No, the bats are not in my belfry brain. They are in my mother’s belfry attic. What started out as a funny story from my mother has turned into a huge ordeal.
Last week, late at night, my mother who does not sleep well saw something flying around inside her house. She realized it was a flying rat bat, and then screamed. This woke my dad up, who was sleeping in his recliner. My mother continued her freak out and jumped on the couch covering herself with a blanket and dad was left to deal with the bat. Eventually, the stress of the whole situation got to my mother and she went and hid in her bathroom. The visual in my mind and my mother telling me about her hiding made me laugh. When she was on the phone with me, she cracked me up with her idea of duct taping her attic door shut, in an effort to keep the bats away. It was funny, and my mother agreed that after the incident was over that in retrospect it was funny.
Then things got not so funny. My mother came home after being out for a while and discovered a bat sitting on her kitchen counter.
Bats serve a valuable purpose, eating bugs and etc. that might be harmful to people, but bats do not belong in a house. They carry several diseases than can be fatal to humans. Bats carry rabies. They also carry histoplasmosis. Histoplasmosis is found in fresh bat droppings, it is a fungus, and is transmitted to humans by airborne spores. Unlike bird droppings, bat droppings do not have to have contact with soil for the fungus to be found.
After finding the second bat, things were not funny anymore. Since my mother and father rent their place in Augusta, they called the rental management company and had them send an exterminator to the house. Meanwhile, the rental management company kept trying to reach the landlord, who is not returning any phone calls.
The exterminator came to the house, identified where the bats are in the attic. However, he left without doing anything. It seems that in Georgia, this is the time of the year that bats have babies, and it is against the law to move them or do anything to them now. What the exterminator did tell my mother was that if the landlord will agree that the bats need to be moved, the exterminator can go to the proper people and get a waiver.
Meanwhile, the management company still cannot get a hold of the landlord.
A couple of days ago, the management company said that since they could not get a hold of the landlord, and having the bats in the house is an extreme health hazard, they were advising my parents to move out of the house. So now my parents, both of whose health is not the best have to move to another house fairly quickly. All of this has taken place in one week’s time frame.
It kind of makes you wonder if the two asthma attacks my mother had, especially since her asthma has not bothered her in years, were caused by the bats being in the house.
hOly cow.. I would freak out as well. I am not sure if they could not contact the health department and possibly an Omxbudsman to complain.There are certain rental laws that all landlords have to follow. This person failing to respond to repeated calls could warrant fines levied against him..
I think what is making this problem with the bats more difficult than it needs to be, is the timing, since it is against the law to do anything with them this time of year. That is one of the reasons the landlord needed to be contacted, it is part of the procedure in getting permission to move the bats.
I would be freaked out as well.
hOly cow.. I would freak out as well. I am not sure if they could not contact the health department and possibly an Omxbudsman to complain.There are certain rental laws that all landlords have to follow. This person failing to respond to repeated calls could warrant fines levied against him..
I think what is making this problem with the bats more difficult than it needs to be, is the timing, since it is against the law to do anything with them this time of year. That is one of the reasons the landlord needed to be contacted, it is part of the procedure in getting permission to move the bats.
I would be freaked out as well.
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OMG! They have to move out?!? Wow. It's illegal to hurt bats in NJ as well, you have to have a properly licensed exterminator to move them. I hope someone is going to compensate them if they go to a long-term hotel!
The exterminator is properly licensed, but they still needed the landlord's permission to get the proper paperwork done. Mom said if she needed to she could go stay at a friend's house. However, she still needs to pack up her house. Dad is going out of town for the weekend to visit an Uncle of his who is very sick. That means mom is sort of left with a large portion of the packing.
OMG! They have to move out?!? Wow. It's illegal to hurt bats in NJ as well, you have to have a properly licensed exterminator to move them. I hope someone is going to compensate them if they go to a long-term hotel!
The exterminator is properly licensed, but they still needed the landlord's permission to get the proper paperwork done. Mom said if she needed to she could go stay at a friend's house. However, she still needs to pack up her house. Dad is going out of town for the weekend to visit an Uncle of his who is very sick. That means mom is sort of left with a large portion of the packing.
Yeesh, that's a lot of upheaval. Your poor parents must be stressed to high heaven.
Got my fingers crossed that they can get in touch with the management people soon so they can be shifted.
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Yeesh, that's a lot of upheaval. Your poor parents must be stressed to high heaven.
Got my fingers crossed that they can get in touch with the management people soon so they can be shifted.
My recent post Hope House Event
I talked to dad yesterday, he is more than a little aggravated by the whole thing. The extra money he is having to put out to cover the move and new deposit and etc. is not making him very happy at all. Obviously though, he and mom cannot continue to stay where they are since the landlord cannot be found to give her consent on getting rid of the bats.
I talked to dad yesterday, he is more than a little aggravated by the whole thing. The extra money he is having to put out to cover the move and new deposit and etc. is not making him very happy at all. Obviously though, he and mom cannot continue to stay where they are since the landlord cannot be found to give her consent on getting rid of the bats.
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