COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 •
3A
Betty Kaiser’s Chatter Box: Bye-bye bats — For now!
Betty Kaiser
T
his has been quite a
year for animal sto-
ries at our house. Th e
latest one has left me shak-
ing my head and wondering
how pioneers ever survived
wolves and bears. It all be-
gan a few months ago when
I went out to Chuck’s work-
shop. He works downstairs
and I store important things
upstairs like holiday décor
and outdoor furniture.
A few months ago, I was
climbing the stairs when I
heard what sounded like
a herd of mice scurrying
around in the ceiling. Th en
it was quiet. Th is happened
several times until I asked
Chuck to give a listen.
He didn’t hear any scur-
rying noises but he put out
extra mouse traps. We found
lots of droppings but caught
no mice.
I think a little background
is in order.
We are used to dealing
with unwanted critters. We
bought our house in 1989
and there were mice in the
walls. One morning early on
I found a bat in the shower!
Periodically our dogs
would spy a bat fl ying around
the house at night. We would
capture it with a butterfl y net
and take it outside to fl y away.
A new roof solved the prob-
lem. Th e original cedar shake
roof was their home. Th e day
the old roof was removed,
hundreds of bats were awak-
ened and darkened the sky
overhead.
Bye-bye bats?
Nope.
Fast forward to summer
2018. Th e bats were still liv-
ing outside. We thought all
was well. Our son John and
grandson Josh were visiting
and we were going to Bo-
hemia Park for the Eugene
Symphony. Josh and I went
upstairs and brought down
four folding chairs.
Mine were strangely dirty.
Th ey each had one large,
black blob in the middle of
the chair. A closer exam re-
vealed two sleeping bats!
You would think that I
would get hysterical but I
found them kind of fascinat-
ing. I took the chairs to some
nearby trees, moved the bats
and we went to the park.
End of story? Not by a
long shot.
Th e so-called mice noises
got so loud in the shop ceil-
ing that Chuck could hear
them. An exterminator came
who was “pretty sure” that
the droppings were from
mice. He put down some
new-fangled traps scented
with pheromones and we
caught… wait for it: nine (9)
bats! Th is time I got pretty
close to hysterical; we were
bat killers!
I spent that evening
Googling everything I could
about bats. Did you know
that next to rodents, bats are
the second most common
land mammals? Th ey are an
invaluable insect predator,
sometimes eating half their
body weight in mosquitos.
'Th ey eat insects that
could damage crops and can
live to be 20 years old. Th ey
have a bad rap about rabies.
And fi nally, they are feel-
ing a housing crunch be-
cause their favorite hollow
trees, old barns and houses
are disappearing.
Th us, we ended up with
not one but two colonies of
bats in our warm, sheltered
shop. Th ey found an entry
and exit area where birds
had picked holes in the walls.
Th en I learned that once they
nest in your home they will
come back to the same place
year aft er year.
So, I went looking for a
professional who could evict
the bats humanely.
Here’s a quick overview of
how to evict bats:
1. Find all outside en-
trances
2. Install one-way bat
check valves that allow bats
to leave but not return.
3. Leave in place 5-7 days
4. Check to make sure all
bats are gone.
5. Remove the check
valves and seal the entrances.
Sounds easy, right?
Wrong!
Fish and Game regula-
tions apply to Oregon bats.
Th e company that we chose
came out in mid-August
and explained that our bats
would soon be migrating to
Mexico. Th ey could not be
evicted until aft er the fi rst of
September. Th eir babies had
to be strong enough to fl y
with them to hibernate over
the winter. Th en, they will
return next spring to their
favorite new home at Cottage
Grove Lake.
Th is was getting so com-
plicated that it made my head
spin. What to do? Well, one
evening around the fi rst of
the month, Chuck was out
pottying the dogs.
Suddenly, he looked up
and saw hundreds of bats
circling and taking fl ight.
Th e next day, the bats were
gone out of the shop. We
had dodged one bullet. Th en
came the cleanup. If I had
more room, I would tell you
the process in detail.
Suffi ce it to say that it in-
volved men wearing masks,
removing ceiling panels, vac-
uuming guano, sweeping,
sealing holes and quarantin-
ing the area.
Because the bats will re-
turn next year, we’re going
with a plan to put up bat
houses and attract them with
some of their saved guano.
I’ll let you know how that
works out. Hasta la vista
murciélago!
Contact Betty Kaiser’s
Chatterbox at 942-1317 or email
bchatty@bettykaiser.com
Huddle Automotive announces new custom exhaust fabrication services
Locally owned Hud-
dle Automotive in Cottage
Grove specializes in main-
taining and extending the
life of the autos it services.
Shop owners Gary and Lisa
Huddle have announced
that their shop is now pro-
viding custom fabrication of
exhaust pipes and tail pipes
for virtually any vehicle on
the road.
With the addition of a
new digital pipe-bending
machine and the accessibil-
ity to major brand manu-
facturers, Huddle Automo-
tive can handle just about
any job with access to name
brands such as Magnafl ow,
Flow Master, Cherry bomb,
ore
We Fetch You M yo
ur door!
…and deliver it all to
Superchips, Bully Dog Sys-
tems and more.
Not only can customers
receive custom work and
name-brand parts, but fac-
tory-direct parts are con-
siderably less expensive —
benefi ts that get passed on
to customers in the form of
lower prices and less time
traveling out of town for
similar services.
Th e Huddles and their
staff have been serving the
Cottage Grove communi-
ty for more than a decade,
priding themselves on pro-
viding a high level of cus-
tomer satisfaction.
Call Huddle Automotive
to schedule an appointment
and ask how a custom ex-
haust system can increase
your engine’s performance
and fuel economy.
til 11 p.m.
• Our high school band
is getting excited about its
upcoming trip to Washing-
ton DC. Band members are
still fundraising for things
like extra charges for their
instruments.
Come out Friday for a ga-
rage sale from 11 a.m. to 4
p.m. in the CHS band room.
If you have anything for the
sale, contact Pat Dixon by
emailing pdixon@cal.cal.k2
.or.us or call 541-744-9376
to coordinate drop off .
Th e donated guitar for
raffl e will be on display.
• Going hunting this
weekend or staying home?
Come enjoy a delicious
Hunter’s Breakfast at the
Rebekah Lodge this Satur-
day, Sept. 29, from 7 a.m. to
11 a.m.
• RAC Lorane Movie
Nights at Lorane Grange
resume on Saturday, Oct.
13, with delicious soups
and pies. See “Bend It Like
Beckham.”
LORANE NEWS
• Th is is homecoming
week at Crow middle and
high schools. Students have
been dressing up since
Monday.
Today was Fake Inju-
ry Day, Th ursday is Salad
Dressing Day and Friday is
always Spirit Day.
Th is Friday night, Sept.
28, the fl oat parade takes
place at halft ime during the
football game. Floats will be
judged at 8 p.m. Th e dance
for the high school begins
aft er the game and runs un-
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C ottage G rove
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