Bats, birds, and things that get inside at night...

Aug 21 06:51 UTC 2001

I woke up a while after midnight today with a bird or bat circling 
around in my (dark) bedroom.  It was back out the (hall) door before
i got glasses, bathrobe, flashlight, etc. going.  No way to know 
where it is now; the on-call maintenance guy & i think/hope that it
wormed its way back out the funny little hole in the brickwork that
we're guessing that it wormed its way in through....searching the
apartment didn't turn it up....

Seems unlikely that it's still in here....or that it's dangerous (a
rabid bat, anyone?)....but it's going to be a while before i get back
to sleep tonight....

This item is for discussion unwelcome indoor flying things that aren't
just "bugs".......

response 2 of 19:

Aug 22 12:46 UTC 2001

I caught a little bat at work the other day.  It had been flying around the
manufacturing area and I watched it until it settled down on a lab coat hung
from a hanger in a corner.  I found a small container and calmly managed to
get it in without any difficulty.  It looked much larger in flight than it
did all folded up.  This is only the second time I've seen a living bat up
close.  Fascinating!  I took it outside and released it after showing to a
few people.  What disappointed me was how many people thought it best to just
kill it.  It seemed to me that most people feared them.  I'm not sure why.
In flight it was about the size of a field sparrow.  People don't talk about
killing sparrows.  Perhaps it's because they are night creatures and having
them fly around in their bedroom at night is a spooky experience.

response 4 of 19:

Aug 22 22:23 UTC 2001

Sparrows don't get rabies.  One of our friends was chasing a bat around his
house with a tennis racket and deathly afraid of it.

response 6 of 19:

Aug 24 01:39 UTC 2001

I've mentioned this incident to a fair number of people.  It's either
facinating or depressing how many of them have been told `bird or maybe
bat' and heard "bat".  This included the apartment maintenance staff,
one of whom removed a BIRD's nest from a spot a few inches outside the
hole that he thought that the bird or bat got in through.

In one of his stories, Feynman tells about confessing to a prank to his
entire fraternity, under fraternity word of honor.  All the witnesses to
his confession heard and remembered him denying, NOT confessing to, the
deed.  

response 8 of 19:

Aug 24 05:18 UTC 2001

Update!  While spewing opinions in agora tonight, the bat (lights &
glasses on this time, no doubt about identity) showed up again.  Of
course it vanished before the on-call maintenance person (experienced
with bats, gloves on hands, my rent check in her figurative pocket) 
got here.  Searched to no avail, but luckily spotted it hanging on
brickwork in a dark corner close to the hypothesized (& since plugged)
entry hole as she was headed out the door.  Out it went!

...leaving behind a few questions.  Are/were there more flying critters
around here, or ways for more to get in?  Did Mr. (sexist assumption)
Bat go without food & water for 3 days between sightings?  My apartment
is very short on flying bat chow, and the skins on a couple plump, ripe
plums in the kitchen are unbroken.  I don't dry the sinks & tub after
using them, so water (in theory) wouldn't be a problem.  I definitely
want to clean the kitchen before assuming surfaces to be sanitary....
Any thoughts from the assembled bat experts? 

response 10 of 19:

Aug 24 15:51 UTC 2001

You may assume that there are lots "more flying critters" in the vicinity,
and some will be looking into holes to get into buildings.  The Big Brown
Bat, in particular, is a house-dweller. They do not eat fruit (there are
no Fruit Bats in Michigan in nature). They do land to drink, but usually
on trees. Bats can survive quite a while without water or food (of course,
they survive for months without food or water when they are hibernating,
but during that time they drop their body temperature and remain inactive
- arousal during the hibernation period can lead to their death from
starvation).

response 12 of 19:

Aug 24 20:25 UTC 2001

I'm surprised you say that. Living bats are aerial acrobats. A lump on
a string has no resemblance to that. 

response 14 of 19:

Aug 24 22:50 UTC 2001

Okay, so no sign of activity or droppings between 1AM Tuesday and 1AM 
Friday (but "lots" of activity & plenty of obvious droppings those 
times) is highly consistent with *one* bat that got in very late 
Monday & found its door plugged midday Tuesday, right? 

If so, i can clean up, keep my eyes open, but not be much bothered.

If not, then i need to be searching for holes to plug, perhaps another
bat in here, etc.  (Far less favorable scenario.) 

Some evidence in the kitchen suggests that Mr. Bat likes cinnamon sugar.
Can anyone tell me more useful things about the indoor behavior patterns 
of bats? 

response 16 of 19:

Aug 25 02:04 UTC 2001

A 3/4 inch  hold is plenty enough for almost all Michigan bats  (maybe
not for a Hoary Bat).  

Bats indoor fly around until they find a comfortable place to hang up.
If not disturged they will then come and go daily through whatever
way it got in, unless that is just too tricky. They do not eat sugar,
much  less cinnamon  sugar. Oh Yes - they will defecate.

response 18 of 19:

Aug 25 05:41 UTC 2001

So bats aren't interested in any of the food & drink possibilities in
a flying-insect-free house, just in using it as an artifical cave in
which to sleep?