In the dog house

I have two suggestions, but no guarantees. I know dogs and cats don't care for the odor of mothballs. Keeps them out of the wife's flowerbeds. Might hang a few boxes worth of mothballs in hosiery in the roosting areas.

Bats will not tolerate bright lights in their roosting areas. If you have power to the building, you might try some of those outdoor work lights set up in the loft or area they are frequenting. Even if the mothballs or lights work, they may show back up again next year.

If you decide on a more lethal method, be careful about advertising the fact. Some bats, like the Indiana bat, are a protected species. Might get a visit from the DNR boys if word gets out you've been puttin' stakes into dracula.

I like the bats -- I think I'm up to 6 around my place -- three in the "upper" lawn by the house, three in the small "lower" field by the garden. See 3 in each, around dusk. Fascinating to watch the fast little buggers. Don't know where they live -- never seen evidence of 'em in any of my buildings.

That said, if they where poohing in the garage, I'd be looking to exterminate them too.

Too many things today, from this to politics, are done on emotion and not reason.

How do purple martins replace bats in insect control. A purple martin eats flying insects IN FLIGHT during the day.
A bat eats at night when mosquitoes are out.

You been watching to many movies and yes I am most likely one of those Austin types.

It is about the same as a bird house but with no bottom and landing boards spaced 1" inside. You need to use wood with no chemicals and ruff sawed so they can grip onto the wood and hang.

The hard part is getting them to move in. They are very particular as to where they live because the temp needs to be right. In other words you can hang it from a tree and they will never move in. Then just move it around the tree some so the sun hits it just right and they move in.

Any one that kills bats needs to be eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Guess I'd remind the wife and daughter that bats often carry and spread rabies, and ask them if they'd want the sweet, darling, and defenseless grandchildren to have to go through the series of extremely painful rabie shots if they get bitten, if for nothing more than a mandatory precaution. Put it to them in a language that they'll understand and will appeal to their senses..."I wouldn't want to put the grandchildren through that, especially since is completely avoidable". Then I'd remind them both that since you mostly work in the barn, and if you get bitten...DRACULA STAN!!! As a matter of fact, I think that I might go rent an old video of Dracula and make them watch it..."Yep, if his wife and daughter hadn't stopped him from getting them bats out of the barn, Bela Legosi probably would've been a nicer guy" every 10 minutes or so, as they peek through their fingers covering their eyes in horror.

Mark