Pe Pee cis one ly due +0 the (pees ov ieins 
have to Pe 5 oe. and ieee but 
om he oe oes upine. in ea Jess ape tine eincctaen arises 
she ee ees noises made »y the bats as oe make their wey eu 
CONTROL 
aN “As bats individually are almost wholly beneficial, and at a distance are in 
no wey objectionable, they should not be destroyed except asa last resort. Itis 
only the dat roosts that have been established in occupied buildings that should 
be eliminated. This can usually be accomplished in either of two ways: (1) Exclude 
ang the bats by clesing the openings through which they gain entrance} and (2) evict- 
ing them by treating their roost with a chemical substance to which they object. 
- Occasionally in large old buildings not only will shutting out the bats be found 
impracticable, but the location of the roost will prevent the successful use of 
a repellent. In such cases fumigation with a poison gas may be necessary. 
BAT-—PROOFING BUILDINGS 
The most satisfactory and the only permanent way of obtaining freedom from 
_ the bat—roost nuisance, however, is to shut the bats out. This may be called "bat- 
proofing". the building. Frequently there are only a few small entrances to the 
= bart roost, and in such cases bat—-proofing is relatively simple. Itis necessary 
only to close the openings with strips of metal or wood or seal them by plugging 
the smaller cracks with rags or other soft material. 
“In cases where. elapboard siding provides numerous openings, as under the over— 
panes or in very old large frame houses where warping, sreiniine: and cecay have 
ieft many suitable entrances, a simple end inexpensive means of shutting ovt the 
bats is found in’the use of oakum. This is a tarred-hemp fiber used for calking 
‘ships, and it packs easily and firmly into any small crack. ‘The ter binds the 
_ fiber so that it is not easily dislodged and, serving also as a repellent to the 
bats, it lessens the probability of their attempting to squeeze through it. A 
tire tool is convenient for packing the oakum into the openings. Equipped with’ 
a good ladder and a few pounds of oakum, one can in a few hours effectively seal 
against bats etek tae” ee openings in almost any .nouse 
tna closing the entrances used by bats it is necessary that 1 or 2 be lets 
epen until after nightfall so as to allow egress of the bats, and thus shut them out 
end net in. Ordinarily during midsummer all the bats will have left the roost within | 
_ 15 minutes from the time the first one starts, but after their accustomed routine 
“has been thus upset, several hours may elapse before the last bat finds its way 
out. Usually the best procedure is to close all but 1 or 2 of the principal open— 
ings during the day, then wait for 2 or 3 days wntil the bats have learned to use 
_ the only entrances left them, and then close these several hours after dark. If 
any openings have been overlooked the bats will probably find them. It will be 
necessary tnerefore to watch the house closely at dusk for a few days in order 
9 eons Fe the pores ne if any bats are seen leaving or entering. 
