bats and squirrels in my house

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mpvue

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Easton, PA
we've been dealing with an annual bat incursion almost every summer we've lived here (about 16 years), usually at the 1st real hot day of the summer they come down from the attic into the living space.
we thought we had them beat, had a professional come and do his thing (seal up openings, etc), but eventually they came back. had the 1st one of the summer come in through one of the double hung windows after I put the A/C unit in, forgot to seal between the 2 windows.
but this weekend we got another one! don't know how this one got in, which makes it all the more frustrating, AND we saw him first on the 1st floor, not on the 3rd floor like usual.
besides this, I think we now have squirrels in the attic! heard a bunch of scratching in the 3rd floor ceiling.
this is too much wildlife experience for me. I've got another 'professional' coming over today, I need to get this solved once and for all.
 
From my experience scratching in the ceiling, walls, or attic is from mice or rats. Could be squirrels though if you have trees hanging over your house.
 
Originally Posted By: volk06
From my experience scratching in the ceiling, walls, or attic is from mice or rats. Could be squirrels though if you have trees hanging over your house.

at this point I'm assuming squirrels because of a tall tree in the front and back of the house, and lots of squirrels that run up and over the roof.
 
Squirrels can chew their way in if they feel like it-and they'll make a racket & chew on everything in sight, and I've seen them climb straight up a brick wall without help of a tree or anything. I ended up building a mesh cage over the eave of my house where they chewed through the vinyl, aluminum, and wood to get in-that doesn't mean they won't try again!
 
Maybe flying squirrels? They glide not fly and are smaller than a normal squirrel.

I trapped a bunch of flying squirrels (one by one) and let them go several miles away. A few tried a run for it in the house and Billy the cat got them.

Do you think the bats live in the attic or just one or two came in by accident. I found one under the bucket of my Bobcat. Every time I would walk by (without touching) the bucket would squeak. Eventually I found a small bat.
 
Originally Posted By: mpvue
Originally Posted By: volk06
From my experience scratching in the ceiling, walls, or attic is from mice or rats. Could be squirrels though if you have trees hanging over your house.

at this point I'm assuming squirrels because of a tall tree in the front and back of the house, and lots of squirrels that run up and over the roof.


That's a perfect place for a roof rat (rattus rattus) to get into the house. Roof rats are great climbers and every bit as agile as a squirrel. If you do have rats in your attic, chances are it's a roof rat.

You have entry points into the house, and the only real way to stop the infestation and subsequent damage is to seal the openings.
 
Put a big live trap in the attic and see what you get. Also put some snap mouse traps. Over the past 10 years I have had a rat in the garage (and one on the back porch), mice in the attic, and a two pine squirrels in the motorhome basement.
 
Same problem with my house and the guy who does the exclusion (not extermination) said if you poke the place and it stop, it is mouse or rat, otherwise squirrel. Rat and mouse are shy and squirrel is not afraid of noise people make.

Set a bunch of traps with peanut butter and see what you get.
 
pest control guys called today; they say since we only hear the scratching at night, it's bats. but IDK, because it's kind of loud, and I can't imagine the little guys making that kind of racket.
they will still look for evidence of either pest.
regardless, they are coming over wednesday morning. I just want it taken care of permanently.
 
Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
roflmbackside off, love the peanut butter thing, that is great.


What's so funny about that? Peanut butter is the standard go to bait for nuisance critters.

I'd try buying a "Have A Heart" trap, along with mouse traps, and see what you catch. Put them where the noise is. That will at least tell you what's making the noise.
 
If you only hear scratching at night, it could be raccoons. I just helped get rid of a raccoon problem at my girlfriend's house. You could defintely hear them scratching around in the attic at night.
 
We've had sporadic problems with bats over the years and have never heard them scratching. We're normally alerted to their presence by a high pitch clicking/cricket sound.

We have an old house, which is one of the tallest on our block. Every year, when I think I've completely sealed up every hole in the attic, we'll get a stray one during a thunderstorm.

So far, so good -- I think I finally got all of the access points sealed off over the winter.

I also installed a cat door in the attic door as a backup plan. If one does get in the attic, our cats will kill it.
 
had a new wrinkle last night...the little demon-spawn were scratching away on the vent door in the ceiling (it's a flapper vent door thing for the whole house fan I installed but never hooked up)
I feared they were going to be able to open the flaps and come in, but I realized the flaps swing up, not down, but then again I will not underestimate these guys ever again.
so we left our 3rd floor bedroom to go sleep in the kids 2nd floor room.
THEN, we heard scurrying across the ceiling, between the rafters between the 2nd and 3rd floors!
SERIOUSLY???
we've heard noises in the outside brick wall before, but they've managed to bust their way in to get between the rafters now.
I'm about ready to burn the place down.
 
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