Bats in my barn!

[Beerlord]

We're about 6 weeks away from moving and living full time in Mississippi and have had a new shed built, the barn is being 30% redone with updated doors, aluminun all around the barn and whatever else is needed to get 2-3 horses their new home.
We knew there was a bat problem when we bought the barn but assumed the remodel would take care of them. A pro came out (actually twice and a 2nd pro after him) and did their best to seal up some tiny places they can get in a put extruders???? in so they can get out but not in. Nothing seems to do the trick. They keep coming back.
You're not allowed to kill them but I have to say, after spending $4500 over 6 months, I want to burn the mutha down! It's wearing on my patience.

Any ideas on what deterrents I can try to keep them away? I'm at the end of my rope.

Thanks.

 

[Moose7060]

If you have a peaked metal roof, the bats can easily get in under the ridge cap. Best suggestion is spend time at dusk watching carefully until you can determine their exit point and then seal that area up. Good luck.

 

[Beerlord]

If you have a peaked metal roof, the bats can easily get in under the ridge cap. Best suggestion is spend time at dusk watching carefully until you can determine their exit point and then seal that area up. Good luck.

Thanks, we did have some work done on the ridge cap but I already have someone coming to sealing with more screws and sealant.

 

[Russell King]

You can try putting up bat houses outside the barn. But not too far away.

You may want to keep the interior of the barn brightly lit and have light exiting any opening where bats go in so it is not looking like a dark hole.

You can try to put up cameras to see if you can find the entry points currently being used.

Good luck and keep using the professional services. It is difficult to get them out and keep them out as you are finding.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Have to ask , what's wrong with bats ??
Far better that dang barn swallows !!!

 

[Beerlord]

Have to ask , what's wrong with bats ??
Far better that dang barn swallows !!!

First they poop everywhere and it smells and can be dangerous to some but, I'm not a horse guy (that's the wife's thing) but I'm told they can make horses sick.
I just heard from a neighbor that he has a relative that had a serious barn/bat problem and over the last 6 years, spent $48K!!!! I'd burn the barn down and start over!

 

[WFM]

Years ago when I was young a neighbor hired me to spray the inside roof of his barn to get rid of the bats.
If I remember right it was linseed oil and ammonia he had mixed up . I went way up in the loft and had at it. I remember seeing the black stream of bats heading out the door as I sprayed....

 

[Russell King]

One other thought on this is to have the bats in the barn but build them a separate part to live in. Install some sort of ceiling in the rafters that is the floor of the bat house. I am sure that you would have to slope it and install some drainage system to deal with moisture. You would have to clean it out when the bats leave for the winter (assuming they do migrate).

That would at least separate the bats from the horses and people below.

I don’t know if that is even a good idea or a really bad idea so you can investigate it yourself if it comes off as something you might want to do.

 

[RCW]

As Russell said, I would try bright illumination along with the exclusion measures.

 

[DustyRusty]

Spray foam the roof from below. It will seal up every point of entry. If you do the walls also, the barn will stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. One thing is for certain, it isn't going to cost $48,000 unless your barn is huge.

 

[D2Cat]

Curious why you oppose bats? They do a good job of eliminating insects including mosquitos.

 

[Beerlord]

Bats in my barn!

We're about 6 weeks away from moving and living full time in Mississippi and have had a new shed built, the barn is being 30% redone with updated doors, aluminun all around the barn and whatever else is needed to get 2-3 horses their new home. We knew there was a bat problem when we bought the...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[D2Cat]

How do yo intend to eliminate the bat's entry into the barn? Patching any opening in soffit or other places won't matter, it's a barn! It has doors for livestock to enter that can never be sealed well enough to keep bats out!!

 

[Beerlord]

How do yo intend to eliminate the bat's entry into the barn? Patching any opening in soffit or other places won't matter, it's a barn! It has doors for livestock to enter that can never be sealed well enough to keep bats out!!

Supposedly, the 'bat guy' has a plan for that. He may build some bat boxes away from the barn and once we give it a good cleaning and the horses are there full time (with some cats too I think), he thinks they'll soon find out they will like the bat boxes better than the barn.
This is all new to me. I'd just kill the suckers!

 

[D2Cat]

Sounds like you're on the right path now. Might have your "bat guy" give advise on possums. You sure don't want them hanging around a horse barn.

 

[Russell King]

Sounds like you're on the right path now. Might have your "bat guy" give advise on possums. You sure don't want them hanging around a horse barn.

Okay I agree with not really wanting to have a possum around but what do possums and horses have to do with each other?

 

[Tractor Gal]

Okay I agree with not really wanting to have a possum around but what do possums and horses have to do with each other?

Possums around horses is a disaster. Their poop carries Equine Protozoan Myeloencephalitis. If the possum poop somehow gets into hay or pasture and the horses are grazing around that spot or ingest from the hay, there will be a sick horse. The medication to treat costs $340/week and it takes 8 weeks of meds. And, that is only if the disease is caught soon enough. As the name implies, the nervous system is affected.

Ask me how I know. :-(

Tractor Gal

PS Thankfully, my horse was young and survived.

 

[RCW]

I used to have to deal with human exposures to rabies.

Unfortunately some livestock are very susceptible to rabies. Opossums are quite resistant; nearly as much as humans.

That said, some bat rabies variants are very virulent. There’s been multiple human cases and deaths due to bat rabies variants without a known bite history.

Either way, I wouldn’t want a bat colony near livestock if it can be avoided.

It prevents ultimate exposure to the owners of the livestock.

I’ve dealt with rabid cows, horses, llamas, goats, sheep and alpacas.

 

[RCW]

Odd timing.

I used to regularly handle confirmed rabies positive animals.

Came across my Pre-exposure Rabies vaccination series among my office stuff after my recent retirement.

1992 but seems like yesterday.

If I were exposed tomorrow, I think I would only need vaccine days 1 and 3, without RIG at bite site, IIRC.

 

[Beerlord]

Well it's been awhile but here's an expensive update:
We had a very well know (locally) barn/bat expert do a very thorough checkup on our barn and it's not good. Built in 2006, most of it is in very good shape but the previous owners added 'regular' insulation to the inside roof which gave a huge help to bats to live and breed. It appears that much of the roof has to be removed and replaced. The bat urine is degrading the wood. We're going back with metal studs.
Almost all the inside needs to be removed, spray washed and de-batted. This blew our barn update budget out the universe but the boss has horses coming in 2 months and it's gotta be done.

Check out the video of the roof ridge. They say there's 3 different species so we're going to get bat boxes put up so that when done, they have another place to live. We'll spray foam insulation so they have fewer places to live and of course, tighten up all the doors, windows, etc. so they can't get in.
I'm not happy about any of this!