Expert: Roger Lederer - 10/30/2009

Question
I live on Long Island, NY. This summer I had a bat flying around my home in the middle of the night.  I believe it might have come in from the chimney which has holes in the mortar. It was removed and the service never finished the job. Now at the end of October I heard scratching in the chimney around 4:45am. I do not see dropping of a bat( which I read is brown or black) but white marks near the entrance or the holes and on the pipe connecting from the stove in the fireplace from the chimney. Can a bat have white droppings or is it a bird? How do I get what is in the chimney out so I can repair the holes? I am a single mon who paid a few hundred $ already and need to do this on the cheap side.

I will be happy with any suggestions. thanks


Answer
Usually a bat has brown or black droppings. If there is scratching in the chimney, it could be a bat or a bird or a rat or something else. Since I don't know what your situation looks like, I can't tell you exactly what the problem is. If this occurs every night, then it is probably a bat or rat, not bird. If something is caught in there, it will die soon. If it's alive, it will leave soon. The cheap way to clean this is to build a fire if the chimney is safe to do so. Otherwise, a chimney sweep is the best bet.