Condo Dwellers Beset by Bats

by Jordan Yerman | July 18, 2007 at 05:44 am

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A Vancouver couple risking a potential exposure to rabies are continuing to share their West End condo with as many as 80 bats after being told by a pest control company the creatures cannot be removed for another three weeks.

The bats -- which have literally turned the $500,000 penthouse into a bat cave -- are suspected to have built a nest inside the walls and are coming in through the 65-square-metre rooftop deck.

"This [bat problem] probably won't be completely solved until after Labour Day. We can't enjoy our deck. We can't leave our patio door open. We can't even take our dog out anymore," said Miles Nurse, who co-owns the condo with his girlfriend Jennifer Plomt.

Under B.C.'s Wildlife Act, bats are a protected species and cannot be disturbed during their breeding period from May to August. Those capturing them can face fines of $345 per animal.

The bat population in B.C. is unknown and the creatures are more commonly found in the Interior.

Whist one can appreciate theat the bats are protected as a species, it doesn't necessarily follow that they cannot be moved: after all, a condo building is a man-made structure, so it's not like some pesky humans built a house in their cave. As there is a likely health risk for the residents of the building, it seems sensible to move the bats elsewhere.

Also, I don't like the chances of a building with direct access from the roof to the insides of the walls of the apartments.

Wayne Manor probably cost more than half a million dollars(Canadian), but, then again, it came with far more bats.