We bought this house about a year ago. It is pretty much a dream house. A home I never would have dreamed I would live in, or be able to afford.
We had no plans to sell our first home. It was functional and worked well for us. But when we started looking around, we realized we could get a bigger space. With Covid isolation, bigger suddenly became important.
Well, this dream home came with some major headaches. Not only did we have our first experience with fleas, we also have bats.
I was ok with bats when I saw them flying outside at dusk. I would even say I was excited about it. Eat those pesky bugs! Yay!
Then, we realized they were living in the siding. Shit. So we bought a bat house. We hoped they would relocate. We also bought this noise thing that is supposed to encourage them to leave the immidiate area. That thing really pissed the bats off. But instead of finding the bat house, they decided to find a way into our house. Yes…inside my freaking house.
We had 3 inside. My husband was glad for my cats that night because they were rockstars and caught those intruders.
Of course, because they were in contact with our animals, we had them tested for rabies. We know the odds are small, but we were not willing to risk it. Thankfully, tests were negative.
The worst part about that night was my youngest son was upstairs when we discovered the bats inside. I have spoken before about how we have cameras in rooms due to our son with attachment disorder. We are able to see, hear, and talk with these. I immediately spoke to him telling him to close his door and stay in the room. His light was on, and there were no bats in his room. But for him to get to me, or vice versa, we would need to go into the area where bats were circling our vaulted ceiling.
Having him separated, even though we were ok, was awful. I explained to him that I would tell him when he could come out. Thankfully, he has the second master bedroom with a full bathroom. What if he had one of the other rooms and had to pee?! So grateful that he had that room on this night.
Well, since that scary night, we have had other bat issues. We have heard them in our porch area. He have seen them in another area of our roof. And, one night, there was one in the fireplace. Again…in the house.
Our fireplace has a door thank God. I saw 3 of my cats stationed on the rock ledge staring at the fireplace. My heart sunk. I knew what was coming. I went closer and hear the faint scratching. And then, to my horror, a bat emerged from the dark and started crawling around the door edges. My cats were wild, scratching the glass, trying to get it. The bat was not deterred. I turned on a high powered bright light and shined it directly into the fireplace, thinking the brightness would scare it back up and out. The damn thing stayed there all night. And all morning. My husband finally kicked us out of the house so he could try to catch it and get it outside without us there. He was successful thankfully, because having a bat just hanging in full view in the fireplace was terrifying.
Honestly, I would rather have a bear in the house. At least it couldn’t hide, so I would know where it was. I would know how many there were, and I would know when it left.
Bats…I have no odea how many we are dealing with, or if they are gone.
Well, yesterday I heard them in the middle of the day, cats staring at the ceiling, and the unmistakable high pitch squeak of bats. In my ceiling.
Full blown panic has returned. I am traumatized at this point.
I do not believe this is a new problem. Based on all the areas we have seen them, I am convinced the previous owners had to be aware of the issue. They did not disclose it in the sale of the house. Lord knows I would have never bought this place if I had known. But, here we are, new owners of a beautiful, big house, with bats.
Please don’t let this cost us a fortune to remedy. I have professionals coming this week. Until then, we are avoiding most of this house, and basically living in my bedroom with doors closed. It is absolutely ridiculous. I know that. But I am terrified of these bats.
Wish us luck…