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Invasion [message #42293]

Wed, 25 May 2011 20:04

Black Bear
Messages: 3216
Registered: September 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Oh, dear.

_{"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.}

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Re: Invasion [message #42294 is a reply to message #42293 ]

Wed, 25 May 2011 21:05

Stardancer
Messages: 182
Registered: April 2011
Location: Florida, USA

Senior Member

Er. I don't really know what to say. Other than I'm so sorry, and I really really really hope Atlas can fix the holes they're coming in.

Also that you're amazing for facing the bats and actually going up there--and staying up there long enough to open the window! I'm not (in theory) afraid of bats but I don't know that I would have had the courage to do that.

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Re: Invasion [message #42295 is a reply to message #42293 ]

Wed, 25 May 2011 21:29

HeiQ
Messages: 78
Registered: February 2011
Location: Canada

Member

Wow, sounds like a hairy (hehe) experience!! I was actually having a very small adrenaline rush as I was reading your post and imagining something like that happening. I'm sure your adrenaline rush was significantly bigger.

I have a question that may sound a little dumb, BUT where exactly is this large bat nursery that somehow shares your attic, but doesn't encroach on your space? How does that work? Do you have a divider of some kind in your attic with bats on one side with their own outside access? Is there an older blog entry (moderators??) that talks about the bats and their nursery?

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Re: Invasion [message #42296 is a reply to message #42295 ]

Wed, 25 May 2011 22:43

Maren
Messages: 1330
Registered: October 2008
Location: Louisiana

Senior Member
[Moderator]

HeiQ wrote on Wed, 25 May 2011 21:29

I have a question that may sound a little dumb, BUT where exactly is this large bat nursery that somehow shares your attic, but doesn't encroach on your space? How does that work? Do you have a divider of some kind in your attic with bats on one side with their own outside access? Is there an older blog entry (moderators??) that talks about the bats and their nursery?

Until recent developments, the bats were living in some hollow space under the eaves, between the roof and the attic ceiling--not actually inside in Robin's living space. Here is the major expository post from last year.

The final footnote seems quite ironic now:

Quote:

they don’t do anything but crawl into spaces that are already there and hang out

Yeah, like YOUR HOUSE. Very Happy

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Re: Invasion [message #42297 is a reply to message #42296 ]

Wed, 25 May 2011 23:09

HeiQ
Messages: 78
Registered: February 2011
Location: Canada

Member

Thanks so much for taking time to find that post, and for explaining where exactly the pipistrelles are living... It's kind of funny that last summer's post ends with "Beams." There didn't seem to be much beaming going on about this bat encounter... :S

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Re: Invasion [message #42298 is a reply to message #42294 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 02:28

CathyR
Messages: 574
Registered: July 2009
Location: NW England

Senior Member

Stardancer wrote on Thu, 26 May 2011 02:05

Oh Robin, how awful. My heart was racing just reading about it all; I couldn't have gone up there and done what you did.

Can the (so far not very impressive or helpful) Hampshire Bat Group actually BAN you from trying to remove this new colony from your attic?? Do your rights to live undisturbed count for nothing?

I hope you were able to wind down enough to get some semblance of a reasonable night's sleep after all that.

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.

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Re: Invasion [message #42299 is a reply to message #42293 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 03:34

b_twin_1
Messages: 2593
Registered: September 2008
Location: Victoria, Australia

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Re the bats.... Oh dear....

re the Ringing Evening..

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Very Happy

I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel ~ Blackadder

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Re: Invasion [message #42300 is a reply to message #42293 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 06:01

AJLR
Messages: 2564
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Hmm, well, I was just looking at this link - http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/bats/britishbats/batpages /commonpipi.htm and thinking that your under-eaves space, being where it is, fulfills just about all the habitat/feeding/drinking/navigation requirements that any happy bat could possibly need. So I can quite see why you've got so many ecstatic little flying things around. I suppose that the Angelic Computermen couldn't fit up two or three temporary webcams in your attic, so you could see/record where they're emerging from?

Very brave of you, going up into a bat blizzard yesterday evening. However much one likes the little critters and wishes them well, that's not the same as having so many enforced Close Encounters!

And I'm so glad you had a good time at Wild Robert's seminar yesterday. Smile

_{"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."}

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Re: Invasion [message #42301 is a reply to message #42300 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 10:37

Maren
Messages: 1330
Registered: October 2008
Location: Louisiana

Senior Member
[Moderator]

AJLR wrote on Thu, 26 May 2011 06:01

I suppose that the Angelic Computermen couldn't fit up two or three temporary webcams in your attic, so you could see/record where they're emerging from?

That's better than what I was going to suggest, which is infrared goggles. Smile

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Re: Invasion [message #42302 is a reply to message #42293 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 12:56

Diane in MN
Messages: 2728
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA

Senior Member

I'm glad the ringing evening went so well. Although I'm not sure it was great preparation for an attic full of buzzing bats. Brava you for braving the bats to get the window open. In theory, as Stardancer said, I'm not afraid of bats either (except as disease vectors, and that's another issue), but I would have taken time to get a hooded jacket and gloves and a bug net before going up there, if I'd had the guts to do it at all. Just reading about it induces a cringe.

Bats certainly do live happily in attics, and if half of your four hundred from last year had babies, they may need more space than they had under the eaves. I hope that doesn't turn out to be the case, and I hope the bat people can help you and Atlas deal successfully with your flying squatters.

By the way, does your neighbor have an issue with bats, or are they strictly on your side of the house?

_{"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich}

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Re: Invasion [message #42311 is a reply to message #42294 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 20:15

Robin
Messages: 5999
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

You do it in the heat of battle, you know? If I'd stopped to do stuff like fetch gloves, I'd've cooled down and not been able to.

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Re: Invasion [message #42312 is a reply to message #42296 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 20:17

Robin
Messages: 5999
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

Yes. Sigh. I can't remember if this made it into some blog post or not, but I *do* remember standing in that corner of the attic and LISTENING to them chatter on--and 410 mum-and-baby bats make a colossal racket for critters who are supposed to stick to ranges about human hearing--and thinking, that's just fine, just so long as you STAY on that side.

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Re: Invasion [message #42313 is a reply to message #42298 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 20:20

Robin
Messages: 5999
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

Sleep? Remind me what that is please?

You are not allowed to *disturb* bats. So while I can passively try to wall them off . . . I'm under the impression that if it came down to it, no, my right to living undisturbed takes second place to the bats' right to their established nursery. Which happens to have spilled into my attic.

I'm hoping I'm not going to have to find this out. . .

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Re: Invasion [message #42314 is a reply to message #42299 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 20:23

Robin
Messages: 5999
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

Yeah. The ringing was pretty cool. If I do say so myself. Even if it was 90% Wild Robert and 10% me. I had one of the slightly-behind-me learners (who is only VERY slightly behind me), um, STANDING behind me for the Cambridge and at the end she was all impressed. No, no! I said. That was mostly Wild Robert! --And it was, too. But this might not be entirely obvious to a stander-behind who has lost her place. I should know, because I stand-behind a lot. It's a lot better than nothing if you aren't getting to RING enough, although I know some people (Penelope is one) who says she can't learn anything that way.

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Re: Invasion [message #42316 is a reply to message #42300 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 20:28

Robin
Messages: 5999
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

Yes. As I say, teach me to garden organically. I'm getting out the pesticides now. (JOKE.)

I could ask, about the webcams, I suppose. Since this is happening in twilight--and you know HOW FAST BATS ARE--I would assume you'd just get a blur. But it wouldn't hurt to ask.

And it's interesting how quickly you do get at least partially accustomed. If I'd come home out of the blue and found twenty bats in my attic, I'd have just had a nervous breakdown. But I'd been dropping dustcloths on them and putting them outdoors one at a time for about ten days by then and was somewhat broken into their presence. I'd just as rather not make a habit of it however.

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Re: Invasion [message #42317 is a reply to message #42302 ]

Thu, 26 May 2011 20:32

Robin
Messages: 5999
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

I agree with you that gloves and a hooded thing would have been a good idea--but I'd've lost my nerve by then, and, as I keep saying, while you shouldn't handle wildlife anyway, rabies isn't an issue over here. (A bug net? What for?)

Yes, the absoluteness of contained space worries me. Pipistrelles are tiny, but so is my house, and there can't be THAT much space under my eaves. They may be breaking through by sheer force of numbers.

And no, my semi-detached neighbour is on the OTHER side. But he smokes. They obviously love me better. Sigh. . . .

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Re: Invasion [message #42326 is a reply to message #42293 ]

Fri, 27 May 2011 01:02

Diane in MN
Messages: 2728
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA

Senior Member

The bug net would have been to keep them off my FACE. Best I could do, since I don't own a motorcycle helmet.

_{"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich}

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Re: Invasion [message #42330 is a reply to message #42326 ]

Fri, 27 May 2011 09:22

Robin
Messages: 5999
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

Oh, of course! Like the extraordinary anti-black-fly hats with the *curtain* of netting we had to wear in Maine to mow the lawn during the killer black fly season!

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Re: Invasion [message #42331 is a reply to message #42330 ]

Fri, 27 May 2011 09:49

Stardancer
Messages: 182
Registered: April 2011
Location: Florida, USA

Senior Member

Robin wrote on Fri, 27 May 2011 09:22

Oh, of course! Like the extraordinary anti-black-fly hats with the *curtain* of netting we had to wear in Maine to mow the lawn during the killer black fly season!

Killer black fly season? I'm not sure if that's more Eweeewwww! or Yeeeeeeek! Bet you didn't mind leaving those in Maine!

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Re: Invasion [message #42332 is a reply to message #42316 ]

Fri, 27 May 2011 10:41

AJLR
Messages: 2564
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Robin wrote on Fri, 27 May 2011 01:28

I could ask, about the webcams, I suppose. Since this is happening in twilight--and you know HOW FAST BATS ARE--I would assume you'd just get a blur. But it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Perhaps a small table lamp being left on in the attic would help things along? It shouldn't stop the bats emerging and going for the window but there would be enough light for the webcams to pick up the main access route, if they're pointed at the most suspect areas.

Best of luck with the Bat Lady. I hope she is impressed both by the habitat you're providing and your fortitude. Smile

_{"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."}

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Re: Invasion [message #42341 is a reply to message #42330 ]

Sat, 28 May 2011 02:17

Diane in MN
Messages: 2728
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA

Senior Member

Robin wrote on Fri, 27 May 2011 08:22

Oh, of course! Like the extraordinary anti-black-fly hats with the *curtain* of netting we had to wear in Maine to mow the lawn during the killer black fly season!

Exactly right! Barring the dragonflies and butterflies, all the flying bug life around here is voracious.

_{"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich}

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Re: Invasion [message #42346 is a reply to message #42341 ]

Sat, 28 May 2011 09:26

Black Bear
Messages: 3216
Registered: September 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Gods, blackflies. I remember them clearly from my very youthful stint on the Upper P of Michigan; when I went fishing with my dad in Canada 20 years later they were just as I remembered them. ICK. I'll take mosquitoes any day over those little #$^@%ers.

_{"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.}

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Re: Invasion [message #42350 is a reply to message #42346 ]

Sat, 28 May 2011 09:38

Robin
Messages: 5999
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

Yes, I agree. Mosquitoes, you have a chance. A bad, nasty chance, but a chance. Black flies . . . nope. I would actually run a fever and be ill for a day if I went out without serious protection and got mobbed.

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Re: Invasion [message #42353 is a reply to message #42350 ]

Sat, 28 May 2011 14:23

HeiQ
Messages: 78
Registered: February 2011
Location: Canada

Member

Blackflies don't really bite me, but they love my husband. In a year that the blackflies are bad, I'll be out walking with him and I'll look over at him and he'll have a gigantic cloud flying around his head and biting him and there'll be hardly any around me. I've never been able to figure out why I'm not attractive to blackflies (not that I'm complaining), while the mosquitoes really do love me.

Last year we had really weird weather; it was in the high 20's (celsius) for much of March and April, and for some reason this totally decimated the blackfly population. It was amazing! I'm hoping that the lack of flies last spring will translate into a lack of flies this spring as well. So far so good!

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Re: Invasion [message #42367 is a reply to message #42350 ]

Sun, 29 May 2011 02:25

danceswithpahis
Messages: 380
Registered: October 2008

Senior Member

One of the things I love about Washington mosquitoes is that they have a nice, slow, easily-grasped flight pattern which makes them easier to kill than others (although it could just be that I've been squashing them for so many years). Also, since I've been around them for so long, my body doesn't react all that strongly to them anymore; I get a bump that swells a bit and makes a halfhearted attempt at being seriously itchy for a bit, but if I ignore it then after 20 minutes or so it rolls its eyes, hmphs under its breath, and stalks off. As long as it isn't at a spot where my clothing will be rubbing at it constantly, that's pretty much the end of it (if it is at a seam or something, I sometimes put a bandaid on it if it gets too annoying). Definitely better than the flies.

"Oh good! My dog found the chainsaw!"

-- Lilo ("Lilo and Stitch")

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Re: Invasion [message #42368 is a reply to message #42353 ]

Sun, 29 May 2011 02:26

Diane in MN
Messages: 2728
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA

Senior Member

All this talk about horrible blackflies has reminded me of "The Black Fly Song" by Wade Hemsworth--I heard it on CBC's As It Happens years ago and remembered it because it's so apt. Blackfly season is pretty short at my house, but it's succeeded by equally horrible deerfly season, and it goes without saying that the mosquitoes are a warm-weather constant. There's really a lot to be said for winter . . . Smile

_{"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich}

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