by James Johnson

Created on: September 08, 2009

You have a bat in your home, what should you do? Rejoice, it is a small, furry creature that means you no harm and is only there by mistake. It can also help you out by eating flies and mosquitoes, and those two creatures spread diseases. Contrary to popular belief, most bats do not have rabies, and it can eat several thousand mosquitoes an evening! Bats are your friend! They also aren't attracted to hair or wrap their wings around your neck and suck your blood.

Alright, so you don't always want friends over and this one makes you feel uncomfortable. How can you get rid of this unwanted guest, even if it is beneficial? Carefully.

For starters put away the cats and the bat, baseball bat that is. Both will do much more damage in the house that a flying mammal eating bugs. The cat will try to help you catch the bat and can totally devastate the house, knocking over glasses, vases, and Knick Knacks, leaving sharp fragments every where and probably not catching the bat. You can do as much or more damage to the property as the cat can if you start swinging the baseball bat, and you may hit your spouse! Brooms are a bit safer, but still not a good idea.

Try a fishing net if you have one. Put the net up and scoop the bat right out of the air, it is like using a tennis racket and with the larger surface area you are more likely to capture the little beggar. A fishing net also doesn't have the bulk of the baseball bat, so hurts less when you hit someone else by mistake.

No fishing net available? Try a bed sheet instead! The bat will be swooping around, looking to escape. Open all the windows and remove the screens (Of course you may already have them open open with no screens or how did the bat get inside in the first place?). As it swoops by, throw up the sheet. One of two things will happen. Either the bat will flee out the open window or it will get caught in the sheet. If it is in the sheet, bunch the sheet up, take it out of the house and then shake it out. NO more problem. Do not try to catch the bat, unless you are like me and study them, as they do have teeth and can nip, very few can bite through the sheet!

Of course if bats are colonizing your house, that is a whole different situation!

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