Homer Alaska - News -

Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" has nothing on the story of a quaint log home in Anchor Point, Alaska. Anchor Point is considered to have the best Salmon and Halibut fishing in the world. Every year seven distinct runs of Wild Alaskan Salmon bump up against the beaches of Anchor Point searching for the river where they were born to go frolic and spawn. Unfortunately, along with the return of the Salmon there comes the yearly migration of Alaska Brown Bats to nest, breed, eat bugs and terrorize humans. This is part of nature's wonderful plan for this most beautiful part of the world except...when this natural process INVADES OUR HOME...THIS IS THAT STORY.

Photo provided John & Barbara Girton

John and Barbara Girton have been living in this fishing paradise for the past 13 years and have enjoyed every minute of their annual four-month stay, EXCEPT for THREE DREADED WEEKS each year in late July and early August. Every year at this time the Girtons and their guests were regularly awakened by bats buzz diving them in their beds and bathroom in the middle of the 2 hour night.

Somehow, somewhere, each night after dark, several bats would enter the home and terrorize John, Barb and their guests. The Girtons and many of their friends spent hundreds of hours carefully and thoroughly searching every possible nook and cranny, trying to find where these flying rodents were getting in. By the end of these stressful weeks, all were exhausted due to lack of a good night's sleep, not to mention full days of fishing on the waters of Cook Inlet.

WELL, JOHN AND BARBARA COULD TAKE NO MORE. This spring when they arrived for their annual four month stay John promised Barb this was the "YEAR OF THE BAT WAR," and he promised his wife of 45 years VICTORY. During the early weeks of July, John spent many nights sitting in his car or standing on his lawn looking through binoculars, scoping out and plotting the war plan. He had a 400-watt flood light mounted on the roof of the house so he could see where the enemy was exiting and entering his Cedar Shake Roof; sleeping during the day and pillaging at night. John documented that right after dusk, two bats at a time would launch in 10 second intervals and then return right before dawn. In Anchor Point at this time of the year it does not get dark until 1:00 AM and then its light by 2:30 AM. John estimated the Bat Attack Force to be between 24 and 30 Bats and he knew his strike would need to be swift and final. This was no time for wimps or "weak at heart" warriors and he knew only the strong would prevail.

One of his concerns was once the war started, the enemy (Bats) could possibly retreat through their secret entrance into the interior of the house. As a precaution, mosquito netting was flown in from Florida and one half of John & Barb's bedroom was sealed off from floor to ceiling wall to wall. The premise of this plan was that if the bats retreated into the house, John and Barb would be protected behind the mosquito net barrier and would survive the attack wave of the bats.

After many hours of research on the internet and talking with many bat experts all over the "Lower 48", the primary weapon of attack was chosen, a special rubberized Bat Netting with tiny " holes. This netting is the only thing known to man that bats can not chew through to get to their intended target. John had a roll of this special netting flown in from Texas and the war plan was finalized. The plan was to cover the area around the chimney flashing that John had previously identified as the spot where the bats were launching from and returning to after a night of killing bugs, mosquitoes and humans (if they were found alone after dark).

The evening of July 8, 2008 was "B" Day. Numerous strategy meetings were held throughout the day with Bat War Consultants from all over the Lower 48. Early in the evening, Scott, a visiting Washington State Highway Patrolman, with vast combat experience, arrived to supply tactical advice and help prepare for the upcoming war. Early in the evening he carefully crawled up the roof to attach the bat netting to the Cedar shingles using bungee cords and staples. As he was crawling around on the roof he could hear the deadly screams of the bats located just under the shingles beneath his feet; so a job that should have taken 15 minutes was finished in less than...DUGH!

The theory was that at 1:00 AM when the bats arrived at their launch pad they would not be able to lift off and that they would crawl out from under the netting and escape. The instructions from the netting manufacturer stated that this would happen, and when the bats returned at 3:00 PM they would not have the brains or the ability to crawl up under the netting and back into their hiding place. This all sounded too good to be true and the Girtons suspected there was a chance the "wily creatures" might retreat into the house instead of crawling under the netting.

WELL GUESS WHAT HAPPENED? At 1:30 AM John & Barb were awakened by the horrible screeching, screaming and wailing of flying bats right on the other side of the mosquito net barrier, INCHES FROM THEIR FACES. When John turned on the light the room was filled with panicked flying bats, diving and screaming and landing feet first on the other side of the mosquito net with fire in their eyes and white foam dripping from their teeth. Needless to say the WAR HAD BEGUN and it was time to aggressively join the battle. In preparation for the battle, two long handle Trout Nets were strategically placed on either side of the mosquito netting for John & Barb to use to catch the bats while in flight as they dive bombed their heads. In the first 60 seconds of the battle 14 Bats laid dead on the floor. It was then that John & Barb launched their most aggressive frontal attack by leaving the safety of the mosquito net barrier, each with a trout net in hand, fire in their eyes and a determination to launch the final deciding charge, taking the fight to the bats. In just a few minutes they had cleared the entire inside of the house and at the end of the battle 27 bats laid dead on the floor. After celebrating with a glass of wine and a bowl of ice cream all the dead bats were removed from the house. Their carcasses were neatly placed on the lawn as a breakfast gift to the Bald Eagles that live in the trees surrounding the house. By 3:00 AM the battle field had been cleared and it was now time to go fishing. The adrenaline was pumping full force in both John and Barb, who knew that for the first time in 13 years, they would have a restful sleep-filled night on July 9, 2008.

The Girtons feel confident that the entire colony of bats was eradicated with the exception of two known escapees of the war. The following three nights the two Refugees Bats would make a ceremonial flyover in perfect formation to check out the battlefield. It is assumed by all that the two refugees have relocated and are now happily living and starting a new colony in the attic of the Girton's closest friend and neighbor, Charlie Hill.

If anyone has a similar bat problem please contact General John at johnrgirton@aol.com who will help you develop your own war plan.