[Red Label]

I have a question for the great mass of all knowing minds here. We seem to have a growing bat population somewhere near my house and my wife does not like them flying through the back yard at night. She wants me to shoot them and they come out early enough that I believe that with a shotgun it could be done. My question is, can they or should they be taken legally? Are they endangered and will I have some treehuggers breathing down my neck when they hear me shooting near dusk? I have never seen a bat hunting season. I can't be the first with this question. Thanks guys.

[kudu]

Don't shoot them. It can be done but it is illegal to shoot bats. Back in my young and uninformed days a bunch of us guys would go to a friends barn that had a big population of bats and wait untill twilight when they came out. Very hard to hit.
Most bats that are seen are the endangered brown bat. They mainly eat mosquitos,a lot of mosquitos. With the decline of less and less old farm barns the brown bat is in the decline. I have seen many articles lately about how to make bat houses for them. People understand how beneficial they are and want more around their houses.

With the advent of west nile disease the more bats out there the better.

[sm]

http://endangered.fws.gov/bats/bats.htm

http://www.batcon.org/

http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du_bats.html

Well it seems some species are protected, and there is a "batty organization" in existence.

I never considered shooting bats. Then again I never had a problem around here nor any of my friends out in the country.

I do know many places actually build "bat houses" in the city, populated areas ,and I forget which stadium did this.

Why build a bat house? West Nile disease. Bats eat millions of skeeters each night. So populated areas build bat houses in conjunction with other measures to reduce the odds of West Nile . This Stadium did it to insure the safety/put at ease the minds of attendees.

HTH

[Art Eatman]

Wifey needs educatin'.

Art

[4v50 Gary]

What Kudu says. They eat 'skeeters and I'd rather have bats than 'skeeters.

[Duncan Idaho]

What Art said.

[mete]

I have done it but that was to get bats out of an attic. At dusk,, 7 1/2 shot, open choke. But since they eat lots of insects it shouldn't be done except when really necessary.

[12-34hom]

Bats are marvels of nature & eat TONS of bugs that otherwise would be feasting on us.

Please, leave them be..

12-34hom.

[Bruz]

As Art said...bat's around these parts do not suck your blood, none get stuck in your hair, and one bat can eat like 3,000 insects insects in one night!

I have bat houses and have not seen one mosquito by my house. I loves my bats!

[rick_reno]

Don't do this. When I was a lad growing up in upstate NY, my father would take out his Rem. 1100 in 28 ga. every evening in the summer and we'd stand out in the field and shoot bats. They are hard to hit, but it can be done. This is before I was aware of something called the "eco-system" and the benefits bats bring to the table.
I've got three of them in the eves of my porch right now - love em.

[Byron Quick]

Never have shot at them. We used to toss very small pebbles up in the air around a street light with bats hunting the insects. Often the bats would grab the pebble and then spit it out.

We had this yankee move down here a couple of decades ago. Bought an old farmhouse. Woods and wetlands close by. Plenty of snakes. His wife had a fit. He went on a snake killing spree. Wife didn't like being overrun with rodents either.

[Detachment Charlie]

I'm a traditionalist and prefer a 32" Louisville slugger, Ted Willaims model.
As dad used to say, "Son, always use enough bat.":neener:

[scotjute]

Red Label, its a good thing you don't live near Devil's Sinhole in Tx. ! Just got back from a trip there. There's a colony of around a million or so that live in the cave and come out at dusk. Quite a sight!

When I grew up in north Louisiana, my dad would have tanned my hide for sure if he found out I had hurt a bat. I was strictly to leave them alone, as they are voracious eaters of insects, including mosquitoes. Still have pleasant memories of walking home after dark and seeing the bats darting above me catching bugs.

If they were in an attic or other inconvenient place which had to be vacated, recommend waiting til young are up and flying, then seal up the hole after dark. This would save the bats from dying of thirst and hunger when they couldn't get out of your attic, and it would save your attic from the stench of the dead and decaying bats. If there's a bat society in your neck of the woods, they might even come and help you.

As usual, better check with your state laws if you don't know.

[Larry Ashcraft]

We just finished a 2nd story deck and we love sitting out there just about dark and watching the bats swooping around grabbing skeeters.

We've had a bat in the house a couple of times. They just swooped around silently and then landed on a wall. We take a small laundry basket and a flat board. Put the basket over the bat and slide the board under, then let him go outside.

If you want to see a real bat show, try Carlsbad Caverns in NM.

[Newt]

I've tried to take 'em down before. Like kudu says, they're very hard to hit. Did I mention they were hard to hit? Unless they're a real nuisance, I'd leave 'em be.

Newt

[M67]

My 99 year old Gramma found a bat in her bedroom a few years ago. It takes a lot more than a bat to scare Gramma, but she was not going to tolerate one in her bedroom. She got in several good hits with a broom, there were scuffmarks all over the ceiling, before chasing it out of the house. This is the same Gramma that according to my father used to collect eggs with a .22 in the pocket of her apron - so she could shoot rats in the henhouse... :D

[V-fib]

I too have lots of bats around and really appreciate their presence. I've built bat houses for them but they seem to prefere the hollow trees in my woods.

Bats are truly a good animal to have around.

:cool:

[Art Eatman]

In the house, a bath towel is a good anti-bat "weapon". Just toss it up as they fly near, and down comes towel, bat and all. Doesn't hurt them, and keeps you from being bitten or exposed to bat guano or fleas.

:), Art

[Selfdfenz]

If you have bats flying about your home consider yourself lucky and don't shoot at them. The mosquito they eat may be carrying a disease you would rather not have.

BCI has some plans for cheap to build bat houses.

S-

[p35]

I hung a bat house on my house, but they haven't moved into it yet. Anybody know how to attract them? Obviously, I vote with the "better bats than mosquitos" crowd. What harm are they doing to your wife anyway?

[Dr.Rob]

My dad once claimed he used to shoot bats on the wing at a range in VA. Apparently, while shooting at night the bats would 'buzz' the shooting lanes following the paths of bullets, as if they were trying to catch them.

Shooting in the air with anything other than shot is a bad idea. Shooting one of those little winged ugly insect eaters probably does more harm than good.

Driving through Utah desert at night, mall winged things flying over car.

Girlfriend: "What are those little birds?"
Me: "Those aren't birds"
Girlfriend: "then what are they?"
Me: "bats"
Girlfriend: "can we go home?"

Spent two days with GF sharing my sleeping bag. Might sound cozy to you but its a 110degrees in Moab when the sun starts to set.

Been trying to convince mom to hang a bat house, as she's worried about west nile and skeeters.

And hey, its not like we have Flying Foxes here (them suckers is HUGE).

[RandyB]

look up bat conservation international. M. Tuttle has some good pics and education. Bats are an often misunderstood animal. Each of the bug eating critters consume between 2,000-3,000 bugs per night. Since I worked at a commercial cave for +10 years I was always getting called to "get this bat out of my garage, kitchen, bedroom, etc." I never had one even try to bite me when I caught one and would remove it to the outdoors.

[Bruz]

Anybody know how to attract them?

Do you see bats flying around? If you don't a house is not going to attract them, but if they do show up the house can get them to stay. The bat house on your house probably will not do it, I put mine in the trees about 20 feet up so they feel protected. Bugs are the only thing I know that attracts them...

[Selfdfenz]

Dr. Rob
According to BCI where the house is placed is very important.
I used to have a BCI book on the subject some place.

I think bats are sensitive to too much heat and too much cold and if the house is in a location where too much heat can be an issue this time of year that could explain why you have no bats.

Also, I think they need to be able to see the house to find it initially IIRC.

S-

[Dr.Rob]

"In Colorado, all 18 species of bats are classified by the Division of Wildlife as nongame mammals and are thus protected by law. Only bats creating a nuisance in dwellings can be legally killed. Remember, exclusion is the soundest long-term solution. The Division has funded extensive research on the Brazilian free-tailed bat colony in the San Luis Valley, as well as regional and statewide inventories, supported in part by the Division's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Income Tax Check off Program and Great Outdoors Colorado (lottery funds)."

< From Colorado Division of Wildlife, your wildlife office likely has similar info.

http://wildlife.state.co.us/batsofcolorado/coloradobats3.asp

[pax]

In addition to being cool, interesting animals, bats also carry rabies. At least 10% of bats tested nationwide, and nearly 20% of those tested in Washington state are positive for rabies. Bats are the primary vector for rabies in this state.

My 7 and 8 year olds caught a bat this spring and were planning to wrap it up and give it to me as a birthday gift. (Thanks, guys. :uhoh: ) During the process, my 7 year old was bitten and both boys handled the bat with bare hands. As a result, they both needed painful and expensive rabies shots.

Rabies shots cost about $600 per poke. Multiply that by two kids, times 10 shots or so. The shots are no longer given in the abdomen, but in the buttocks, arm, and bite site. They wiggle the needle around near the bite site so that the medication is well dispersed. This is every bit as painful as it sounds.

While teaching your kids that bats are cool and amazing and wonderful bug catchers and good for the environment and all that other stuff, teach 'em not to touch the damned things too.

Btw, West Nile virus is overhyped. Its death rate is roughly 1% -- that is to say, 99% of the people who contract the virus recover fully. Those most at risk are the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

Rabies is deadly 100% of the time unless you get shots before any symptoms appear. If your kids handle a bat and don't tell you about it ... :(

pax

[Rebeldon]

This is basic wildlife conservation. I understand the potential health hazard bats present, with rabies and such. But the bat population thrives because they have sustenance. That sustenance is mosquitoes. If you want to get rid of the bats, you have to kill the mosquitoes. Do you live where the county sprays for mosquitoes? If not, you and your neighbors could ask the county health department to spray. The only problem is, if they stop spraying after the bats go away (and they will), the mosquitoes will quickly reappear with a vengeance, and the bat population takes a couple of years to catch up. So if the bats aren’t actually hurting anything, it is best to let things go as they are instead of introducing chemicals into the situation and mucking up the natural balance of things.

Your best action is to cope with it. Don't touch the critters! If you have a bird bath, get rid of it. You don’t want bats making a habit of stopping in your yard for a drink.

[gun-fucious]

i used to feed the bats via the june bug and wrist rocket method

[scotjute]

Most experts strongly recommend not handling injured or sick bats, as there probably is something wrong with them that could be contagious.
In addition, like any wild animal, they can and will bite. Even those friendly little squirrels in the park can lay a nasty bite on you if you actually managed to catch them.

[keithernTN]

Bats do you and your wife a favor by eating bugs. If they are swooping around your yard you have bugs. Turning off exterior lights might cut down on the bugs around your yard. Bats are harmless to humans for the most part, unless you handle one.

[Malone LaVeigh]

I don't have a direct source on this, but according to the wildlife bio I work with, the rabies fear is really overhyped. According to her, the earlier rabies tests tested for rabies antibodies, not the virulent disease. A lot of bats have built up immunity to rabies, and hence carry the antibodies.

Again, according to her, bats are no more likely to carry rabies than any other warm-blooded animal in the wild.

Also, the best place to put your bat house might be your garden, since bat guano is one of the best fertilizers you can get.

[pax]

Again, according to her, bats are no more likely to carry rabies than any other warm-blooded animal in the wild.
That really depends on your locale. As I said, they are the primary vector for rabies in Washington state. Other states may have differing rates; IIRC, raccoons are far more dangerous in many states. Nonetheless, bats are the vector in half the cases of human rabies nationwide and are the only indigenous rabies carrier in the Pacific Northwest.

From a CDC report found at http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/m0038616/m0038616.asp
Editorial Note: The rabies case described in this report was the first to be documented in a human in the United States during 1995 and is consistent with a major epidemiologic pattern: since the 1950s, bats increasingly have been implicated as wildlife reservoirs for variants of rabies virus transmitted to humans. Variants of rabies virus associated with bats have been identified from 12 of the 25 cases of human rabies diagnosed in the United States since 1980. However, a clear history of animal bite exposure was documented for only six of these 25 cases. This finding suggests that even apparently limited contact with bats or other animals infected with a bat variant of rabies virus may be associated with transmission.

Build bat houses if you wish. But teach your kids not to harrass or handle the creatures -- and keep your pets vaccinated.

pax

[Tropical Z]

Youd have to be insane to shoot bats.As said above,theyre EXTREMELY beneficial.

[Moparmike]

I will add to the "Dont shoot them" group. My mom has 3 of them that fly around the street light at all hours of the night. I kept wondering what them funny looking birds was...

Mosquito population is still really high.

[kentucky bucky]

You CAN"T hunt Bats. They are not a game animal and never will be. You could only KILL bats. Use the word HUNT with care, the anti's use the word hunt to describe poaching, slaughtering and any other unethical killing of animals. Don't KILL bats, They are our allies in the eradication of insects. It's illegal, and ignorant.

[Art Eatman]

We sure need more bats in south Jawgia! Some of the people here are bats, but they just won't eat mosquitos...

:), Art

[Gordon]

I got bats in my belfry. My old farm house has a lovered dormer , my wife freaks and want,s me to screen it. I don't and have very few misquitos despite ponds ect. I hire a couple guest 'day workers' each spring to shovel and vacuum the belfry. I used to shoot bats with .410 and #9 in Georgia in my youth, but then I did alot of stupid things in my youth!:o