Had a terrifying experience this morning. First let me just say I have been seeing two bats fly around my home the past few weeks. I have my trash can under my deck. I went to take the trash out the other evening around 6 and had a bat fly less than two feet from me. That was scary enough!! This morning I went out on my deck, it was still dark as night about 4:30 am. A bat flew down and almost got caught in my freaking hair!!! I could hear it's wings flapping and felt the wind from them that is how close it came!!! I ducked put my hands over my head and ran back in. My question is can I call animal control about this issue? I heard on the radio last week that there was a woman who had a bat fly into her home and bite her! It had rabbies and she had to get treatment. I am so scared to go outside now. I drive my son an hour to his bus stop every day so when we leave it is still dark out and I fear for his safety as much as mine. The bats seem to only target me. My husband has seen them but they stay high in the sky when he sees them. I am freaking out!!!! What to do???
I do not have any lights on where this bat was and I do not care if they fly around catching bugs. I love nature and animals. I don't want to harm them, I just want them to stay out of my personal space. This was too close for comfort. I appreciate the advice I have received, I really do but I don't care about personal opinions here I wanted to get some advice on who to call or what I could do to keep them away from my home and family. The bats do seem to only dive bomb me (this happens on a daily basis). I know misquitos love me so maybe that can be part of it. I called a number for Maryland Wildlife to see if I could get tips or suggestions but I got more advice here. Again many thanks for the advice and Happy Friday!
watch some Billy the Exterminator on netflix :) maybe the bat episodes will give you some good ideas??
I personally think that bats are cool. Once when visiting Austin, I went down to the famous bridge downtown (I want to say State Street Bridge?). Anyway - if you go down there at night, the bats all fly out at sunset from under the bridge where they roost. It was the coolest experience to see hundreds of thousands of bats swarm out. There were probably a few hundred people standing around watching, as they swarmed around our heads, and never touched one of us! It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
I watched a special on bats on tv, but it was years ago. One of the things I do remember is that they told how to make a bat house to lure bats away from your home or to keep them from roosting in/around your home.
Bats do much good by keeping down the insect population.
Good luck to you and yours.
I would call animal control and see if they can help, if not call an exterminator. If they are nesting in your house, it's VERY dangerous. Not only for the possibility of them biting you, but there dropping's put off something that is very dangerous for humans to breath in.
I can't remember what it's called, but again VERY dangerous. So I'd definitely address it. Good luck!
Err, why are you freaking out? Because one woman had one fly in her house, probably didn't know what to do, did something stupid and got bit?
We have them flying all over our yard, this fall we are putting in bat houses so they stay. In one night a bat can eat over 100,000 mosquitoes. I love them.
If you didn't have bugs around you they wouldn't even come close to you.
I don't think you need to be afraid of the bats. Bats are so cool to have around your house. They eat the insects that bite you. If I were you I would build a couple bat houses and put them up to encourage the bats to stay or come back every year. (I'm jealous! I wish we had bats). Anyway, they use echolocation to find food and they are not interested in you. I am sure it was just chasing an insect that came close to your head. A very small percentage of bats can have rabies so if you ever see a bat lying on the ground and not flying away, do not pick it up. My husband and I once did bat research together up in Alaska and I have never once heard of a bat flying over and biting a person. And at that point in life we knew a LOT of bat people with a lot of experience. Anyway, don't be afraid.
YOu need to call an exterminator. While they do not target humans they can be viscious and bite you. They also carry diseases in their saliva and possibly rabies. Get your house back!! Sorry this is happening to you.
I am sure this is probably coincidental.
Bats don't want anything to do with people.
If you have bats in your belfry, you will need to get them out and seal up the holes where they are getting in. Bat droppings are dangerous and bat bites require rabies shots.
If the bats are not in your house, put some bat boxes on the trees away from your home. Bats eat bugs. Bats are inherently good.
LBC
Bats are harmless. They're an essential predator for bugs! They eat their weight in bugs every week--or something like that. They're very misunderstood.
I doubt they're "targeting you" -- more likely, you're turning on a light that makes it easy for them to locate bugs.
They have sonar more advanced than a cruise missile! They're not going to bite you or get stuck in your hair!
Call an exterminator to make sure they can't get INTO your house anywhere.
You can also install a bat box on your property to encourage them away from your home.
There was a bat flying in the hallway at my sons' preschool on the first day. It was so disgusting (the handy man caught it)! No advice, just agreeing with how creepy they are.
I think I would put up a multitude of bat houses away from the house and keep lights on around the exterior of the house starting about an hour or so after sunset. keep them on all night so the bats wont come back and roost. make sure the bat houses are out of the light. i would also install a light on that deck to turn on before you go out. good luck!
are they roosting under the eaves of your house? Maybe check during the day? And then you could somehow cut off their roosting places. They are dive bombing you to eat mosquitoes, but you already knew that.
While I agree with others that bats are an important part of the ecosystem and do a lot of good in nature, you do NOT want them in or too near your home. They can carry rabies which is always fatal to humans. Call an exerminator and be sure the exterminator has experience with bats -- you want someone who has dealt with this before, not someone who only deals with mice and rats and who doesn't know about bat nesting habits etc. Just as mice are fine in their natural habitats, you don't want them in your home; same goes for bats.
As helpful as bats are, I would call the exterminator.
If you put bat houses up, put them far away from the house.
About 1% of bats in this country carry rabies. (Skunks are carriers about 70% of the time. I'd be more afraid of a skunk running around my deck.) Bats don't seek out people to bite. They are afraid of you just like birds are. They don't target people. They are hunting for bugs when you see them flying around. They are NOT VICIOUS! Come on people!!
We have bats everywhere here. I live next to a cemetery with big oak trees. Bats fly every night. We love to watch them. We've never had a problem.
The only issue I could see is if they are nesting in your home. You should call an exterminator and have them check your attic.
Make sure it really is a bat and not a barn swallow. I don't know if you have them there, but they mimic bats at night because they are shaped the same and hunt for bugs. They sometimes get real close to humans if we're near their nests.
In short, stop freaking out. It's really not a big deal and I'm surprised everybody on here is so afraid of a little bat. Sheesh!
