Large Scale Central

A bat in the tunnel?

General Discussion
#1

No trains run today but did do a bit of cleaning up. I broke out the leaf blower hit the road bed and tunnels. When I went to put the covers back on the long 15’ tunnel what looked like a bat came out the other end then right back in. The last thing I want to do is have to reach in the hatches and pull out a derailed train while a possible bat is living in there.

Maybe I should send the camera car through for a look?

One side of tunnel has a nice portal on it so I can seal that but the other end is very rough rock. My covers keep out large critters and stops leaves from blowing in.
How can I get rid of this bat?

#2

Get Van Helsing to do it.:slight_smile:

#3

Van Helsing, that is funny. Tonight I clicked on and watched the end of one of my favorite horror movies “Bram Stokers Dracula” . Great now I not only have ot worry about getting bit and rabbies but now possibly turning into a vampire.

#4

Dynamite is always appropriate! :wink:

#5

Todd, that bat is supposed to be in the belfry, not in your tunnel. Stupid bat!

#6

Todd

If these are small bats like we have in this area, it is very hard to keep them out as they can get through a hole as small as a dime. Try putting a 100 watt light bulb in the tunnel just after dark. The bats normally go out to forage at dusk and if they come back to a brightly lit tunnel they will probably go somewhere else. Do this a few nights in a row and they will find another home. We did this in the attic of an old house and after a week or so they were gone.

Ron

#7

Well at least it’s better then a bat in the house.

Yes we used to have bats in the cabin several years ago. Patched some very small holes in the log chinking (that’s the stuff you put between logs) and haven’t had any since.

Kind of funny how we got rid of them. For one I used a toy bow and arrow to shoot it down. Of course I had to take the suction cup off the end though. Another one was caught in a butterfly net. And another was caught with a vacuum cleaner.

I hated to kill any though as they are great at insect removal. The kind we have are called “Little Brown Bat”.

#8

Try putting some bat boxes in the area. Bats are great to have around as they eat all the insects that annoy us.

#9

I don’t want to kill this little guy but don’t want to get bit either. A few years back a man here on the Cape died as a result of being bit by a bat that had gotten into his house. He ushered it out and didn’t even know he had been bit.
I like the idea for a bat box and the idea of putting a bright lightbulb in the tunnel. I was thinking about using one of those noise emmitters that scare mice away.
This might be one of the bats I rescued a few weeks back. We have a spot on our roof around the chimney that drips when the rain blows a certain way and I went up to check on it after a week of bad rain and was surprised to find 2 bats swimming in the bucket. I took them out and dropped them off in the woods behind the house.

I think I will build a bat box for my new buddy.
Thanks guys.

#10

Had one in the apartment MANY years ago.

I thought “Open the windows, he’ll fly out.”

He did not want to fly out.

“Turn on the lights and he’ll fly out.”

That just made him sleepy.

Was amazing to watch him fly. He’d let me get quite close. I took his picture. He didn’t like the camera.

Found a shoebox and piece of cardboard. I let him settle on the wall, then put the box over him. He rather protested while I slid the cardboard under. Then I just tossed him out the window and he flew away.

A few days later, the girl downstairs called in a panic, “Tom! There’s a bat in my apartment!”

I knew what to do :wink:

#11

UPDATE: Yesterday I put my camera car in a gondola along with a flashlite and sent it through the tunnel at a crawl several times and found a real horror show. I wouldn’t want to be a passenger on a train travelling through there. It was a mess of cobwebs, spiders, giant crickets and a unconfirmed bat.

Last night I popped the 2 hatches and stuck a drop light in there along with a electronic bug and rodent buzzer.

I’m gonna have to clean out that tunnel. We can’t have the lady passengers fainting at the site of the horrors and the RR doesn’t want to have to post guards armed with sub machine guns and flame throwers. That kind of negative publicity can sink a RR.

#12

Pics, we want pics!

#13

About time that a camera car came in handy! Neat tale.

#14

Steve Featherkile said:

Pics, we want pics!

I knew someone would ask and I almost brought my flip video into the office today to put the video up. It is kind of a boring video unless you are interested in bugs.
I will see what I can do.
I don’t know about the bat but this morning after having the drop light and the bug/ pest buzzer going all night I didn’t see any crickets or spiders. Maybe that thing really works?
Todd

#15

Here is a link to a quick video from inside the tunnel. I believe the bat can be seen around the .16-.17 mark. I think I saw a little eye shine. Pause it and see what you think.
I haven’t sent the camera car back through since so I don’t know if the bat is still in residence but I did jam a broom in there yesterday to get out cobwebs etc…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdiuG999VGg&list=UUZOfHcAFgcuz5un7x5df4ng