View Full Version : Meet "Alfred"
Divemaster
07-29-2016, 17:15
The Mrs. went to clean out the fire place today, but noticed this behind the glass. She immediately named it after Batman's butler, but still wants it evicted. "He" is about the size of a field mouse.
Obviously I need to install some screening at the top of our chimney.
Cool, sort of. I like them outside taking care of bugs...inside, not so much. :D
Pat
Yep...I would get the screen in there before he calls the rest of his friends over to your house to stay awhile resulting in your home starting to smell like a potpourri of guano...:eek:
Team Sergeant
07-29-2016, 20:17
Had them in our chimney growing up, about 30 of them. Check the flashing too...... as you said the size of a mouse, they can get into very tight spaces.
Divemaster
07-29-2016, 21:42
Already got them out of the RV bay in the garage, which is being converted to a gym. They had eaten through the screening over the vent holes. I replaced that with a heavier gauge and it has held for several months.
The bat poop here is like mouse turds rather than the soup at the bottom of caves (or those bunkers in Panama), but we still don't want it.
Being in the middle of replacing our kitchen sink, and being scheduled to help brew a batch of hefeweizen, the chimney project will have to wait a day or two.
...being scheduled to help brew a batch of hefeweizen, the chimney project will have to wait a day or two.
Ah, priorities. Good man! :D (Explain that to my wife, please. ;))
Pat
Divemaster
07-29-2016, 22:15
Ah, priorities. Good man! :D (Explain that to my wife, please. ;))
Pat
Yeah, but the whole sink & faucet replacement was mine's idea. I just wanted to replace the garbage disposal.
Divemaster
07-29-2016, 22:38
It's after 2130 and other bats are out flying around. Alfred hasn't moved and tapping on the glass gets no result. It's possible our fireplace is the extravagant mausoleum for bat royalty. All hail Alfred the Great!
ETA: Forgot to add the new picture. 2200 and he's still there.
Alfred the Great ????-2016.
When we first moved here to SE AZ, the first 2 Summers we had hundreds of bats. I'd stand out on the porch and it was like I was surrounded by the sound of flapping velvet just inches from my ears. Now we have only a dozen or so...but very few bugs.
Love the name. We have a couple of swallows building a nest right over our back door. Since they squawk at each other all the time my wife named them Lucy and Ricky. :D
Pat
Reminds me of the time I heard rustling in the wood stove. (It was summer, not in use.) I cautiously opened the door and discovered a swallow flapping around in the ashes. Caught him and let him loose outdoors.
I'd rather have swallows than bats. :D
S.
I had an infestation of the little guys 4Q14. Was out one night, with friends, at my fire pit, commiserating and all of a sudden we were in a mass attack, hundreds maybe thousands.. I'm guessing the fire pit was 40ft from the house and all the light and heat was pulling in bugs, so they took advantage of the free meal..
They had taken up residence under the roof tiles. They had slipped into cracks, some less than 1/2 inch?
Took the Bat Patrol about a week to fix. In Florida you can't kill them. You have to "help" them find other homes..
The guys vented them for several days. After which they put non-expanding foam in all the cracks. Worked so far..
TrapperFrank
07-30-2016, 12:03
Be careful handling them. They have been known to carry rabies along with other diseases.
Divemaster
07-30-2016, 12:48
Be careful handling them. They have been known to carry rabies along with other diseases.
It turns out they're quite docile when dead.
bandycpa
07-30-2016, 17:35
It turns out they're quite docile when dead.
Aren't we all, sir. :o
In my former life with Wife #1, we had bats in the attic. She refused to get rid of them, claiming they were pets. She even buried in the yard the one or two that met an untimely demise. That should have been a good indicator that she had bats in the belfry too.
tennis rackets are useful for other things than just tennis..
Divemaster
08-05-2016, 20:26
While Alfred may have joined the undead, I just had an adventure with one of his very alive siblings.
I spotted some bat poop on the floor of my garage a short while ago near a couple of sheets of plywood leaning against the wall. Pulling the first sheet back revealed nothing. Moving the second sheet back a couple of inches launched a bat past my ear.
Dazed and confused, it flew around the garage a bit before settling down. After getting is bearings it flew outside. Now it is probably in my chimney awaiting nightfall.