I did not have to do a taste test to know this was not chocolate sprinkles. It was bat guano. If you look VERY closely at bat guano, you can see the little sparkling pieces of insect wings and body parts. The bats in this case, inhabited the house in the space between the wood framing and where the chimney went through the roof overhang. Now it so happened that there were indications of leaking into the roof structure from poor flashing details around the chimney above the roof. Because of this, I was looking for signs of water and or damage to the interior ceiling areas. On the interior of the house there was some very light staining, with elevated moisture as indicated by moisture meter, around the corner of the chimney where it went through the ceiling----consistent with the poor flashing details I had noted around the chimney at the exterior. Once in the attic, and after I had crawled all the way to the far end of the attic, here is what I found. A nice pile of wet bat guano-----acting like a sponge to carry the leak to the ceiling surface. Sometimes this job drives inspectors batty. Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
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You didn't take a deep breath did you?
I had an attic once with between 1 and 2 million bats and the attic floor had about 6" of guano all over it. No kidding...
That's sooooooo disgusting.....how do people live like that??? they must have heard the creatures flying!!!!
Nasty. I hope you had your mask on if you were that close to the bat doody.
YUCK! I agree with Barbara. It is disgusting? Is this common in SEattle? I am thinking maybe I need to inspect my own home.
I hear you can use it in your garden quite successfully. They charge a lot for it in the open market.
What a wonderful thought to start my day off...."If you look VERY closely at bat guano, you can see the little sparkling pieces of insect wings and body parts".
Most people don't know what to look for - great job in back tracking the problem.
Wow, Charlie B, you are up and at 'em early today...
Charlie: I am renting an apartment for the summer, since I rent my own home out for the same time period...last night I heard sounds from under the porch roof under my window...it was screaming or screeching and rustling around a lot! It scared me to death because I thought there was an animal trapped in there and my mind went nuts! What is it?...What if it is a big animal and it dies in there? How do I let it out? and on and on...I could not sleep all night! What do you suggest I do besides call the owner?
Thanks for sharing some of the reasons to keep bats out of your house. And, another good reason to have a professional home inspection for every purchase.
Bats just totally wig me out. I found one in my deck umbrella the other morning. My assistant and I looked pretty funny getting him out of there.
I think I will go talk to my neighbor today after reading this! At our BBQ last week, she mentioned that they had a bat in their bedroom. She hid under the covers while her husband caught it. I asked them if they had checked their attic and they insisted the bats weren't in there. I told them that it just seemed to me that a bat getting into the house had most likely come from somewhere else in the house. Now I may know where they are hiding.
I went to a meeting about bat and bees a while back and was tempted to build a bat house in the yard, but my wife nixed the idea. The votes that count are in. Classify me as batty.
Mr Charles,
Cousin Nutsy, who is in Alaska, and I have had to cohabitate with bats. They are really quite creepy and not friendly. I am so pleased my career has led me to only the finest lodging at this point in my life.
Wheatloaf
HI Charles,
We do have quite a few of them here, but had not seen what the guano looked like. Thanks for sharing the pic.
Charles,
No Mosquitoes there ; ) You are now the "Batman". Bats in general are very good to have around but just not in your home.
Great Shots-
Don
Charles - At least the owner will have help controlling the insect population--with the added benefit of free fertilizer.
There's nothing like the fresh scent of bat guano to make your day!
Thankfully none of the homes I've sold have ever had this issue.
Bats are great at controlling the insect population. Great right up to the point where they live inside your house.
Noted Paula's comment above - does anyone want to take a guess that it was raccoons mating?
I am so glad I will be able to recognize this the next time it hits me in the face.
Yuck! I hope I never have to deal with Bat Guano. Thanks for the good pictures and helpful advise. I hope you can get the seller to fix it.
Oh gross and double gross!! The pictures are great and make the point. I remember as a 9 year old (many years ago!!) telling my parents there were sounds in the walls I would hear in the bedroom I shared with my little sister. It took a while until they took me seriously and than the big event came.
My step-father lit a "something" up the chimmney and the sky starting raining bats!! Like something out of a Hitchcock movie. I, the rest of the family and neighbors were very impressed.
Sue of Robin and Sue
As if we needed something else to drive us batty.
Jay, attics are a good place to wear a respirator----or at least a really good dust mask
Barbara, fortunately they don't live in the attic :)
Jim, yup I did
Shirin, I actually do not see them very often in the city limits-----just occasionally
Yvette, yes very good fertilizer
Amy---sorry about that :)
Alan, this one was not too difficult to figure out
Paula, sounds like calling a pest control operator would be a good start
Roy, yes, bats need to be kept out of the attic for sure
Lizette, most people get more wigged out by bats than the bats probably deserve :)
Kristen, there evidence is not that hard to spot once you know what to look for
Glenn, I am thinking of building one for my house
Wheatforbrains----I am sure you are batty
Bill, you are welcome
Don, yes they are great at keeping the mosquito population down
John, yes----they just need to keep them out of the attic
Craig, even the thought of bat guano is a smell I can do without
Mark, or squirrels mating, or rats mating or.......... :)
Jane, do try to keep it off your face :)
Leslie, my buyer walked from this one for much different reasons---this did not seem to phase them that much
Sue, it is cool to watch bats leave a house for the night----filling the sky with fluttering wings
Jack, with out bats there would be no analogy of "batty"
In the case of the attic above, I got out of there before I had to take a breath!
Charlie,
Usually the first tip I get to bats is a groddy area all around the soffit. Last time I saw that, good news, not attic access.
Jay, I can see you disappearing like a bat out of hell :)
Steve, that was the case here too.