Jan 23, 2012
Discovering a bat infestation under a tile roof
It is both terrifying and amazing to watch these roofers uncover hundreds and hundreds of bats. There are so many and it goes on for so long that you almost get used to the idea — Then they hit the mother lode…
(via Cynical-C)
* * * * *
I would have stopped after the first tile was taken off. For one, a bat infestation is disgusting. Second, having to deal with that infestation probably can’t be considered part of the contract / work order. Or maybe remove the tiles at night when the bats aren’t roosting?
You know, those bats do a valuable job eating mosquitoes and other insects every night. As soon as their home was discovered, the work should have been stopped, and an alternative home provided for them (bat houses are easy to build, and then the bats live somewhere OTHER than in/on your house). Then the work could have proceeded after dusk when the bats were out hunting.
Unfortunately, bats don’t eat nearly as many mosquitoes as we would like them to.
Actually, most insectivorous bats can eat more than 600 mosquitoes in single hour. That’s each single bat.
They do. Bats eat an unbelievable amount of bugs, there just aren’t enough bats to handle the quantity of bugs in the world. This is probably because we kill them off and freak out, chasing them away from civilization. Humans are idiots. I wish I wasn’t one.
I wish you weren’t as well.
Says the neanderthal…
You’re pretty cool though, right?
I concur. I don’t find this the least bit scary-except for what those bats must have felt.
Speaking of not being their job… I have done roofing, and lemme tell you, roofing at night is DAMN SURE not in the description. YEs, they disturbed the bats but as far as I saw very few of them died from tiles being dropped and most of them just flew away presumably to find a new home. Aside from maybe some headache on the part of the bats, no harm no foul. I realize that this is upsetting to animal activists? but bats are far from extinct and that was a shitload.
That much stress can kill the bats because they can only hold so much energy in those tiny bodies… Flying during the day because they were forced out of their homes can kill them. At least at night they can properly feed and find another roost.
those poor little bats!!! could you imagine being all sound asleep and all of a sudden your house gets ripped apart and maybe dropped back on you?
Whose house?
Poor things, I agree with Jan. should have been more careful around them, dropping tiles like that! Very clumsy.
Oh please! You try being the guy having to rip up those tiles without jumping when you find 100 bats under a single tile. Give a break.
LOL at those who feel sorry for the bats! Say that after you have dealt with a bat infestation in your roof or attic. They are a necessary piece of our ecosystem but a MAJOR pain in the ass in your home, not to mention all the ill health effects that come with them. It cost several thousands of dollars to ‘move’ bats the legal and right way. They have more rights that humans do! Good luck to the poor soul dealing with these vermin (yes, even though they are a valid and necessary part of our ecosystem they are still dirty, disease carrying VERMIN
Did anyone notice the guy talking in the background towards the end that pointed out, “that’s all guano.” He means all the black stuff that DOESN’T fly away under those tiles. As Biff says… disease. Yeah, I’d want that off my house.
Bat droppings. That’s all I could think of the whole time. So. Much. Poop.
¡Mucho guano!
The only thing I kept thinking was “The only person hospitalized in recent history in my area with rabies caught it from a bat.”
Yes, that’s my worry. Because bats often carry rabies, for their own safety, those guys should’ve stopped, gotten out of there, and turned the job over to whoever handles this kind of hazard. As well as the whole disease-carrying guano thing.
“Most bats don’t have rabies. For example, even among bats submitted for rabies testing because they could be captured, were obviously weak or sick, or had been captured by a cat, only about 6% had rabies.” Taken from this article: http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/education/
Bats are often killed very quickly by rabies (tiny bodies). If you see a bat flying through the air during the day it most likely has something wrong with it (like rabies) and should not be touched if it falls from the daytime sky OR it is seen during the day because it has been uprooted from its “home”/roost in mid day. They probably should have stopped regardless of the low numbers of bats that have rabies considering the population that was under those tiles.
Guano on the other hand… big problem. Should be dealt with by someone who knows what they are doing.
Regardless of all of that, that is a lot of bats. The numbers are amazing. Just wow. Major problem for the owners which sucks for them. But, wow.
Well, I was far more worried for the roofer than for the bats. Bats can bite, and bats are known for carrying rabies.
ewwwwwwwww… “infestation” is right
I love how the bats still on the house are like: “LIGHT!!!” DX *scrambles to the other tiles*
It is actually illegal to remove a bat infestation during certain times of year, mainly when bats are raising young. Similarly, it is only to be done by experts, because bat droppings are a biological hazard due to it being very toxic.
Well I’ve always been terrified of bats. I’m mean come on! Have you seen contagion?!?!?!?!?!
That would be illegal in my country. We don’t do rabies either.
All the animal rights activists make me laugh.
Sounds like someone has some psychological issues. First sign of a dangerous person is when that person has no empathy towards animals. Sounds like Jackie might be more of a danger than the bats..
Please don’t pretend you know about behavioral analysis if you don’t actually know what you’re talking about.
“Most bats don’t have rabies. For example, even among bats submitted for rabies testing because they could be captured, were obviously weak or sick, or had been captured by a cat, only about 6% had rabies.” Taken from this article: http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/education/
I BUY guano for my garden. Best fertilizer ever. I would have been there with my wheelbarrow.