Bats drive man from his home (Environuts strike again)

Ananova ^ | Jun 27, 2002

[Guillermo]

 Ananova: 

Bats drive man from his home

A Florida man is being forced out of his home by bats.

They've turned up in the shower, sink and sheets at Grant Griffin's one-bedroom apartment in Bradenton.

Exterminators aren't allowed to kill the bats, which are considered native wildlife and can't be trapped or poisoned.

They can only be killed if they are rabid. County health officials are testing for rabies after Mr Griffin and his girlfriend discovered bite marks.

He said: "I'm freaked out. I'm about as freaked out as I can get. I feel like there are things crawling all over me."

Bats can be locked out of houses by closing up holes as small as half an inch where they enter.

However, University of Florida assistant professor Mark Hostetler says it is the peak of the three-month bat birthing season and that would prevent mothers from returning to their babies inside the house.

He adds the babies would die and the stench would be unbearable.

Story filed: 10:52 Thursday 27th June 2002

[VoiceOfBruck]

Bats are great animals. They eat mosquitos. I wouldn't want them in my house either, though.

[Maceman]

He's lucky he's only renting.

[Guillermo]

Yeah so the owner gets screwed. I'm sure though that he will still have to pay property taxes on property the Gov't has essentially rendered useless.

[anymouse]

Ping

[tomakaze]

Doesn't this guy know the "Shoot, Shovel and Shut up" rule?

[LurkedLongEnough]

There is a company here in CT that sells bat houses so that homeowners can lure bats to live nearby. Bats eat a ton of mosquitoes & other flying insect pests, and West Nile virus is a pertinent issue here.

[Black Agnes]

And here we thought RATS were bad! At least they're not endangered (especially in NYC, especially the Demon-RAT variety!)

[Guillermo]

I thought the closest bat to CT lived in Chappaqua...

[Pearls Before Swine]

Poor guy. The enviros are driving him bats.

[Joe Brower]

Doesn't this guy know the "Shoot, Shovel and Shut up" rule?

Bingo. In this day and age of the over-lawyered, over-regulated and overbearing "great society", it's highly advisable to simple rely on your own devices. As soon as you call the "authorities" into the scenario, it typically goes to hell very quickly.

[BossLady]

"Bats DRIVE man from his home"

I was wondering what bats were driving these days since they are on the wildlife welfare....Cadillacs...Mercedes...BMWs????

[steamroller]

That professor ain't kidding.I had a squirrel(apparently) die in the wall of my house.It wasn't too fragrant for awhile.It was in the attic I guess and when the roofers were finished replacing the fascia it couldn't get out and dove down into a wall space.

[SandfleaCSC]

Yup. I can remember the the many times an occasional alligator or family of otters, muskrat, or beavers would take up residence in our MAN-MADE pond out back. A few afternoons with me, dad, and a couple of 20 gauge shotguns and the problem was solved. Those critters cause massive damage to a closed ecosystem like a fish pond and are fair game when they move in. Fish and Game people in South Carolina are VERY GOOD about looking the other way when property is being damaged by wildlife. It seems like the guy in that article could have solved his problem with a couple of ulta-sonic emmitters, but instead chose to whine to the Feds. Lesson learned for him I guess.

[Britton J Wingfield]

He said: "I'm freaked out. I'm about as freaked out as I can get. I feel like there are things crawling all over me."

He needs to lay off the acid for a while.

[DainBramage]

Buy about ten big cats...problem solved.