Jonesie tries to downplay his education but I'm pretty sure that he has a PHD in squirrels!

Yeah thats why I call him jason lol fixed it.

Hey Jonesie,

Appreciate your thoughtful and thorough reply, I've only got a few minutes but I wanted to drop by
and simply say thanks for your thoughts and we are both the kind that look for info wherever it can
be found, try it, apply it see if it works and if not reevaluate.

I agree as well, we all get ticked off from time to time, sometimes right sometimes not, just being
human.

I'll leave it at that for the time being as I've got to hustle, but wanted to also say, Jason may as well
be my second name, most clients hear Jason when I say Justin, it is just more common still!

So no worries!

Lol!

Have a good evening,

Justin

Plenty of good info in this thread. The operators in each region typically know what works best, especially if they've been working with bats for many years. As Justin mentioned. I will do preliminary sealing (external) in very late fall, leaving the primary access points open until spring. Makes it quicker and easier to knock out a bunch of spring exclusions before the blackout period begins. Bats will awaken during the winter during warm-ups, even if a single day or two, and EXIT the structures to rehydrate or even feed on early moth hatches (late Jan, early Feb) in my region, so I wait until late March to mount excluders. I've seen bats flying in January and February MANY times on warm nights.

I also do a lot of internal seal-ups (same technique as birthing season inside seal-ups) to isolate any bats from the living quarters until they can be evicted. It's important to realize that Mother Nature is in charge during the winter, not any of us. We (and especially the homeowners) can "wish" the bats would go out.... but you can't control Nature. Many homes will only have 1 to 5 bats on a ceiling tile (burrowed under the insulation) and no sign of an established colony or heavily used roost area in the structure, so it's often possible to remove them and seal the home, even if just temporary sealing until proper sealants can be used when it warms up.

It's obvious that state game agencies all operate differently, and regarding the comment about the academics citing (old) scientific research over reality is probably true. However, I can say with certainty our Illinois DNR is not typical in that respect. I was invited to speak at a DNR meeting last Tuesday regarding bat regulations, observed behavior patterns, and other bat topics. Spending the afternoon with the group was enlightening (to THEM) and they were totally receptive regarding the info I was able to share after almost 25 years of specializing in bat exclusions.

It would be refreshing to see other state game agencies be more receptive or inclined to invite experienced WCO's to participate in such discussions/meetings. As we know, some of the teachings of academia are often 180 degrees off from reality. It is the intermixing of basic scientific research with knowledge pulled from those who actually spend their life working in the field that will create regulations and management practices that allow bat issues to be solved in conjunction with conservation.

So true Paul, us country boys arent always as dumb as we look.Jonesie is one of the old school men that came up thru the rank and file of learn as you go background just like I did. Sort of a Jack of all tradesman. We learned thru field experience cause and effect as back in my early days there was little to no classroom training as there is available today.

I would say men of Jonesie's caliber, Rons and yours Paul are all well past the Phd educational level. Very well stated and addressed commentary by tried and true field experienced men.