picked them up. Sometimes we got a mouse or small bird in there too...so you would think it would be obvious, but that was not the case. I am pretty sure I eventually found the hole (and sealed it) after a big snake started coming in on a rafter/joist. It moved slowly enough that that the camera picked it up and videoed it before it got very far. I sealed the area with a couple cans of spray foam. So far so good.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GG Allin

I see bats in the summer all the time. What's odd is, I've never seen a dead bat. Where do they go?

I've also often seen lots of bats. I've only seen a dead bat once that I remember, and that was in the last 5-8 years. I'm guessing it's because they are small, and they disappear (rot, bugs, ants, scavengers) quickly.
I've also run across a dead hummingbird once or twice.

Originally Posted by Crowbob

Aww, how cute...

...STOMP!

Mom and dad bought a near-derelict farmhouse they worked on until they both died. It was full of bats which they didn’t pay extra for. So one evening Dad and uncle Bill armed themselves with tennis rackets and did a room-to-room sweep of the upstairs bedrooms. When they got to the object room they switched on the bare light bulb and swang away! From a safe distance below we could see and hear the commotion. Then one of the operators smacked the buib and all went dark in mid-swing.

Then the commotion really came. I think the bats fought back mightily by the sound of it. A shout of pain and breaking glass then silence.

Dad took one on the side of his head and Uncle Bill broke a window.

Once the laughing died down, on to plan B...

Hahah, yeah, attacking them with tennis rackets sounds more like an Abbot and Costello skit, and from the sound of things, that's what you experienced.

[fintstone]

The ones that have died here dehydrate so fast and thoroughly that they are hardly recognizable very quickly. Just a small brittle bit of fur/skin that could be almost anything.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

...
We have so many Swallows ...

African swallows? If so, did they bring coconuts?

My wife hates bats. I do not. Bats which are not rabid are no danger to us. You can't even hear them.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Superman

African swallows? If so, did they bring coconuts?

My wife hates bats. I do not. Bats which are not rabid are no danger to us. You can't even hear them.