Recently, I noticed droppings on my outdoor patio table. The exterminator said it was bat droppings from a bat that stays in my outdoor umbrella. How do I get rid of the bat? I can't use my deck otherwise. I've never had any bat problems for the last 18 years.
By Wanda from Whitehouse Station, NJ
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Bats are great to have around for insect control. If I were you, I'd let the bat stay. If you don't want it living under your umbrella, take the umbrella down when the bat is NOT roosting. Put it away for a few days. Place a bat box (www.watershedactivities.com/
Bats are a blessing. If that little one leaves, you will not enjoy your patio with all the biting bugs. You might hang a bat house about 15 foot up, facing south. See if critter would like it better than your umbrella. They harm nothing. One bat eats more bugs than any zapper kills, very quietly. In summer when doors and windows are open in the night, i have one that visits me and my dogs in the bedroom every night.
Im sorry I do not agree that bats are harmless. Their guano is harmful to wood and other materials and can literally break it down to crumble and it also carries diseases and they have oily dirty bodies that leave ugly stains on wood siding. Their urine smell is horrible - its like sitting in a urinal. Their droppings stain outdoor furniture and is very hard to clean off and who wants to sit in bat poop! My sister in law was bitten by one as she was weeding her flowers and had to undergo a painful series of shots.
I don't want to advise you to fork over for an exterminator, since the cost is prohibitive. You might instead try your local wildlife office. I located ours by calling our local City Hall. If you have an Information and Referral service in your area (we have 211 I&R,) you can also ask them. Please be specific that you want the wildlife office.
As someone who works in zoology, I want to set some bat myths strait. Bats don't mind light in fact they will fly at light simply to eat the bugs that swarm there. If you think it may bite you or get you sick. Most bats wont ever get close enough to a human to do either. And if they do get close there merely eating Mosquitoes and other insects that were about to land on you.
As long as the bat is outside there's no property damage and a lot of people now a days are building bat boxes to attract bats to there house for the beneficial aspects. Insect eating bats devour millions of insects a year. from mosquitoes and moths. To Crickets and spiders! And well spiders may be a lot more of a risk. Even Bees and Wasps may get eaten Fruit eaters pollinate flowers and disperse the seeds. Most eucalyptus trees exist from a bat.
Having bats outside may also be keeping bugs from getting inside. why spend money and energy getting rid of a bat only to spend more tie and energy spraying for beetles and bees and other things. If you want the bat out of the mbrells put some bat boxes far enough from your home like 300 meters or the edge of your property and you'll get he benefits of less insects, While still never needing to see the bat or his droppings again.
Or just get rid of his home the umbrella. Hopefully hell get the point and find somewhere else. If you want him gone for good with no chance of come backs you can call a wildlife trapper who will gradually relocate him to somewhere else. Do not try to remove him yourself.
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