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Welcome to Bats Landing
OK Wildlife Control®, L.L.C. is pleased to promote and be associated with the efforts of Beverly Wallace, caretaker
of Bat's Landing, a nonprofit sanctuary for bats licensed by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife.
The following story is from the Tulsa World, published 12/22/2008. Wallace,
known to her neighbors as the "Bat Whisperer," spends the majority of her days and nights feeding, nurturing and
caring for the nocturnal mammals, hoping to reintroduce them to their natural habitat.
At her rural home between
Sapulpa and Glenpool, Wallace runs Bat's Landing, a nonprofit sanctuary for bats licensed by the Oklahoma Department of
Wildlife.
Wallace became interested in bats about seven years ago when her neighborhood was suffering a mosquito
problem.
"The neighbors were complaining about the mosquitoes, and so were we. I had this crazy notion that
if I started raising bats, that they would stay here and I could raise a colony," she said. "As time went on, I
found that not to be true. Just because I hand-raised them, that they weren't going to stay. Bats do what they want to
do; they go where they want to go, not where you want them to go." 
Raising the first few bats remained in
Wallace's blood. She decided to learn more about the mammals when she took part in a "bat boot camp" at Bat
World, a bat rehabilitation center in Mineral Wells, Texas.
"It's
been a blessing to me to raise them and watch them grow, then able to
release them. I've had quite good success at releasing a large number
of pups, or baby bats," she said. "I've devoted my life to this." When Wallace
receives calls about an injured or displaced bat, she'll go get
the mammal and bring it back to her little shop to be rehabilitated.
She's also removed bats that have found their way inside homes. She
responds to calls from throughout the Tulsa area. "A lot
of times the poor little guys find themselves in positions, or in
places, where they shouldn't be and they might have hunted throughout
the night and stopped to rest and then it cools down and there they
are," she said.
Bats
aren't the only animals Wallace has nursed back to health. She's worked
with wildlife since she was a child, including armadillos, birds,
squirrels, opossums and raccoons. At one point, she and her husband,
Weldon, had 13 raccoons.
 Wallace
is currently rehabilitating several bat species, including a Hoary bat,
the most widespread of bats in the United States. Wallace also has four
big brown bats, four little red bats and an evening bat in her
workshop.
During the summer months, she can have as many as 50 or 60 pups
in her care, feeding them meal worms and insects.
As far as rabies, Wallace said that only one-half of 1 percent of all
bats carry the disease, and usually those with rabies will crawl off
and die without infecting other animals or people.
"Now should a human pick one up that is rabid, of course they're going to be bitten because the bat would
be afraid, just like any kind of animal. But bats are not to be any more feared than a raccoon or a skunk," she said.
"As long as people just leave the bats where they belong and don't interfere, they'll be OK."
Wallace said she has been bitten, but she makes sure to wear gloves and use her common sense.
She
suggests that a person who comes upon a bat that could be displaced or
possibly hurt should call either a veterinarian or someone who might be
able to rehabilitate the animal.
Bat Signal:To contact Bat’s Landing, call Beverly
Wallace at 1-918-227-1227
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| Bat Removal & Exclusion: OK Wildlife
Control ®, L.L.C. is proud to provide a professional bat removal and
exclusion service, which does not harm your bats, nor does it
contaminate your dearest possessions with poisons or gases. OK Wildlife
Control ®, L.L.C. is very concerned about the health and well being of bats in Oklahoma.  We provide custom bat house builds and installations in order to attract these precious creatures to your properties in order to control insect populations such as gnats, flies, mosquitoes, etc. Bats commonly eat over 1000 insects per night, so their purpose in nature is secured by their actions. No one want bats in their attics, this is just not a good place for them. This is one of the reasons we build and install bat houses. However; OK Wildlife
Control ®, L.L.C. will not exclude bats from structures between the third week of May until the first week of September. This is the maternity season ... and we do not want to remove the adult females during this period, because it will leave the helpless baby bats in the structures to starve to death, deteriorate and rot in the structure which can pose a health risk in itself. During this time period, OK Wildlife
Control ®, L.L.C. will answer bat calls, give estimates, evaluations and schedule a time and plan of action more suited to the well being of the bats, and the property owners. 
These two baby Little Brown Bats did not survive in the maternity colony that another company provided exclusion services for at the wrong time of the year in Tulsa, Oklahoma. OK Wildlife
Control®, L.L.C. did schedule a proper plan of action to take place in September, but did not, and will not intrude on the currently established maternity colony within the structure, until that established time. However, the client did get off to a good start with the installation of one of our custom bat houses similar to the one pictured above, set on their property, and baited for attraction.
We specialize in wildlife only. We
do not do bugs. Because our focus is on wildlife you can be assured that
you will get the best service. Adirondack Dundee leads the industry in
innovative, humane, exclusionary techniques to ensure that your wildlife
problem is solved permanently!
BAT
EXCLUSION AND REMOVAL
- OK Wildlife
Control®, L.L.C. offers the humane removal of singular bats OR
entire colonies.
- Removing bats from a building, whether it be
residential or otherwise involves a 4 step process;
1. Inspection;
2. Exclusion;
3. Bat-proofing;
4. Cleanup
- Inspection
This
is done to determine the location of the bats in the structure, the
number of bats involved, i.e., 1, 10's, or 100's and the number of
potential entry points, height, building material, etc.
- Exclusion
Involves installing one-way check valves over the entry points to
allow bats to naturally exit the structure, but are unable to
re-enter. This usually takes approx. 1-2 weeks to ensure all bats have
exited.
- Bat-proofing
This
is done in parallel to the exclusion, it involves going around the
entire structure and sealing every crack, crevice and opening
greater than 3/8 of an inch in diameter. OK Wildlife
Control®, L.L.C. uses a variety of
materials to accomplish this, 100% pure Silicon gel, Copper mesh,
flashing, etc. This ensures that once the bats are out
they are unable to find another way to gain reentry.
CLEANUP
If the infestation has
been extensive, both from a time period and size of colony perspective,
and cleanup services are desired, OK Wildlife
Control®, L.L.C. can arrange for the sanitary
cleanup of the droppings (guano).
WARRANTIES
and QUALIFICATIONS
- State Licensed
- ALL Bat-Proofing carries a 5 yrs. Warranty, in
writing.
- Humane
- Annual site inspections included, following
Bat-proofing.
- Yearly when maternity colonies are raising their
young, it makes complete exclusion during this time frame impractical.
Whether you choose OK Wildlife
Control®, L.L.C. or another wildlife control firm, be sure and
ask them how they handle bats during the months of June/August. You
may avoid an odor problem in your home!
HEALTH
TIP
If you wake up in your bedroom and a bat is
flying around the room DO NOT release the bat. Local Health Department
may want to test the animal. Contact a trained
professional to capture the bat. | |
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Bats in Distress ... White Nose Syndrome Killing Thousands
Go here for a short video about white-nose syndrome in bats. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species biologist Susi von Oettingen
talks about white-nose syndrome in bats. Responding
to an unprecedented die-off of thousands of hibernating bats in the
Northeast, biologists and researchers from around the country are
working to determine the cause of death, and to assess the threat to
bat populations nationwide. The disorder, dubbed white-nose syndrome
(WNS) because of the presence of a white fungus around the muzzles of
some affected bats, is a major concern to the bat conservation
community. It is unknown if the fungus is contributing to the deaths
or whether it is a symptom of another problem. Human health
implications are not known; there is no information indicating that
people have been affected after visiting sites where WNS has been found. White-nose
syndrome was first detected at caves and mines in New York last winter,
where it is believed to be associated with the deaths of approximately
8,000 to 11,000 bats. This winter, WNS has again been found at the
previously affected sites, and has spread to additional sites in New
York as well as sites in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Approximately 400,000 to 500,000 bats hibernate at affected sites. Wildlife
managers are concerned about the outbreak because bats congregate by
the thousands in caves and mines to hibernate during winter months. If
WNS is caused by an infectious agent, this behavior increases the
potential that the disease will spread among hibernating bats. In
addition, hibernating bats disperse in spring and migrate, sometimes
hundreds of miles away, to spend the summer. Most
bats with WNS are little brown bats, but endangered Indiana bats have
also died, raising concerns about the impacts on a species already at
risk. Other affected bat species include the eastern pipistrelle, the
northern long-eared bat, and the small-footed bat. Indiana
bats, protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, as well as state
laws, range across much of the eastern United States. Indiana supports
the largest hibernating population of the species. About 238,000
Indiana bats, approximately 46 percent of the total population, winter
in Indiana caves. Another 15 states have populations of hibernating
Indiana bats. Indiana State
University’s Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation has established a fund for research and response
activities related to WNS – information is available at http://www.indstate.edu/ecology/centers/bat.htm. In addition, Bat Conservation International has established a Fund for White-nose Syndrome Research. Information
is available at www.batcon.org. What is the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service doing to help?The
focus of current efforts among conservation agencies and organizations
is on determining the cause of bat deaths. Until the cause is known,
it is not possible to determine how the ailment is spread and evaluate
possible treatments. The Service is working closely with the affected
states, where biologists are investigating the geographic extent of the
outbreaks and collecting samples of affected bats. Many laboratories,
including government, university and private facilities, are
coordinating their efforts to analyze samples to help determine the
cause of the bat deaths. In
addition, the Service is developing a geographic database to track the
location of sites where WNS has been found, and is collecting
information at each site, such as the number of bats affected. This
information will be critical in tracking the extent and spread of WNS
and in coordinating research efforts. The Service is also partnering
with the Northeastern Cave Conservancy to track movements of cavers
that have visited affected sites in New York (see http://www.necaveconservancy.org/default.php). Message to CaversThe
Service applauds the caving community’s strong conservation ethic and
long-time support of bat conservation efforts, and we ask for your
continued cooperation and assistance as we address white-nose syndrome. It
is more important than ever that cavers continue to observe all
existing seasonal cave closures at known Indiana bat hibernacula, and
when possible, to avoid caves or passages of caves containing large
hibernating populations of any bat species. The Service is not
encouraging individual cavers or caving groups to systematically search
for bats with white-nose syndrome in caves or mines. If,
while caving this winter, you observe a hibernating bat with a white
muzzle or other odd white, fungus-like patches, please follow the
interim guidelines below. - Do not
touch any bats (living or dead), especially those with a white muzzle/nose.
- If you have a camera with you, please take a few
photographs of the potentially affected bat(s).
- Exit
the cave immediately, avoiding contact with other bats, and please do
not enter any other caves prior to reporting your potential WNS
observations to your state fish and wildlife agency or your nearest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Field Office.
- Anyone
who observes any unusual numbers of bats outside during cold weather,
especially near a cave or mine where bats hibernate, is asked to report
those observations as well. An increased number of bats flying outside
and increased reports of dead bats in the vicinity of hibernacula have
been observed in affected areas in the Northeast.
For Individuals Who Have
Caved or Plan to Cave in the NortheastUpon
exiting a cave (whether or not there are bats in the cave) in
Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and adjacent states (New
Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island), follow the
containment and decontamination procedures found on the Service’s
Northeast Region web site: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/whitenosemessage.html#containment. The
caving community can help in the effort to control white-nose syndrome
by encouraging all cavers to adopt these precautions. This may be
important in preventing what could be a continent-wide spread of a
previously unidentified pathogen to all caves and mines, and all our
cave-dwelling bat populations. Because
clothing, footwear, and gear used in accessing a cave in Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New York, or Vermont within the past 2 years could pose
a risk of spreading the syndrome, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
advises that these items not be used when accessing caves anywhere and
that these items not be transported out of these affected states —
until the cause of the syndrome is identified and the effectiveness of
decontamination procedures can be evaluated. We advise that you
decontaminate these items immediately (see containment and
decontamination procedures at website above) and store them away, and
that you thoroughly wash and decontaminate any surfaces with which
these items may have come into contact (e.g., car trunk). Region 3 Disinfection Protocol for Bat Field Studies -
These protocols apply to anyone handling bats in Region 3 States
(Illinois Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio,
Wisconsin) and working under a Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit
(frequently referred to as a Federal Research Permit). For cave closure information and related advisories:Some
states have instituted closures and issued advisories beyond normal
permanent and seasonal closures. New York has closed all affected
sites. New York, Vermont, and New Jersey have advised all individuals
to stay out of all caves with bats. Other states have instituted, or
are considering instituting, closures of caves with bats and/or
advisories to stay out of caves with bats. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service’s Northeast Regional Office is tracking cave closures in the
Northeast (for more information seehttp://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html). Below are links to sites with additional advisories and information about cave closures. More Information:Bat White-Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen? Article in Science Magazine. Oct. 30, 2008 White Nose Syndrome: Background and Current Status. A slide show by Al Hicks of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. (April 2008) A short video about white-nose syndrome in bats. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered
species biologist Susi von Oettingen talks about white-nose syndrome in bats. For information about the Indiana bat, click on http://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/mammals/inba/index.html Information on white-nose syndrome in the Northeast is
available from the Service’s Northeast websitewww.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html Indiana State University - Center for North American Bat
Research and Conservation: Funding for "White-Nose Syndrome" of hibernating bats Bat Conservation International - Fund for white-nose syndrome research Photos of bats with white-nose syndrome
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