Ahh. The nights are getting cooler. The greenery of majestic trees is getting a splattering of brilliant reds, oranges and yellows. Heck, our school’s gridiron heroes are tearing up the field.
It’s almost fall.
And, you know what that means. Yep, as the days grow shorter and colder, it is time man starts thinking about other warm-blooded mammalians, which are now fattening up for a long, hard winter.
It’s time to start thinking of ‘the hunt.?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, you know the white tail deer population will take a pounding with the opening of bow season this October. But, what you don’t know — until you read on — is we’re fast approaching bat season. There, smarty-pants, I bet you didn’t see that one coming.
Actually, it is Batting Season in Michigan. Little brown bats from the rocky caves of the Upper Peninsula will soon be or have already started migrating south . . . not to Mexico. Nope, lots stop right about here.
‘Oakland County has a lot of bats,? says pro-batter Bob Lysogorski, of Critter Catchers, Inc. Based in Ortonville, the Critter Catchers have gone far and wide de-batting people-homes, and educating as they go.
‘Bats provide tremendous benefits to homeowners ? when they aren’t living in the home. Perhaps the most significant threat posed by bats living within close proximity is rabies, and their waste is highly toxic.?
For the past five years, Batboy Bob has protected folks from Myotis Lucifugus (little brown bat) with weaponry that is, well, poetic, when considering war.
‘I use a Number 2 pencil,? Bob recently revealed about going into battle, thus once again proving the pen (in this case pencil) is mightier than the sword.
Er-ah . . . No, Bob doesn’t skewer the winged-creatures with his wooden writing implement. And actually he hasn’t called for a jihad against all of Batdom. He doesn’t even kill the icky looking things. He just knows a lot about them and gets them out of peoples? homes.
‘Around here the average colony has six or so bats,? he says, adding he has seen local colonies reach upward to (take a deep breath folks, remember this isn’t in your home) 800 individual brown bats.
EEEEEEKs! I told you to take a deep breath.
Oh, back to the Number 2 pencil — what it is used for, well, besides jotting down notes? When Bob inspects a dwelling for bat entrances and exits, he looks for holes that are as wide as a Number 2 pencil and an inch or so long.
You read that correctly. The width of a Number 2 pencil is all the gap these flying mice need. They can get in through ridge vents, crumbling mortar between bricks (‘They love chimneys. You wouldn’t believe the amount of space and access bats have getting in through loose chimney bricks.?)
‘With their body structure, they usually won’t roost anywhere that’s lower than eight feet off the ground,? says he.
Upside down, hey drop, flap and fly — unlike birds who are built to take off right side up.
Once Bob has determined if a home has bats (and,he say tons of new homes have bats because of their architectural components — read: lots of overhangs and eaves), he goes to work getting them out.
‘They’re mammals. So, they usually have an entrance and an exit.?
He’ll block off the entrance and, for lack of knowledge on my part, put a one way door on the exit. They can leave, but not reenter. If he needs to catch the bats, a net is used.
Batboy Bob says Michigan bats will hibernate right around the first frost (usually in places that stay about 50 degrees). They wake up every 30 days to take a leak.
Bob says if you have a bat in your house and it lands on you, get something long, like a stick and ‘gently push it off. ‘Chances are you won’t get bit,? he says. ‘But, if you reach to grab it, I guarantee you’ll get bit. And, they have a lot of teeth.?
He forgot to say, if a bat lands on you, ‘Don’t freak out.?
He also recommends, if bitten, not to kill the bat as it will need to be tested for disease, and for the best results a live bat –not dead and smashed to pieces bat — is required.
The phone number for Critter Catchers is 248-432-2712. Check out their webiste at www.crittercatchersinc.com