This morning around 4:30 AM I started hearing a soft bumping sound coming from outside my bedroom. Looking out the window, many, many small bats were flying onto the house then flying away. I went outside to investigate, and it appeared they were flying to one corner of the house just under the eaves, landing for a second at most, then flying off. Watching closer, I saw 1 out of maybe 50 get between the trim and the siding, and apparently did not reappear. There were maybe 20-30 per minute, and this went on for somewhere between 40-60 minutes.
I checked the attic and didn’t see any bats flying around in there. I got as close as I could to the corner where they were landing outside, and didn’t see or hear any bats there either, though I could still hear them landing from outside.
So what was going on? I’ve been in the house for 10 months, and this is certainly the first time this has happened - I can’t imagine sleeping through the noise they made. There had to be hundreds, maybe over a thousand, assuming they were different bats. I’ll see if it happens again tomorrow, and continue to check for bats in the attic. There have been no previous signs of bats in the attic, if that matters, no noises, no droppings. I live in MA, 30 miles north of Boston.
Good thing you aren’t a criminal. You’d be terrified.
What about the belfry? Have you checked there?
If they settle up there it’ll be a batastrophe. 
If you put your ear to the wall (inside or outside) near where you saw a few disappear under the siding, do you hear anything? Could there be room in your walls for a bat roost?
What’s worse, a bat roost or a rat boost?
Check your basement. If you find a computer, a nuclear reactor, and a customized car; well, there’s your answer.
This seems to be the most likely scenario based on what you’ve described so far, @muldoonthief.
I will mention this: Some people I knew had a home with vaulted ceilings, where there was a space between the roof and the wallboard of the ceiling. Bats got into that space. Their first clue was guano staining their ceiling.
By the time they got the situation figured out, the damage was very extensive. Between bat removal, guano removal and replacement materials, I believe it cost them more than $60,000 for remediation. They had to move out of their house for 2 months. And this would have been at least fifteen years ago.
I would get professional pest control involved as soon as possible.
Best of luck, and I hope you’re not facing a similar situation such as I described.
Out of curiosity, do you know if it was covered by insurance? Property insurance companies – well, all insurance companies, really – can be sneaky and devious when it comes to denying claims!
You may want to contact https://www.batcon.org/
Esp see https://www.batcon.org/about-bats/bats-in-homes-buildings/
Brian
I think there was some coverage, but it didn’t cover all their expenses, I do remember that. I also remember thinking that what they endured was a nightmare I would avoid at all costs. I check my attic regularly.
Well, they’re definitely there. I started watching that space around sunset, and counted at least 15 bats coming out. I can hear them holding my ear against the wall in that spot inside the house too. I presume it has to be new, when I heard them last night they were making a pretty loud racket for a good 20+ minutes, there’s no way I’ve been sleeping through that.
They’re coming out where the triangular soffit corner meets the vinyl siding, right by the eaves. I don’t know from there if they’re in the eaves, or inside the wall themselves between the sheathing & the drywall. I hope the eaves.
I’ll call my exterminator tomorrow, see what he can do or recommend. From some googling all bats in MA are federally & state protected, so you can’t actually exterminate them, just remove or exclude them.
One thing I’m wondering is if I shine a bright spotlight at their entry point after they’ve all left, and keep it going until full daylight, they may not want to enter a brightly lit spot in the pre-dawn.
Speaking in generalities, the homeowner has a duty to mitigate damages. If, e.g., they became aware of the infestation and ignored it for 6 months, then finally called an exterminator and their insurance when the stench was overpowering, well, they’re sorta screwed.
Insurance in that case would probably ay for what it would have cost to repair the damage that would have existed 6 months previously.
Well, your duty to mitigate just started. If you want any help from your insurer paying to repair the damage or seal up the entrance, you need to get a pro exterminator on the job ASAP.
Good luck! Seriously, not snarkily. This can get difficult quickly.
This was in the news a couple of years ago.
Note that it’s illegal to remove bats during June and July in Massachusetts. It’s their maternity season. A reputable bat removal company will know this, so steer clear of anyone who offers to do it immediately. And they can’t be removed after mid-October when they start hibernating.
Lots of good info here:
I would be very leery of using a general exterminator for this. Bat removal is completely different from what they are used to. Searching for a Problem Animal Control company will get you better results than searching for a pest exterminator.
As I said, I’ll call the pest control guy I used before, to get rid of the mice in the house when I bought it. I was perfectly happy with him, if he’s licensed to get rid of bats, I’ll use him. If he’s not, it’s possible he knows someone who is.
Good point. I was speaking in generic of getting the relevant flavor of pro on the job. My real point was the urgency of doing so.
As @muldoonthief says just above, he’s aware of the distinction between folks who e.g. only spray bugs and folks who move bats. He needs the latter and knows he needs the latter.
As TroutMan said and I’ve confirmed, it’s illegal to do any sort of exclusion or removal until Aug 1. So it’s not quite as urgent, I’ll get someone(s) out to take a look in the next 2 weeks. Also, those huge infestations causing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage are very much the exception, not the rule, the typical nest in MA apparently is 20-100 bats. They don’t typically cause property damage in the short term either, since they only roost in the house, not run around destructively like mice or rats. And if worst comes to worst and I do have to file a claim, I’d be shocked if a MA-licensed insurance company denied it because I did not violate state and federal law to remove them immediately, and I’m pretty sure the MA Division of Insurance would have some unpleasant discussions with them as well.
I might call my insurance company about the situation now. Get on record early as not playing coverup or worse yet foolish nature lover unwilling to disturb the little darlings.
If you use(d) an independent agent to get your homeowner’s insurance I’d definitely talk to them about how / when to notify the company.