Question:
We have been considering a bat house because of mosquitoes, I have two questions though. My son said that you can’t have bats near fields that are sprayed. We have fields all around us and the fields to the east and south are sprayed several times a year. Is this true? Also, is there any danger of having bats near a house (like a hundred feet) where children play? I had heard that the bat droppings can cause problems for some people and other
people have told me their droppings have a strong odor. Please let me know more info.!
Answer:
As far as bat houses are concerned, the most important thing about their location is how much sun they get during the day and that they aren’t mounted on a tree. Western New York has a lot of agriculture so putting up houses a decent distance from fields that are treated is pretty difficult. I would just say “go for it” and see if the bats move in.
As far as their guano is concerned, I would not worry about it. Bat guano is only dangerous when it has collected in large piles and dried up – a fungus sometimes grows on old guano piles that can cause a very serious respiratory infection called histoplasmosis. Most often histoplasmosis is associated with bird droppings and is a danger around chicken farms and coops that aren’t properly maintained. A bat house would never generate enough guano for any concern.
As far as a smell, I have been in an abandoned building that housed 14,000 bats and stood right next to the piles of guano. I can’t recall anything overpowering or noxious about the odor. Their droppings are small and dry quickly so odor is rarely a problem in the case of bat houses.
Here is a link to the CDC’s web page about Histoplasmosis:
http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/histoplasmosis_gi.html
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