Turns out N wasn't joking about noises in her closet

[DotAndBuzz]

For the past week, she's been coming downstairs after bed talking about the "monster" in her closet.   She's never done this before, and has never had a fear of the dark/closets/monsters.  I kept reassuring her, and she kept saying, "no mommy, I kNOW it is there.  I HEARD it."

Well, last night, so did I, and I think a fucking bat is in our attic.  E wouldn't sleep, so around 2 I laid down on her floor.  Then I heard "scratch scratch, ruffle, scrape, scratch," got up to look out of the blinds, and saw something fly awfully close to her window and away from the house.  The girls share a wall, and N's closet butts up to E's room, near the window where I saw the bat. 

Called the extermiator this morning (thank God they opened at 6, because I sure as hell didn't sleep after that).  Well, it is bat maternity season, so I have to let it live there until the babies are old enough to fly away.  Awesome.  They're coming out tomorrow to confirm that it is a bat, and start sealing off what they can, without completely enclosing them in.

Someone please tell me that a can-style light fixture is secure and closed off entirely from the attic.  Please?  Because I really REALLY don't want a bat to come into through those into E's room.  Really. 

[wildfloweragain]

Sort of depends on if it has insulation around it. Bats are like mice and can squeeze into small spaces. For your piece of mind, I might have her sleep in a different room. I"m sorry. Not what you wanted to hear:(

[sunshineluv]

OMG. And maybe this is heartless of me, but why can't they kill a bat even with baby bats there too? Are they a protected species?

[texassmith]

I'm side-eyeing an exterminator who will not take care of this for you. Call someone else. There's no fucking way I'd let a bat stay in my house once I knew it was there, let alone to GIVE BIRTH.

[Deleted]

I....wait, what?! Maternity season? Isn't animal control supposed to be able to safely move these types of situations??

I had to get the damn rabies shots b/c I slept in a room w a wild/city bat and apparently you can get bit w/o knowing. This is blowing my mind. I'd be freaking out!!!

[gozf]

Ugh. Bats.

I am still not right after that bat fell on my head in my very own basement while I was innocently doing laundry.

[firedancer49]

My sister had hundreds of bats living in a space in her attic just like this. You could hear them making noise and moving around. They had to wait one night until the all left and close up their entry. It was a bitch and they slept at my parents house for days until it could be done. NO THANK YOU!

[snickers]

Jul 8, 2013 13:50:41 GMT -5 texassmith said:

I'm side-eyeing an exterminator who will not take care of this for you. Call someone else. There's no fucking way I'd let a bat stay in my house once I knew it was there, let alone to GIVE BIRTH.

This.
What the hell do you mean you have to let it live there?
It is disturbing you and your children, and it is gross. What the hell! Too fucking bad it's maternity season. Sorry bat, find a new place to give birth.

[snickers]

Jul 8, 2013 13:52:59 GMT -5 gozf said:

Ugh. Bats.

I am still not right after that bat fell on my head in my very own basement while I was innocently doing laundry.

Ohhhh man.

[Deleted]

Oh man. I fucking hate bats.

[annyong]

::waits for stellas to come in here and talk about bat mites::

[DotAndBuzz]

I guess they are protected here, and you can't re-locate them during these 8 weeks of the year. Our handy man told us that too about a month ago when we were talking about something else entirely (he took a bat eviction job the day before Maternity season started, so the guy just *barely* made the call in time to have them removed). This particular exterminator is very bat-friendly, and is endorsed by some sort of bat conservation organization. So that's great and all, and bats are great when they're eating bugs OUTSIDE. Not so much in my effing house.

And, I just realized that the attic space is connected in the entire house. So that's great. The woman on the phone was really calming and reassuring, promising me I didn't need to freak out or burn my house down. She was like, as long as they have a way out at night, they won't get desperate. It is when they get desperate to escape that they look for other exits, like, into your house.

ETA:  Our inspector said there was no evidence of any bats, ever, in the attic when we did the inspection, so I guess I'm kind of happy that this is not a chronic problem.  Silver lining?

[alzi]

Jul 8, 2013 13:50:47 GMT -5 ninjabridemom said:

I....wait, what?! Maternity season? Isn't animal control supposed to be able to safely move these types of situations??

I had to get the damn rabies shots b/c I slept in a room w a wild/city bat and apparently you can get bit w/o knowing. This is blowing my mind. I'd be freaking out!!!

BIT WITHOUT KNOWING??? Omg NOT OK.

[papie]

Am I the only one who finds this adorable! BABY BATS!!!! awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

You can tell N about it, she will be super excited I bet.

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2013 13:49:05 GMT -5 sunshineluv said:

OMG. And maybe this is heartless of me, but why can't they kill a bat even with baby bats there too? Are they a protected species?

Actually, some bat species are, and others are critically endangered. A disease called white nose syndrome wiped out bat populations in the Northeast and has been preading into the south. Its a pretty sad and scary situation. Bats eat mosquitoes, and in the last few years the bugs have been insufferable. So props to the exterminator for respecting the bats.

But, sorry DotandBuzz. Maybe a handyman can check the insulation for you for some peace of mind?

[gozf]

Jul 8, 2013 14:00:23 GMT -5 sameoldash said:

Jul 8, 2013 13:52:59 GMT -5 gozf said:

Ugh. Bats.

I am still not right after that bat fell on my head in my very own basement while I was innocently doing laundry.

no.

Yes.

That little sneak FELL onto my head, then played dead on the ground.  He waited until I'd flapped around and whined enough, found my then-H, and figured out how to dispose of it.  When we returned to the basement, he was GONE.

Outsmarted by a bat.

Perhaps this explains my laundry aversion.

[firedancer49]

Jul 8, 2013 14:04:36 GMT -5 gozf said:

Jul 8, 2013 14:00:23 GMT -5 sameoldash said:

no.

Perhaps this explains my laundry aversion.

My friend was in her basement doing laundry and picked up a big pile off the floor and what slithered out but a fucking snake.  I didn't do laundry for a week.  The year before, she did laundry, went to empty the washer to the dryer and at the bottom was a dead, washed snake.  No thank you, burn that shit down.

[bania]

Jul 8, 2013 14:09:06 GMT -5 firedancer49 said:

Jul 8, 2013 14:04:36 GMT -5 gozf said:

Perhaps this explains my laundry aversion.

My friend was in her basement doing laundry and picked up a big pile off the floor and what slithered out but a fucking snake.  I didn't do laundry for a week.  The year before, she did laundry, went to empty the washer to the dryer and at the bottom was a dead, washed snake.  No thank you, burn that shit down.

OMG no! ::shivers::

Get a humane exterminator. They can catch and release bats right?

[tigress]

Jul 8, 2013 14:00:50 GMT -5 papie said:

Am I the only one who finds this adorable! BABY BATS!!!! awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

You can tell N about it, she will be super excited I bet.

Yes. The very only one. Ugh. Bats.

[Deleted]

I once had a bat dive bomb my head in our laundry room. It was awful and I was terrified.

My DS would think it's so cool that there is one in there.\

Sorry

[Deleted]

Shit. I'm pretty sure this is what's making the squeaky scratchy noises in our chimney. We don't actually use our chimney. It's closed off to the house but the chimney is right next to my head in my bed. Eek!

[iamgrace]

Aww. Bat maternity. Lol

Sorry, dot.

[nsl]

Jesus fuck, where do you ladies live that snakes and bats regularly make their way into your laundry rooms?

[eddy]

Damm even bats get a better maternity leave than the majority of american humans.

[adhdfashion]

WTF bat maternity? This is the twilight zone. No dude no.

Sent from my SCH-S720C using proboards

[BAMFMrsB]

nope. Nope. NOPE.

[pugz]

Coworker had hundreds of bats in her fireplace but couldn't temove them since they were babies. She still has nightmares

[aprilsails]

Jul 8, 2013 14:42:14 GMT -5 puddleofgrace said:

I realize I am of no help but now I can't stop thinking about the bat scene from The Great Outdoors. LOL

This is exactly how my roommates were suited up when I came home from class one night and a rogue bat was flying around our 3 storey house with 9 bedrooms.  All of which had open doors.

The bat went for cover in one girl's curtains where I shook it out and it landed, I kid you not, in her open underwear drawer. I shut it in there but it escaped out the back and crawled under her door.

Two hours later we found it chillaxing on a door frame on the third floor. We flicked it into a cloth bag and released it to the wild.

I was the house exterminator. My most vicious showdown was with the cinnamon bun eating squirrel on my bed.

[rex]

Omg your poor daughter. I wouldn't sleep for 8 weeks.

I am so scared of seeing a bat or mouse. We have tiny holes in 2 screens that I had my H patch because all I hear about is how bats only need a tiny hole. There's no fucking way I'm giving a bat an entrance into my house!

[sonrisa]

Oh no

My brother used to talk about the monster outside his window. Mom would tell him it was imaginary. After a few months in the house, the neighbors told my mom about the screech owl on that side of the house.