This link/story was posted in a forum I'm in:

> What I find interesting is that various local governments are now > taking legal actions, to force people to clean up their homes.
> Task force members say, public safety has to trump civil rights. > www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/17/AR2006061700905.html

I find this VERY interesting, too. As I'm getting NO HELP in my current circumstances. Prior/concurrent to my possum/flea nightmare.

I guess it's not enuf that I've endured the possums and the fleas...

I'm not making this up, to add insult to injury... the house next to me has a HUGE colony of BATS!!!

Probably a thousand or more according to a bat expert I wrote to online. They fly every night at dusk, surrounding my house and the neigborhood street. I can't go out til they dissipate and fear they will enter my house or relocate to my attic. We both have shingle roofs and they come out of my neighbors attic- right thru the shingles and other openings! He should have did something LONG ago and is dragging his feet now when I speak to him about it. He says he has nothing intruding inside his house and is not worried.

There are droppings all over the side of my neighbors house and a small amount are found on my porch some mornings. The bats have been up there at least 5 years according to neighbors. So seven now if you add the 2 years I've been here.

The accumulation of bat waste must be incredible in my neighbors attic and while searching for information on bats/fleas online, there is a common thread that where there is a huge colony of bats, follows fleas and other infestations. There has to be a health hazard here somewhere...???

While my fleas don't have names on them and are certainly related to the possums that were in my crawlspace, I'm going to draw a line connecting the two. I recently discovered that fleas are all over my back yard, too. (And they didn't spray for that yet.) Who's to say the possums didn't get them while outside around the bats flying and dropping?

I went to the HEALTH DEPARTMENT, who threw their hands up and said that was not what they deal with. They sent me to the CITY CODE ENFORCEMENT department, who also chuckled and said they had never dealt with this situation and that and that locally there were no
codes against having bats in an attic. And that I may have to go to court for mediation as a last resort.

So even after I get my crawlspace and flea situation taken care of, it's just a matter of time till I get some repercussions from the bats- like what if the colony gets too big and wants to expand? Will they try to move into my attic? And what will this mean to my property value- if it was known to a prospective buyer? I'd have never bought this house
if I had known they were like that next door.

While not a tree hugger, I don't want the bats exterminated. Just gone. I love animals. Just not colonizing in or near my house.

Anyone got any ideas?

Dr. Mark

PS- My fleas are a bit quieter. I'm instructed to vacuum daily from the exterminator that sprayed. I had a few days where it really agitated them and they were jumping after the vacuuming. But I vacced today and had very few appear. It's been 10 days since they sprayed. Also looked into if I can recoup anything thru my homeowners insurance. No answer yet. But it's cost me $700 so far and possibly over a thousand more if I get Servicemaster to clean the crawlspace. I have to do this as I have that rehabilitation work due to start SOON and can't see them insulating that crawl- putting plastic down and insulation under the floorboards- with all that animal waste and odor and FLEAS (and eggs?) still down there. We'll see where it goes...