Our next neighbor keeps their attic window open. At
night my husband, children adn I sit on our deck in fear as thousands of
bats fly from their house. We believe they stay in the attic during the
day and then we can see them fly from the eaves on the house. What do we
do? Call the DEC? I am in fear that my children could be bitten by one
of this things. They literaly swoop down at our heads.
First of all, bats are more afraid of humans than humans are afraid of bats.
They are swooping down at night because they are catching insects, which are
probably close to you on your deck because you might have a night on on the
deck, or the lights inside of the house are on. Light attracks insects,
which attract bats. Next, do your neighbors know about the bats? Meaning, do
the leave the eves open on purpose for the bats, or is this just occuring.
If they don't know, inform them. If they do know, because of the waste
problems and the fact that most states only encourage bat boxes, you have a
few choices. First encourage your neighbors to put up bat boxes in their
back yard instead of using the attic. This will be safer for people and
bats, plus cut down on the number of bats living in one place. Next, you
could contact your states DNR (Department of Natural Resources) and see if
they can help you.
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Update: June 2012