Bats in my bedroom

[The_path_less_taken]

I'm sorry this is happening to you.

I'm not sure what to do...if it were rodents I know they abhor things like cayenne pepper but not sure about bats.

I would try and VIDEO, even cell phone video. I would at least get still pics. You could also net your bed with those fou fou mosquito nets that hang from the ceiling....odds are their little hooks will get caught in the netting making them easier to document. Even a butterfly net would be an easy way to catch one, in flight.

I would also explain that  you don't "want" to go to small claims court or possibly the media but your health and mental well being are worth more to you than this lease.

Mention the shot and show them the bill.

Say that for all concerned, you'd like to 'amicably' part ways.

Barring that..."this is giving me panic attacks, and I am forced to hire legal counsel if you won't be reasonable".

IOW...play nice, but be firm: "I don't WANT to take action against you but...for my health...."

Good luck!

[eyePod]

Landlord finally responded to my email today. Said there is no bat because I'm the only one that's seen it. Also said I can't sublease my apartment.

Well, the first part is definitely not true, but I can understand why it's tough for the landlord. They've definitely done due diligence in helping you look for the bat, but you might have to do this yourself. I'd say video is the best way you could get some proof. But that might cost you too unless you can set up a nightvision webcam or something like that...

[JoJo]

This may be a stupid suggestion but if you're really worried, could you install a mosquito net above your bed.  At least then it can't touch you even accidentally.

http://www.amazon.com/Jumbo-Mosquito-Queen-size-White/dp/B005C13VEY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1438973847&sr=8-6&keywords=mosquito+net

[eyePod]

This may be a stupid suggestion but if you're really worried, could you install a mosquito net above your bed.  At least then it can't touch you even accidentally.

http://www.amazon.com/Jumbo-Mosquito-Queen-size-White/dp/B005C13VEY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1438973847&sr=8-6&keywords=mosquito+net

I think that's a great idea. I'd still install some camera setup just to make sure I wasn't going insane...

[EconDiva]

This may be a stupid suggestion but if you're really worried, could you install a mosquito net above your bed.  At least then it can't touch you even accidentally.

http://www.amazon.com/Jumbo-Mosquito-Queen-size-White/dp/B005C13VEY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1438973847&sr=8-6&keywords=mosquito+net

I think that's a great idea. I'd still install some camera setup just to make sure I wasn't going insane...

Remember...this has also been reported by the neighbor below me.

[eyePod]

This may be a stupid suggestion but if you're really worried, could you install a mosquito net above your bed.  At least then it can't touch you even accidentally.

http://www.amazon.com/Jumbo-Mosquito-Queen-size-White/dp/B005C13VEY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1438973847&sr=8-6&keywords=mosquito+net

I think that's a great idea. I'd still install some camera setup just to make sure I wasn't going insane...

Remember...this has also been reported by the neighbor below me.

Completely missed that. Landlord is being a dick and the animal control guys are just dicking around for hours!

[EconDiva]

This is simply a reply to update everyone on what happened here as I posted another thread related to this one. 

Basically I found out there was more than one bat; I found a baby one and had a couple of more encounters with bats after this posting.  A neighbor let one out of my apartment window one afternoon one came flying in my kitchen.  But sure enough the next day there was another bat in my bedroom.  We determined they were breeding in the ceiling above my washer/dryer room.  The reason I had been seeing them in my bedroom is because at night I would leave the door to my washer/dryer room open.  The door faces directly in front of my bedroom door, which I also leave open at night.  So they would fly out the laundry space and directly into my bedroom. 

Anyways, once I realized they could be coming in through there (I identified holes in the walls and although extremely difficult to see, it appeared the whole ceiling was practically "open"...I closed off as much as I could with SOS pads until someone could assist.  My landlord had a wildlife removal company come by and they:

1.  removed my SOS pads and replaced them with my own
2.  put huge nets on the outside of the building

I spoke with 2 more attorneys and discovered I had no rights to leave without penalty unfortunately!  After the nets were put up I still heard them in the walls of the laundry area for a few weeks and then...nothing.  So it's been months since I've seen any or heard any but I've been told bats leave dwelling and hibernate in trees during the winter.  So for now I've been able to sleep (with the help of Xanax) and am trying to determine if I should still leave.  Most of my friends say to stay because I haven't seen any more of them.  But I just feel like come spring they'll be back as it's not like the landlord ever determined the area of the roof they were coming in through and patched up that section. 

[MVal]

If you catch the bat while it is sleeping during the day, like if you see it hanging out in plain view, they're very easy to catch. I've caught them in my parents' old house where we routinely had a colony living in the roof and once every few years a few would escape into the house. If they are hanging, you can just slip a wide mouthed jar over them and slip something flat under them to get them to shake loose. They'll wake up then, but at that point they're in the jar and you can let it go outside. Since it's winter, it will probably die, but it will be out of your house.

If you can find where they're coming in, put a light in that spot, like a small lamp and leave it on all the time. They will be irritated by it and will move away from it and quit exiting there.

At my folks house, they wound up spending about $1500 with a pest control company to have these special louvers put on the spots of the roof eaves where the bats were getting in and out. The louvers were one way, so they could leave, but couldn't get back in. Fair warning, this can't be done in the summer months when they're breeding because they'll wind up leaving the babies in there and not being able to get back in to care for them and you'll have a roof full of smelly, dead baby bats.

[Lizzy B.]

Ugh, I'm sorry you're having to deal with this, but it sounds as though you've made a lot of progress. I was in a-we'll call it "wildlife friendly" apartment for a while. Mice and other rodents in the dropped ceiling, nesting in my oven, crawling around above my bed, and snakes who followed the rodents and were attempting to play "animal control" for me. I consider myself a pretty calm, cool, collected gal (I've caught interloping bats before on camping trips and didn't freak out removing the snakes once I figured out a good system) but that kind of stress gets OLD after a while. I absolutely wasn't sleeping well and got really twitchy with little noises. Once I found a solution, which it sounds like you have, it took me a month or two to properly calm down and not  jump at every little noise. Sounds like you've got the problem under control now. Grab some mosquito netting for some extra security and just understand that it takes a while to trust your surroundings.

[MVal]

Gosh I love bats, they eat mosquitos, which makes them awesome in my book.  I am sorry that you are so terrified of them.  (And unless it bit you, why are they making you do rabies vaccine?) 

My guess is that the poor bat is just trying to get outside, and has somehow mistakenly gotten inside instead.  I would check the AC vents near the ceiling, as he was most likely in the attic, and ended up going the wrong way to get out.

You are exactly right. Due to urban sprawl, bat nesting sights are hard real estate to find these days, so these poor critters make due with the eaves of rooftops to have a suitable place to colonize and nest. They get inside buildings when trying to find a way out at night to feed and inadvertently go out through a flaw or gap that leads to the interior of your living space. They then fly around desperately trying to get outdoors to feed.

Same thing happens with some birds, like chimney swifts.