Forum menu
SO for the last few months I have noticed an increasing amount of what looks like mouse droppings all over our car.
It has got to a degree that the car gets is covered in both poo and wee, within 1 days of washing. Its' pretty mingin to be honest and although the poo just flicks off (would take me 10mins each day if I bothered), the wee is sticky and brown. It's all over the windows and sills too.
The other day I found a dead bat on the patio. Today I found a live one. (He is currently tucked up in a box with water and a blanket)
I went to investigate in the loft and when shining a torch down a hole in a breeze block where the cavity wall insulation got installed, I see a bunch of bat faces starring back at me!
They don'd seem to be concerned with the attic, there be no poo up there at all.
How on earth do I tackle this?
Tricky. I believe they have a greater right to be there than you do.
£££££££££
You may regret having told anyone...
first rule of having bats is to not tell anyone you have bats. You are not legally allowed to do anything. That's why you don't mention it before you start repairing your roof.......
I leave LED lights burning in the loft. Bats don't like that so they don't try to nest there.
Not as big an issue as you or others may think; I work with bats and deal with this type of thing all the time. Where are you based england or scotland?
Interested in this as we have bats in our place in Ireland, I've done nothing as its not a useable loft space and they're not bothering me apart from a bit of noise and I was told it might be a nursery house as there's a dedicated bat colony house (an old two storey house which has been given over just to bats ) across the valley.
How on earth do I tackle this?
park your car in the attic 🙂
really though - they are a protected species on one hand, and very little bother to share house space with on the other - you were sharing your house with then and hadn't noticed. The problem of them crapping on your car would be possibly the same whether they were roosting in your attic or in any of your neighbours. And if you're getting lots of crap but only have a relatively small colony up there then the chances are there are plenty of other roosts about anyway.
We've got plenty of bats in our place and we notice negligible quanities of poop on any of our cars/vans or just generally.
So maybe you need to deal with the car rather than the bats. Keep it under cover maybe - or just try moving it a few feet - maybe its on their flight path. Bats make a regular series of turns as they exit the roost so maybe you're just parked right on that flight path. Or a more economical solution... stop caring. Its only a car - they're going out of fashion.
stop caring. Its only a car
I really don't get this attitude. Do you apply this logic to all your possessions? Mind if I pop round and have a poo on your living room carpet? It's only a house.
It's not wrong to want to keep nice things nice.
(Not having a pop BTW, I just don't understand it.)
stop caring. Its only a car
I really don’t get this attitude. Do you apply this logic to all your possessions? Mind if I pop round and have a poo on your living room carpet? It’s only a house.
It’s not wrong to want to keep nice things nice.
(Not having a pop BTW, I just don’t understand it.)
It's just as environmentally aware and sensible as protecting the bats. Also financially sensible, cars will last a long long time if looked after.
Aww, how cute! I love bats. I’d be delighted to have bats at home.
I know, my annoyance of a dirty car sounds trivial. People at work have started to comment on the car as it does look quite comedy now. The amount is quite surprising actually..
Its not just the car, its the house windows too. Wee stains/drips running all down them. Messy b4st4rd5..!
I'm going to release the fella who is happy in his shoebox this evening and hopefully he can get back to his roost OK. I have checked on him a few times and he seems a bit more happy now and drunk some of the little saucer of water, when we found him he was just flat on the patio in 26+ degrees looking ill.
England.
Everything I have read online about bats makes sense, the little guys are protected and for numerous reasons. I fully intend to leave them alone and not disturb them.
Annoying though, !
The problem of them crapping on your car would be possibly the same whether they were roosting in your attic or in any of your neighbours. And if you’re getting lots of crap but only have a relatively small colony up there then the chances are there are plenty of other roosts about anyway.
The car is directly underneath where I think they are exiting/entering the attic.
Loads of poo and wee that was not there last year so I guess a new colony that started nesting recently.
It’s not wrong to want to keep nice things nice.
indeed - but there are certain inevitable outcomes of leaving something you think is precious outdoors. The sun, the rain, the heat and the frost are all going to keep happening, that bats, the birds, the bees and the trees will all still be there. Its a bit King Canute to try and will all-of-nature to make allowances for your stuff. So if it bothers you keep the car undercover (ideally in something that bats wouldn't relish roosting in) or clean it as often as you see fit.
I'm unaware of any car thats stopped working because of bats. A friend did scrap a very rare (practically a prototype) triumph herald because it had mice though. But if cars that have ceased to function because of bats is a genuine enviromental concern I'm sure theres a online petition somewhere I can click. 🙂
The car is directly underneath where I think they are exiting/entering the attic.
I think you've got a very easy solution then 🙂
http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/bat_droppings_and_urine.html
Might not not take long for their urine to render an older car non financially viable through rust.
the OP better put some paint on his bare metal car then 🙂
Can you rig up a sheet/canopy of some sort suspended just above car height to catch the crap. Then clear it off at intervals.
I think you’ve got a very easy solution then .
Yep, either park in the road or move house.
Bummer.
the OP better put some paint on his bare metal car then
My car is not going to melt away. It just looks sh1t3 (pardon the obvious pun)
the OP better put some paint on his bare metal car then
You don’t think it would etch the lacquer then attack the paint? On an older car that would already be weaker.
My car is not going to melt away. It just looks sh1t3 (pardon the obvious pun)
Give it it a couple of seasons in the flight path, if it is as bad as you say. Park in the road or you may find the paint starts to look tatty and then you will start to get those veiny walnut things where water has ingressed.
just chuck an old sheet over the car if it’s that much of an issue
So after all the reading, it's obvious I cant do anything to harm them or block up their entry/exit.. I don't have an issue with that at all. Its just a bad situ I guess..
Bat Vs Me... Bat won.
It's getting dark and cooler here so I am going to open up the box to let the guy we found on the floor out. I'm no bat expert but he looked exhausted in the heat, slumped against a step on the patio in the blazing sun..
Phone number here, if you need further advice; http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/natural_england_roost_visits.html
If you can try parking just a few metres further away. Most bats pee 'n' poop immediately as they take flight leaving the roost. Parking a meter or so further away can make quite a difference. Looking on the bright side you have species that pee's 'n' poops outside their roost.... could be worse 🙂
If the little fella decides not to fly when you let him out and you decide to keep him for a further day its worth wetting a bit of material in the box they will lick the water off this. Even shallow dishes of water can result in drowning, especially for a weak dehydrated bat.
If the little fella decides not to fly when you let him out and you decide to keep him for a further day its worth wetting a bit of material in the box they will lick the water off this. Even shallow dishes of water can result in drowning, especially for a weak dehydrated bat.
He seemed much better than before, was climbing around the box pretty well. We emptied him onto a tee branch and he climbed away.
We used a milk bottle top for the water..
We have just been watching the roof for a few minutes and right on Q the little blighters started popping out at the very top of the gable wall. We counted 14 in the space of 10 mins.
So the mystery is solved, for a few months we have not been able to identify what was causing mouse like poo and wee all over the windows and car. Its a bunch of bats.
Guess I need to investigate how to build some sort of pergola type wooden car port/lean-to thing..
I was going to suggest a cover for your car but Houns beat me to it.
I know, my annoyance of a dirty car sounds trivial. People at work have started to comment on the car as it does look quite comedy now. The amount is quite surprising actually..
Its not just the car, its the house windows too. Wee stains/drips running all down them. Messy b4st4rd5..!
Just be very, very thankful you don’t live where there are lots of seagulls or pigeons...
as suggested, get one of these, bloke over the road has one on his front drive to work on a banger racing car he’s building:
