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  Discussion on Bat guano problems
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Member:
Bluedog1

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 - 11:11 pm:

I have my horses boarded at a barn that is a converted dairy barn. The enormous loft above the stables harbors many bats and their DrOppings are everywhere. My concern is that it is going to be all over the hay that will soon be put up there. I think I heard that humans can become ill from exposure to bat guano especially if it has become dusty and airborne. I am wondering if this situation poses a health threat to the horses. The owner doesn't think this is a very serious problem, so would appreciate some real facts. I couldn't find much on the internet. Thank you!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 8:18 am:

Yes aerosolized bat quano is a real health problem to humans as well as the horses. It is known to spread fungal infections and may also spread ringworm. But most serious is it appears to be responsible for a few cases of rabies in humans. The chance of a problem is probably small but the results could be very serious. Of course the other side of the coin is that by consuming mosquitoes and biting insects, some important equine diseases might be prevented.
DrO
Member:
Bluedog1

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 8:44 am:

Thank you for the info. I will pass the info on to the owner of the farm and see what he does. We have found quite a few dead baby bats. Not sure if they just sometimes fall off or if they are sick and dying. I haven't seen any dead adults.
Member:
Ajudson1

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 9:46 am:

DrO,

Could you elaborate on the health problems associated with aerolized bat guano? Or a source of info on it? I was sick for years while our bats lived with us......

Jackie,

we had bats in our attic and they lived above our connected garage. The smell was horrible, especially on hot days, and the mess they left on our cars....yuck. But, we had no mosquitoes.

Since redoing our house, they only reside in an older back garage that we don't really use.

And I no longer suffer from fatigue, muscle aches, and dizziness....not too much anyhow.

I would not want my horses in that environment. Nor want to handle the hay with bat crap all over it.
Member:
Canter

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 12:52 pm:

One suggestion is to build a bat house (or two) somewhere on the outskirts of your property. That way, you have the benefit of them eating mosquitoes without the mess or the close contact to horses. I'm not sure how you would entice them away from the barn, but I bet if you ran an internet search, you would easily find directions on how to build the house & how to get them to pack up & move.
Member:
Boomer

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 1:45 pm:

Where in the states are all these bats?
Member:
Bluedog1

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 2:06 pm:

Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately, I do not own the property, so all I can do is suggest the bat house solution. I am thinking of moving anyway for other reasons, but this just adds one more reason to move on to a safer environment.

Patricia, these bats are living in a barn in northern illinois.
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 4:33 pm:

Here in San Antonio (Garden Ridge) Texas, the bats come out of the Natural Bridge Caverns every night and fly around, so we have the benefit of the insect control without all the yuck. It is really exciting to see thousands of bats flying overhead. We actually live off of a street named Bat Cave Road.
Kathleen
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 5:56 pm:

University of Florida built a bat house and smeared bat guano inside to try encourage them to take up residence, as they were being evicted from another location. It took a very long time for the bats (at least 2 years, I think) to move into their new digs, but now you can watch thousands of them fly out every evening.
Member:
Jojo15

Posted on Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 - 7:07 pm:

The best way is to do it at night.. after they fly out. Not during the day while sleeping. Then you trap them inside. We had one genius do that in our townhouse row and they died. hundreds of them. And the smelll... ugh....

You have to let them leave the building, and then you put up a wire mesh covering. I looked like deer fencing. Or small no climb. You tack into onto the opening. Make sure there is only one way in and one way out.

Leave the tacking on for awhile. They will try to come back and then seal.

I just read a good article on how to entice them into the yard for mosquito control... it was either on hgtv site or a backyard garden site, sorry i can't remember where it was exactly.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jun 23, 2006 - 10:09 am:

I really don't have much more information than it is a bad thing to do Angie and needs to be avoided. The specific fungal organism most often associated with exposure is Histoplasmosis which I presume causes chronic pneumonia and possible disseminates to other parts of the body.
DrO
Member:
Ajudson1

Posted on Friday, Jun 23, 2006 - 1:25 pm:

Doc,

Thanks, I will do a search on your big word above "Histoplasmosis"!

Our kids allergies cleared up too after we "relocated" all the bats.
Member:
Kstud

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 28, 2006 - 6:10 pm:

Interesting thread, for years I had suffered from a non specific exhaustion, aches, dizziness and general malaise and has every test under the sun without any real diagnosis. Then 2 years ago part of the roof blew off the old coach house adjoining our house and we removed the rest of the roof for safeties sake thus making the numerous bats homeless. Strangely enough I am much much improved since then but never thought to connect it with the bats. Still waiting for a new roof and maybe I won't hurry too much now,
Catherine
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