My bat rants are fairly well documented on the blog and they're certainly documented with the Board of the Homeowners Association and various homeowners who share my concerns. Over the years, I've asked our "bat guy" to bring in specialists ranging from Entomologists to construction related companies to come up with a solution that Harry would accept. It was not until the miracle began - apparently with a close encounter between a live bat and "Mrs. Harry", that he began to care that his house was host to 200+ bats. Previously he just said "I'm not bothered by the bats."
So August 28th, I look out my window and see this parked in front of our house:
I'm encouraged, but not too hopeful because we've been down this road before.
Next day the truck is back - of course, parked in front of my office window (but that's another story entirely) - and there are men putting ladders in our flower bed and climbing up. Lots of hustle and bustle around Harry's house and then they were gone.
Next day, they're back and when I went out for the mail they were working, so I asked them if they thought they could get the bats out. The guy says yes, but you'll need to be very careful for two weeks, and probably four, because there are HUNDREDS of them and they'll be very confused until they find a new home. I think this is "wildlife code" for if you have a crack the size of an M&M in any exterior surface, they're moving into YOUR house. I was happy that Rusty (our bat man) had recently checked and resealed our exterior.
They sealed every single roof tile (supposedly) and then used that expanding foam under the eaves where the newest members of Harry's bat colony had moved in over the last year or two. That would be the entrance and exit about a foot from our upstairs balcony. Once sealed, they installed two "bat chutes" to allow them to leave at dusk.
He said there would be some confusion when they head out because they'll all have to leave through two openings instead of just popping out of the roof tiles like normal ... but eventually they will all leave.
When they return the next morning at dawn, they won't be able to climb back up the slick, shiny metal bat chute and they won't be able to go back in between the roof tiles, so they'll eventually leave. He was concerned that we may see a lot of bats hanging around during the day, until they give up and move on. So I'm a little nervous about what 200+ homeless bats are going to do when they get back from their nightly flight to El Campo, but this is progress!
I did watch from the bedroom balcony for a while at dusk that evening, but they were slow to leave - probably due to them having to find one of the two exit holes - and I didn't see that many fly out. I was worried that they wouldn't leave, but eventually they did.
Here's the other chute around the corner ...
The next morning, after working out, I took my camera outside to watch the action. My equipment isn't powerful enough to capture clear video in low light conditions, but it's pretty entertaining. Take a look at this video and enlarge it so it's full screen for better viewing the close ups. It's kind of creepy to see them land on the roof tiles and skitter around trying to get in. Almost makes you feel sorry for them.
Those of you receiving the email update may need to click on the link to the blog post to be able to watch the video ... I'm not sure those get sent with the email due to file size.
So far so good - haven't seen any during the day and none have clawed their way into our house. I hope the little creatures have moved in with the Waugh Drive colony - it's nice over there and I think they will be very happy!
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