Chris Prater, who has been a bat man for five years, said Athens homes are perfectly suited for the nocturnal creatures.
Chris Prater, owner of Prater’s Wildlife Control, has worked in animal control for more than 16 years, but it wasn’t until a few years into his career that he decided to become a “bat man.”
He decided to specialize in the nocturnal creatures about 13 years ago, because, he said, that’s where the money seemed to be.
“I’ve been into wildlife all my life,” he said. “I’m not exactly a bat biologist, but I spend a lot of time with bats.”
Southeast Ohio is a particularly good place for a “bat man” to set up shop due to the types of houses in the area, Prater said.
Bats are most likely to form colonies in homes built before 1850, Prater said. Older homes are generally built out of thicker materials or double-brick walls, keeping attic temperatures more regulated during bats’ hibernation period.
“The first week of warm weather, I might get ten calls,” he said.
Most years, though, he gets about 60 calls a season and can have as many as six or seven calls per week.
“It’s very rare for me to have bats in a modern house,” he said.
He also said older homes tend to have structural problems, which open cracks for the bats to climb through.
“Any time you have bats in a house, there will be old structural issues within the walls,” he said. “To keep bats out of your home, the answer is always on the exterior skin of your house.”
Ohio University President Roderick McDavis’ home at 29 Park Place, which the president and his wife Deborah evacuated earlier this month due to a bat infestation, wasn’t built until 1899, according to a previous Post report.
However, Prater said once the bats have found an opening in the building’s structure and started a colony, they’re likely to come back year after year.
“He does not have a bat problem; he has a structural problem,” he said. “Usually that’s what I tell homeowners, and they stare at me with these blank looks.”
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Being an animal control expert dealing with bats also comes with its share of dangers, not only because it requires one to climb onto roofs and into tight spaces, but also because bats carry a series of diseases.
One disease, Histoplasmosis, is found in bat feces and can potentially be fatal if inhaled in large enough quantities. Often, Prater has to gear up in a hazmat suit when entering a stuffy attic infested by bats.
“You get in there sometimes, and the (feces are) a foot deep because they’ve been living there so long,” he said.
That has caused some animal control experts in the area to drop bat removal services altogether.
“I don’t even do bats anymore because there’s so much nasty stuff in their (feces),” said Mike Lanum of Lanum’s ADC & Repair.
He said the last time he dealt with a bat complaint the attic had a foot and a half of bat droppings.
“If it wasn’t for the health reasons, I would still be doing it,” he said.
Not everyone who has a bat infestation feels the need to get rid of them.
Prater said he once dealt with a client whose roof was caving in from the bat droppings, but the client didn’t want the bats removed, as they kept the insect levels near her home low.
“Bats provide a valuable resource, but they’re not very well studied,” said Jennifer Norris, bat biologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. “What happens when that resource is gone?”
Prater said he has already had several calls regarding bat infestations this year.
“They’re a resource, but you shouldn’t have to live with them,” Prater said.
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