Real Life: We have to share our house with 2,000 bats

There was concern in my husband Charless voice as he called out from the attic, I think you should come and look at this. I knew something was wrong. From the bottom of the ladder I could see his face was pale.

We were in the middle of renovating our new home, a gorgeous 19th- century house in Rothiemay. I climbed up to the loft to investigate, gripping tightly on to the ladder. My mouth fell open as I stared at the scene.

Our loft was covered by a brown carpet of bats. There were thousands of them, huddled together, squeaking and chattering. Charles and I were aghast.

Wed moved into the property the previous October. It was in a state no kitchen, bathroom or central heating. It did seem crazy to buy it, but we were bewitched by the houses unique charm it oozed character. Little did we know just how many characters wed actually find

Wed been so busy working on the house we hadnt even noticed the 2,000 bats hanging around in the loft. We had no idea of the implications, and it wasnt until our second summer in the house that they really made their presence felt.

We quickly learnt bats are seasonal. They leave in the winter, and return at the beginning of March, ready for breeding. One day there were none, and then, literally overnight, the chatter from the loft resumed: the bats were back.

The bats are a real nuisance, and make a terrible mess. You cant sit outside in the summer you end up in an avalanche of droppings, and even if we do decide to sit in the garden, we have to wipe down the chairs, the table, and sweep the patio before everything is clean enough to use.

The day-to-day workload around the house has doubled. Its such a pain to remember to bring in the washing before it gets splattered with droppings. Ive had to wash the whole lot again several times.

They also create a terrible smell. At one point, the bats squeezed into cavities in the walls, their droppings then got trapped, and the smell radiated through the house. It was disgusting. I would open all the windows and doors to air the house, and use air freshener to minimise the smell.

The noise is the worst thing: they are so loud. My daughter Rebecca, five, used to get scared by the scratching coming from her ceiling as the bats moved about in the loft.

In desperation, we contacted Scottish Natural Heritage. They declared it the largest maternity roost in the North of Scotland, the biggest they had ever seen, and identified our bats as pipistrelles. As theyre endangered, there are a number of strict laws to protect them. We face huge fines if we break the rules. We cant move them, touch them, or disturb them we cant even clean up around them. Its crazy.

The SNH installed a bat box in our loft. The idea is they roost inside it, muffling the noise and isolating the bats in one place. Unfortunately, they didnt take to it.

But the final straw came two years ago, when I was heavily pregnant with my son Alexander. It was a hot summer and I was very dehydrated, so I was constantly sipping water. It tasted slightly funny, but I assumed it was because my taste buds had been affected by my pregnancy.

One evening, I decided to run a soothing bath. I turned on the taps, lethargically watching the water rush into the bath, when I noticed something very odd. There were small black bits in the water.

Disgusted, I realised the black bits were bat limbs the little devils were in our water supply, and wed been drinking bat-infested water for weeks.

We called a builder, who came over immediately. He took our water pipes apart. Three dead bats were wedged inside, slowly disintegrating bit by bit. I felt sick.

Theyre about the size of a baby mouse, so they can get through the smallest gaps, and theyd managed to squeeze under the lid of the water tank in the loft.

We opened up the tank to find about 20 bats floating in our water supply. I couldnt take any more, but it seemed we had to get used to sharing our house with bats.

We have no plans to move, but the thought of selling up fills me with dread. The bats might devalue our house Ive known buyers to be put off by just five or six bats, let alone 2,000.

Its not all bad, though. During the summer, at about 4am, the sight of the bats gathering before they settle for their daytime sleep is spectacular. The quiet of the night and the green, rural backdrop make us feel lucky we live where we do.

We want to find a way to deal with the bats. Hopefully we can find solutions for the noise and the smell, but, in the meantime, its a pain in the neck we just have to live with.

I would never kill a bat, and, as the pipistrelle species dont carry rabies, they are no real threat, but we dont take risks. I am careful not to let them get close enough to bite.

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