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sky77_gw

Bats in attic

sky77
16 years ago

If I were to sell my home,do I have to disclose that it has bats in the attic? No-one told us,and they are in the roof part that you can't get to or see.They can't get into the main living area unless the plaster in the third floor gets a hole in it.I mean if your basement gets mice thats not disclosed is it?Just wondering,children are grown and this place is getting a bit large for just the two of us.Also other homes on this street have bats also.I just don't want to get sued or something.P.S. this house is 105 years old, and has been lovingly restored.

Comments (16)

  • lucy
    16 years ago

    Of course you have to disclose it (and mice if you have them). Ridiculous.

  • abbey_cny
    16 years ago

    There are ways to get rid of the bats in your attic. I have a crawl space attic full of insulation. No way to easily walk around in it. I had a bat problem and I had a pest control/bat person come out. They put these one way bat doors exit things up under the eaves. The bats leave at night, they cannot get back in. You would of course have to find out how they got in in the first place and eliminate their access.
    But having your house batproofed would eliminate the bat problem. Your house (and your neighbors) must have bat guano to go along with the bats. Who wants an attic full of that?
    Get them out of there rather than thinking of not disclosing the problem.

  • dreamgarden
    16 years ago

    lucy wrote:
    "Of course you have to disclose it (and mice if you have them).Ridiculous."

    Ridiculous?

    Was it really necessary to add this (rude) remark?

  • kelpmermaid
    16 years ago

    They are known to carry rabies. It's time to call in the professionals.

  • cearab
    16 years ago

    I agree that Lucy's comment was rude. That being said, you do not want someone to come back to you after you have not disclosed the problem and sue you for whatever reason.
    Bats are not to carry rabies, as kelpmermaid said. I would call in an exterminator and take care of the problem before you sell your home.

  • lucy
    16 years ago

    Sorry everyone - but am having 'disclosure' issues myself right now and I guess I'm oversensitive to the whole thing. Apologies!

  • cearab
    16 years ago

    Lucy: sorry for your disclosure problems; I'm sure that would make me testy as well :(

    I meant to say that bats are known to carry rabies; and to call in an exterminator.

  • dreamgarden
    16 years ago

    lucy wrote: "Sorry everyone - but am having 'disclosure' issues myself right now and I guess I'm oversensitive to the whole thing. Apologies!"

    Selling a home is stressful even under the best of conditions. Apologies accepted.

    sky77-Bats are considered endangered, can have rabies, and transmit the disease, histoplasmosis. So its a good idea to have a service remove the bats and their guano for you. Frankly, I wouldn't go into the attic without a mask.

    Someone at this site posted about bats last year. Good links and info about avoiding health issues when having this done.

    "Need advice on major bat guano removal" by alisande 8/6/06

    A link that might be useful:
    www.doityourself.com/stry/batsintheattic

  • sky77
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks you guys this was my first post at the Garden Web,and I thought it was a friendly place.So I was a bit taken back by that first reply.I'm sorry for your problem Lucy.This has been insiteful, to say the least,thanks everyone else for your replys and link, is helpful.

  • sue36
    16 years ago

    A roofer in a town near us died of rabies last year. He never knew he was bit, he thought it was a bee string. Hire professionals.

  • klimkm
    16 years ago

    Just a note: don't know where you live, but here in IL, there have been findings of rabid bats in the area this summer. Just a reminder/Warning...

  • Happykate
    16 years ago

    Pretty much any mammal can carry rabies; rabid bat bites are so numerically inflated that they approach urban myth. Can happen, pretty much never does. Less than death by lightning strike.
    Bats are extremely useful, eat about a zillion insects in a lifetime, and  unless you take offense in sharing your attic with them  harm no one. There's a good chance that your county extention agent (check the phonebook; they're in your courthouse) can help you get them to live elsewhere.

  • sc_gardener
    16 years ago

    Yes, most bats are useful. But they did find a few here this year though. From what I hear, racoons and skunks are the most likely to have the rabies.

  • iasheff
    16 years ago

    Bats are very common where we live... At night you can see them flying around all the old buildings. Occasionally, one gets in the house. Especially in late August, September, and October when the babies are venturing out on their own. (they go down the old furnace chimney to the basement and then up the cold air register to get in the house. They can fit through a hole less than the size of a dime)

    There is absolutely nothing like having a bat swoop down at you in your house. Talk about heebie-jeebies! My hubby or one of the kids usually don gloves and grab a tennis racket and get rid of it for me. Phooey on those that say that you shouldn't kill them!! By the time they get it by the tennis racket, they are usually goners. They look like they have wing spans of 3 ft when they are flying but usually only end up being the size of your thumb when they pick it up off the floor.

    The only thing that I can say is at least when there is a bat, we can get rid of it immediately. Not like a mouse when you chase it for weeks and weeks before you get rid of it.

    In our old house, we had bats in our unattached garage. They were up above the loft. Someone told us to take mothballs and hang them inside of pieces of pantyhose from the rafters. We did this and sure enough, the bats moved out. When we moved into this house, someone had already thrown the mothballs from a couple of boxes of mothballs in the unfinished attic area. We haven't had any trouble with bats up there. Might be worth a try for you since mothballs are fairly inexpensive!

  • premier
    16 years ago

    I don't understand why you would think you shouldn't disclose that you have bats in your attic. An innocent person could go up there and end up dying. Why haven't you gotten rid of them for your own sake?

  • rennie10
    15 years ago

    I guess I can agree with the comments above. Why would you think you do not need to disclose bats in the attic? How could you feel good about yourself knowing you intentionally were dishonest?

    Dealing with undisclosed information is a nightmare. Often large and expensive legal issues result. It would be much easier and cheaper, not to mention ethical, to get rid of the bats yourself.