well not really... ok here is my dilemma for the month...any advice would be helpful.. so my family lives in a 2 story 2 family house. in the fall we had a problem with mice trying to get in for the winter, in a month we caught 12 mice. so we properally positioned mouse poison around the house and the mice went away. however we still heard scratching in the walls and an occasional squeak but i just figured maybe it was a squirrel or something. the land lord just sort of laughed when we told him about the mice... ok so 6 months later.... had friends over last night and they were awoken by a bat at 4am flying in the living room, they tried to catch it and it flew upstairs and vanished. we scowered the place and except for finding my sons batman toys no bats were found. So... starting about 2 months ago my daughter who is 3 started getting a lot of resp issues, now has a nebulizer and prn albuterol treatments blah blah but she has never been the sick type before... now i am freaking that maybe there is a bunch of bat poo along with mouse poo in the ceiling or walls making her sick???? again told the land lord and he just says to patch up the holes so no more bats can get in.... what do we do?? i swear i am on the verge of moving, too many rodents and things with wings for my liking... input??? thanks
Hi Everyone
Thank youso much for all the wonderful input on this icky subject.. basically after a squabble with the land lord pest control is going to come out thursday to inspect the crawl space above the bedrooms to identify the 'droppings". I have already invested into an air purifier for her room once she started to initally get sick. The mouse poison was strategically placed around the house (behind the washing machine, in the way back of the broom closet, etc..) to keep away from the kids. I have been actively looking for a new condo/apartment/house to rent or possibly buying another home... I will bring up the bat/mouse topic at the next pediatricians appt in 2 weeks. Thanks again for all the lovely input.
If inhaled, bat droppings can cause histoplasmosis, which is characterized by flu-like symptoms. The very young, very old and those with impaired immune systems are at greatest risk for severe illness.
http://www.humanewildlifecontrol.com/issues_bat.htm
You need Billy The Exterminator!
I would be having a conniption.
I live in a rural area and it's not at all unheard of to have a mouse or two once in a great while. I've NEVER had one inside the house, but in the garage where the backyard is a big field and you have doors open, yes. Bats? That's pushing it.
Your landlord needs to get an exterminator out there. Not just to protect you, but to protect his property. Mice and bats can cause a lot of damage. Not to mention what his tenants have to put up with.
I lived in a house, a very nice house, and one day there was sewage spewing out the side of it all over the front yard. The first thing I did was call my landlord and the first thing he did was tell me it was my problem. He did call a plumber, but told me I had to pay for it. The city department of public works stepped in and I didn't pay one single penny for anything. Including the toxic clean up in my yard.
So....if your landlord wants to brush you off, call the health department. Call legal aid or the housing authority in your area. They can tell you what your rights are or give you referrals.
Document everything.
I wouldn't call your landlord, I would communicate in writing, but get advice on how to word things.
Best wishes.
Bats carry rabies you need to get the holes patched and your roof/vents checked. we had a bat flying around our bedroom when our dd was about a month old thankfully she was in bed with us and hubby got the bat out of our room and caught it and tossed it outside. the next day he patched the hole from the plunbing job he had just finished abd fixed the rafters/eves vent. You need to get that fixed asap. and if your landloard laughs it off report him. its NO JOKE!
I would just tell your landlord that if he is not willing to fix the problem himself, he will be looking for new tenants.
Hi, I don't know about the bat poop, but mouse poop is a big deal. Once it is dried out the poop dust is really dangerous and can cause irreversible blindness. I'm not kidding. If the land lord won't fix it you should move. Most homes have little to no insulation inbetween interior walls. The walls are going to be full of the stuff (poop) And older houses don't even have ductwork on the air returns between floors so the space between the joists are carrying the dust of the decades to the input side of your furnace. In the mean time use the best quality air filter you can get in your furnace and change it every month. And start looking for another place to live. You can't fix that stuff without re-ducting the entire return side of the furnace, and if your landlord can't be bothered to take care of rodent control, there is no way he is going to fix this. Get a hepa filter ( big loud 200$ circular portable thing) for her room, change the filters often then move out. Good luck.
Keith.
Your friends should see a doctor if they have not already. Bats can carry rabies, which is a 99% DEADLY, untreatable and uncurable infection. Most bats have tiny teeth and many people are unable to tell if they may have been bitten. There is a small window of time in which someone that has been exposed to rabies can be treated by getting antibody shots and vaccinations. Once people experience rabies symptoms it is too late for treatment and the number of people who have survived rabies is minute (literally, there is maybe a handful!). So please ask your friends to talk to a health care provider so that they can get their risk evaluated.
Next step report your problems to your landlord again and give a deadline in which you expect him to hire a professional exterminator. If he does not clean up the property report your issues to your local health department. Also check your local renters laws, you may be able to break the lease without penalties if the property is unhealthy to live in.
Good luck.
Your landlord sounds pretty dismissive, I've never heard of a landlord just laughing off a mouse infestation. It hurts their property too. Bat poop causes serious problems... your in a good position because your renting. MOVE! I would move. Some diseases it cause is histoplasmosis, which is a respiratory disease that affect people with weakened immune system (i.e. young kids). The spores from that histo. fungus becomes airborne. The doctor can do a blood test or skin test to test for histoplasmosis.
Plus their poo (guano) and urine attract roaches (doubley ewww).
You can decontaminate, but the way your landlord handled that mouse confrontation I'd just move and deal with breaking the lease after taking her to the doctor, telling him/her about the bat problem, and documenting everything (maybe statements from the friends about the bat at 4am?). AND calling the health department so the next tenant doesn't have to deal with that. For me it'd be the next straw but I still wouldn't want someone else moving into that mess.
Wow, with what Keith A said, you got 2 big health problems with the bat and mouse poop. Move out babe, protect you and yours!
MOVE! A landlord like that is a danger to your kids. What if they get elevated lead levels? Will he do lead abatement? He's already required by most state laws to provide rodent-free living space and he's not.
Your landlord should call a wildlife control expert. (we use Colonial Pest Control, which may service your area.). It isn't as easy as one might think to bat proof a home. To complicate matters, bats will be having babies soon and you don't want to lock mama away from her young.
If you have access to the attic you could look to see if there are a lot of droppings. We just had our house bat proofed (not inexpensive, by the way) and the technician said you really need piles of it or to breathe it directly to experience health effects.
Good luck,
J.
Check your state's landlord tenant laws to find the proper steps for notifying your landlord of an animal problem. This will help you if you feel like you have to move...if you break the lease "properly" you will protect yourself from the consequences of a regular broken lease. I have no idea what the standards are in Mass, but I wouldn't be surprised if the notification needs to be in writing. There may be a tenant advocacy group in your area that can help with the technicalities, or you may want to consult an attorney. If you feel that the landlord's negligence has harmed your child, you will probably want to talk to an attorney about that as well.
I would move asap! Break your lease if you have to, but document everything. Bat guano (poop) can cause some serious problems, Google it. I would have moved after the 12 mice.
We lived in a rental house years ago and we found out there was lead paint in the house. We broke our lease and moved out. Our landlord never pursued us legally, but he did keep our security desposit. I say move. Your landlord sounds like a jerk. Good luck.
The landlord should be the one fixing this problem!
While you're trying to find a permanent solution, I would recommend an air purifier for your little ones room. I find them to be very helpful with my childrens asthma. Also, you might want to make sure that the mouse poison isn't the culprit. Good luck
