Dave,
We have had bats in our house in the past.
As others have said, they are good things to have around when it gets to
springtime. They eat tremendous amounts of mosquitos and other annoying
bugs. Some (though not all) are also endangered.
If you wake the bat out of hibernation the fear is that it will use up
enough energy now flying around trying to find another roost that it will
not survive till spring. And if you have one, you may well have others.
What we did was wait till spring. When spring came, we identified the way
the critters were coming in and we covered it with netting. We stapled the
netting at the top, but not at the bottom. In this way the bats can get
out, but they can't get back in. (You can also seal it up on a late Spring
night when you are sure they are not in the area.
To keep the bats near our house, we installed a bat house in the yard. The
bat house should be 12-14 feet in the air on the side of a house or a pole.
If you use a tree, make sure there are no branches directly below the house
to prevent the bat from leaving and entering. Bats are mammals and like
warmth, so you should mount the house on the south side. Depending on what
region you live in, you should paint the house brown or black.
Oh, I forgot to ask, where are you? That could be important.
Bats generally like small crevasses. To prevent them from returning, I
would insulate and then cover the insulation with sheetrock, plywood,
plastic sheeting, or some other suitable material.
For more information, or to purchase a bat house, check out
http://www.chiropteracabins.com/
We bought our bat house from Barry and he is a great guy.
One last thing. Some people are freaked out about bats and think they pose
some danger to humans (transmission of rabies, etc). It doesn't sound like
you are, but be assured that the vast maority of bats in the world are so
small that they could not even break the human skin. They pose no danger,
and are generally a great help. And the bat guanno is great fertilizer!
Good luck,
Michael
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