BIONOMICS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL 
OF FREE-TAILED HOUSE BATS (Mollossus) 
IN TRINIDAD 
By Arthur M. Greenhalli and Gerald Stell 
The problem of bats infesting roof spaces in Trinidad could be 
described as ever-present and acute, especially since bat proofing is 
not the accepted practice, For the rest of this paper, reference to 
houses should be interpreted as the roof space, except where other-~ 
wise specified. 
The majority of houses in Trinidad are occupied by bats soon 
after the house is constructed, In one known instance bats entered 
a newly built house before the human occupants took up residence, a 
matter of a few months after the roof was erected. To prevent bats 
entering houses, the ideal solution is to bat-proof properly in the 
first place, since bat-proofing afterwards may prove costly and some- 
times is impracticable. The possibilities of using chemical means of 
eradicating and repelling bats already present in houses with the 
prospect of achieving a long residual effect had not been thoroughly 
explored in Trinidad and it was thought this might have practical 
value, 
The reasons for keeping bats out of houses can be listed as 
follows: 
(1) Psychological unpleasantness to human occupants. 
(2) Damage to ceilings due to the accumulation of bat guano 
and urine which frequently results in the need to replace 
ceiling sheeting. 
(3) The dried guano penetrates the cracks where the ceiling 
sheets are joined together and falls into the rooms below. 
(4) The bat guano attracts cockroaches and other coprophagous 
insects. 
(5) The possibilities that bats and insect fauna may be a 
human health hazard, 
