Bat Repeller

M

marcos.placona

Senior Member
Hi guys, just starting this thread to see if anybody here has any experience with bat repellers.

I've notice I have some bats flying around my backyard, and although they are pretty small, they are actually getting used to people and flying closer and closer.

I don't care much about them, but my wife just freaks out when they come, so I was thinking about starting a new project to get rid of them.

After some research, I found that some people say it's impossible to do such things, while others say it's possible and try to charge a small fortune for that.

Does anybody here have any experience within this field? I know they use some ultrasonic waves to detect them, but would that be the same when trying to get rid of them?

Any help would be much appreciated
 
K

krypton_john

Senior Member
Just checking - do you mean the small flying mammal variety or the mother-in-law variety?

I won't suggest any solutions until this is cleared up.
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
"The use of pest repellers will cause an environment that is hostile to bats and as bats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it would be illegal to use such products to remove bats from your property.

If you would like advice or assistance on how to deal with bats whilst staying in the law, please visit the Bat Conservation Trust website at www.bats.org.uk or alternatively call the National Bat Helpline on 0845 1300 228"

http://www.diypcs.co.uk/acatalog/pest-control-by-pest.html
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
I think that's the gist. There may be ways to discourage bats using methods which they are likely encounter anyway which wouldn't be considered detrimental or against the law, so probably best to talk to those who know more about bats. I'm sure they'd be happier to help find you a solution to the problem than worry someone may be out there 'twatting them with a coal shovel'.

You never know it might just be a short lived phenomena. Just wait until Global Warming kicks in then you'll be getting ear bashing about polar bears in the garden or wilderbeast in the pond :)

Have you tried smearing the house with tiger faeces ? Seems to be proclaimed as a natural deterrent to most other animal life forms.
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
Have you tried smearing the wife with Tiger faeces? That may work. Well, it may keep the bats away but you'll be very popular with flies.

When the Batmen say "..it would be illegal to use such products to remove bats from your property" I think you'll find they are referring to removing bats that have set up home in/on your property as opposed to frightening off a passing one.

Anyway, we have tons of the tiddly ones round here and they are OK.

Global Warming hippy? Didn't you hear that it's sorted? Now that the G8 leaders have planted a few trees in Japan we'll all be saved. I guess it may have burnt off some of the calories they absorbed during their 18 course dinner.
Anyway, back to bats... no, let's not bother.
 
L

lahaye

Member
Hello

As I have a mouse problem in my apartment, I will take a look on EBAY if someone sells some "original" Tigers**t :D.

As for Bats: they are actually quite cute and furry. I found one hibernating in the garden as I was getting some firewood (sleeping between the logs, he could have been up for quite a surprise ;)) and I had a good look at it... sweet animals.
So maybe search some next winter (who doesn't do that?) to show your wife that they are more like flying guinea pigs or mice. OK maybe the mice analogy is not a good idea, don't know what your wife thinks of them.
And tell her they eat mosquitos. Might not be actually true for your species and won't make them seem less scary for your wife but knowing/thinking something does good always helps tolerating it. Works that way for me with spiders, or taxes (OK OK I only pay VAT so can't complain).

I got a Arachnophobic friend so I know sometimes there is nothing you can do against an irrational fear. He always thinks they are gonna jump at him. Very funny, at least if your not married to it.


Good luck anyway

Florian
 
R

Ralpht

New Member
Ok, that eliminates the very effective electric cattle prod then.

Sounds like project for a few spare Picaxes.
Ultrasonic detector/tracker-similar to radar so you can track them.
Then enlist the aid of a friend who is into rocketry.....
Voila - instant anti bat missile system :D
 
R

Ralpht

New Member
I can just see it now - everybody im marcos.placona's suburb building these missle defence systems. Both prolisk and the rest of us could make a fortune selling them our blackened iron tips.

Why, maybe we could even sell Nato our tips for their new warheads ;).

Bat's of the world beware, we're coming after you.....
 
W

westaust55

Moderator
It is a common misconception that bats are blind. Almost all bats can see, and their sense of sight and smell is well developed.

So rather than chemicals or Tiger poop or even ultrasonic devices none of which apparently work, but the info is that they can see so try setting up a few flood lights. :cool: (ya might need the sunnies) :)

NASA can use them as a reference for space flights and the local sports clubs can play night hockey or football in your back yard. :D
 
M

marcos.placona

Senior Member
Well considering that bat's *hate* light, what would you think about setting up some strong lights on my backyard? It could even become a nice Picaxe project. Though you can buy them for a fiver, and they already come with solar cell and an LDR to detect when the light goes out. But hey my bedroom faces the backyard, so it's a must to have a way to control it **tries to find an excuse to use a dodgy picaxe circuit as a timer**

Well thanks you guys for all the answers, I'll see if I come up with something and get back to you....

And talking about spiders..... lahaye I'm pretty much like your friend :eek:
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
Well, just get your missus to attract the Lesser Spotted Spider Eating Bat, then when they've finished they'll push off. Job done.

Maybe you can get a bulk discount at a Phobia Psychiatrist? (two people for the price of one?)
 
M

moxhamj

New Member
Bats are cute. I guess you could always try to get used to the wildlife. I've just had an echidna dig up all my garden lights. (lights attract ants, ants attract spiny anteaters, why didn't I spot that earlier?)

I met a bat once at a wildlife farm who liked jelly beans. You stood very still with a jelly bean on top of your head, under a vine, and the bat would climb down the vine and take the treat. It might work for you too...
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
Dr_ac, are you suggesting that Marcos and his wife stand outside their house with jellybeans on their heads?
Well, it could work I guess. The neighbours will phone the police who will come round round, pick them up and put them in a padded cell. No bats. Yup, you're right there then.

Did you study whether there is a favourite flavour? Would jelly babies be better? This is getting very silly :)
 
M

marcos.placona

Senior Member
I'm addicted to wine gums, would them work as well? Will the bats like the green ones? I don't like green wine gums (just the reds and blacks, but can eat some yellows too)

When you say:

You stood very still with a jelly bean on top of your head
Click to expand...
This is just an expression right? :D

Dr_ac, I'm trying to get rid of the bats, not to get them to "tell" all their friends there's some free food on my backyard
 
M

moxhamj

New Member
I suppose it could fix your *neighbour's* bat problem...

Yes, you really did stand still with the bean on your head. I remember it well. The bat was called "spike". Apparently he was a bit horny. The wildlife park seemed to choose pretty girls from the audience to be the one with the bean on their head. Typical Aussie humour.

And yes Dippy, the police will then come round and lock up these *batty* people. :)
 
Last edited:
M

marcos.placona

Senior Member
The bat I have on the backyard is quite tiny, and doesn't seem to know how to fly very well, as it keeps going around and around every time.

It might be just a baby bat learning to fly... I'll call it Robin for now
 
A

Andrew Cowan

Senior Member
I had a problem with foxes in my garden, but I made an ultrasonic deterent with PICAXE, and it seemed to work no problem.

Andrew
 
B

BeanieBots

Moderator
You get a transducer and drive it at its resonant frequency with PWMout via a suitable driver. The common transducers run at 40kHz but I don't know if that would work as a deterant.

Why does everyone want to scare away nature?
I'd be proud to have bats.
My fox comes every night for her treat. In return, she has rewarded me with the honour of bringing her cubs to play on my lawn. Such a pleasure to watch.
 
M

marcos.placona

Senior Member
Wiki says this:

Only 0.5% of bats carry rabies. However, of the very few cases of rabies reported in the United States every year, most are caused by bat bites.[17] Although most bats do not have rabies, those that do may be clumsy, disoriented, and unable to fly, which makes it more likely that they will come into contact with humans. Although one should not have an unreasonable fear of bats, one should avoid handling them or having them in one's living space, as with any wild animal. If a bat is found in living quarters near a child, mentally handicapped person, intoxicated person, sleeping person, or pet, the person or pet should receive immediate medical attention for rabies. Bats have very small teeth and can bite a sleeping person without necessarily being felt. There is evidence that it is possible for the bat rabies virus to infect victims purely through airborne transmission, without direct physical contact of the victim with the bat itself.
Click to expand...
The bold part is the most scary though! Did you guys know that?
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
There is evidence.... you're more likely to get rabies if I come round and bite you!!

Life is too short to start worrying about the 0.0000000000000001% chance that you will catch rabies from a bat. And it depends where you live too. Just get on and make your bat repeller. By the time you've done it and tested it the poor little bat in your garden will have died of old age!! Are you man or Fledermaus?
 
A

Andrew Cowan

Senior Member
Foxes dig holes in the garden :)

The ultrasound I used ranged from 25kHz to 40Khz, cycling between these about twice a second.

On a happy note, my MIC 4427 FET drivers arrived from microchip (free samples). They are SOIC, but I'm sure I'll cope.

Andrew
 
E

eclectic

Moderator
Marcos.
Completely non-Picaxe, but two questions.

1. "as it keeps going around and around every time."
Perhaps it's chasing and catching tiny insects?
(Gnats / mosquitoes.)

2. What sort of bat is it? Get a few photo's and send them to a wildlife forum.
(Either London or Belgium.)

e
 
hippy

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
marcos.placona said:
Wiki says this ...
Click to expand...
And the related footnote with reference to rabies in the US says ... “Excluding dog bites that occurred outside of the country, 22 of the 31 human cases of rabies in the United States since 1980 have been associated with bat rabies virus variants".

To me that looks like one case of Bat related rabies a year and 1 in 300 million being infected.

I don't think I need to reel off the numerous everyday things which are far more likely and deadlier than getting bat rabies. It's not something I'd be particularly worried about, but in these days where many people cannot or will not distinguish the difference between "threat" and "risk", I suppose it's another thing to add to the 'list of things to fear' attached to the fridge.
 
M

marcos.placona

Senior Member
Dr_Acula said:
Marcos' bat isn't rabid. It is just weighed down after eating too many jelly beans. :)
Click to expand...
That makes me feel much better :D

Well Ok, I think I just worry too much, and got a bit carried away by stuff I read on wikipedia.

I'll try to take a picture of the tiny mammal and check with the authorities. I'll post it here too so you can see "Robin"
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
Lordy, I hope the people suffering from ihatesmallfontsizeitis don't look at that site!

Shouldn't be handled? So, when I found a pipistrel on a country footpath a few months ago I should have left it to get squashed then?

This has a nicer font size and maybe more rel to Marcos.
http://www.bats.org.uk/

If you phone the Batline will Alfred answer? Holy confusion!
 
G

gengis

New Member
Lordy, I hope the people suffering from ihatesmallfontsizeitis don't look at that site!
Click to expand...
Control/plus-sign not working? Disabling style sheets will also cause it to revert to your default font size.
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
Course it is, but why should I have to?
I'm not going to tell a type-setter his/her job, but getting it right (nice,legible,neat etc.) ain't rocket science. Maybe it is for some?

And IE7 is far better at magnifying that my current FF (come on - bait dangling).
 
G

gengis

New Member
I wouldn't know. I figure FF works and doesn't compromise security. Opera may be a tad bit better - at least it works with malcoded IE only sites. all depends on what one is used to I suppose.

I find cranking up the font easier than searching or loading another site - and the style sheet control is a boon to the idiots that think dark blue, small font, on a background of black looks cool.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top