Bats In My Hair...Oh My!

[Maelyssa]

So nothing really profound but just want to say that I've spent the past 3 hours trying to trap a bat that got in my very crowded bedroom of my really cruddy rental house & the whole time my only concern was that the little bugger would come close enough while he was buzzing me to get stuck in my updo & end up tangled in my hair.
Now that's something you can all imagine & chuckle over. LOL

[kaitmil]

lol That is funny. Did you manage to remove the bat from the house? I have never had to try that before, I have had to remove wild birds from the house. Fun experience with two bird dogs trying to help.

[Amber_Maiden]

hehe! Poor batty!!! Did you get him out of your house?

[Maelyssa]

I did get him out & release him in the wild so to speak...we live on Main St. LoL
He managed to crawl under the entertainment center & I had to use my really long remote control, a towel & a mesh baby laundry bag to coax him out then carry him out in.

[Maelyssa]

A few months ago it was a crow in the same bedroom. At this point I think I'd be good in pest control! :D

[Creatureling]

Fortunately for you, bats being irresistibly drawn to long hair is a myth... but you can't be too careful! :)

[Nae]

Oh my, that story reminds me of a birthday party from when I was a kid. There were about 15 of us kids there and we noticed a bat loose in the house. My uncles were chasing it around with a broom and the kids were running en masse from room to room chasing the uncles and the bat.

Everytime that poor bat would swoop around to fly to another room all the kids would scream and hit the floor. It was like the wave but everyone hitting the ground instead of jumping up. It was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Finally one of the grown men swatted the bat and he was stunned enough to be scooped up and placed outside. He flew off within a few minutes.

With all that screaming that bat probably had a headache for days. Poor thing!

[Yozhik]

Aww...poor guy -- he must have been terrified!

Once a bird flew into our house and I had to chase it out. That was an adventure, too. :p

The only things I've caught in my hair have been bugs - a fly as a teen, a bee a year ago, and a stinkbug recently. :scared:

[TessieAnn]

bats being irresistibly drawn to long hair is a myth

In my experience that it's a myth is a myth--except, perhaps for the word "irresistibly."

On three separate occasions--years apart--when I was walking at dusk in the mountains a bat has flown into my hair.

Two years ago I awoke with a bat sitting on my toes. It flew up and buzzed around my face then landed on the lace curtains. All night I'd been dreaming that something was swooping around the room. Guess what? Not a dream. So I suppose I should say four times, not three.

[Lici1209]

Poor bat and poor you! Haha reminds me of The Office episode where Dwight puts the bag over Meredith's head with the bat....anyone? :P

[Merlin]

In my experience that it's a myth is a myth--except, perhaps for the word "irresistibly."
On three separate occasions--years apart--when I was walking at dusk in the mountains a bat has flown into my hair.


The bat sonar system is easily capable of avoiding entrapment in hair, so what I'm assuming is that the bat made contact with your hair with a wingtip as it went past rather than becoming entangled which is what people fear. Based on experience it is very hard to get a bat to entangle in a mist net when you want them too, and a mist net is far less acousticly visible than than your hair is. The discrimination level of a bat sonar pulse is about the same as the width of a human hair by the way.

As regards the original question, you do not try to get a bat out of a room because there is a real risk you will injure it. The bat is only trying to find a way out of the room, I would recommend that the best way to do it is to shut the door to the room and open the windows as wide as you can - generally they find their way out. In the even this does not happen, and this is UK advice, I'm not 'qualified' to advise for other countries is to turn on the room lights and the bat will settle. When it does put a box or plastic tub larger than the bat over it making sure you do not injure the bat. Then GENTLY AND SLOWLY slide a piece of stiff card under the box. The bat will then be between the box and the cardboard, and when you turn the box the right way up the bat will be in the box. You can then take it outside in the evening and remove the card and hopefully the bat will fly off happily. If this does not work then contact the national bat helpline (see below) or visit the webpage of the BCT (http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/bat_flying_in_building.html) for advice

If at any stage you are bitten or scratched by the bat then you should seek medical advice.

If you want advice regarding bats in your house, or you find a grounded bat, contact the national bat helpline, the number for which can be found here (http://www.bats.org.uk/).