Figures. Have the bat guy come and inspect, and now I'm hearing chitter in the kitchen. Sounds like it's coming from the space over the sink where the fluorescent light is mounted. u.u My nerves cannot take much more of this.

Addendum: Battering dishes around in the sink angrily and blasting Nightwish at it seem to have scared it off for the most part. Blargh!

Well, the guy came and looked around. He told me he's absolutely sure they're not getting in the chimney cap (which I'd suspected, but it's a relief to have a professional back that up). He thinks that caulking around the entirety of the house (not too difficult as it's a single story brick ranch-style) and putting up mesh to exclude the bats from the attic vents will solve the problem. This will also include a (renewable) yearly warranty should we have any more problems in the future. The price he quoted us is well within our budget, so Ed and I'll be going over the contract he gave me tonight and then sending our deposit in. So within the next three weeks, we should finally be getting rid of the nasty little buggers for good.

Awake again. Bat guy should be here in an hour to an hour-and-a-half to take a look at our situation. And I'm having an anxiety attack for no apparent reason. Lovely. There's an estimate fee to pay if that's all we have this guy do. If we hire him to fix the problem, that goes away. Personally, I'm ready to just tell him to go at it. This place has the only ad in the phonebook that specifically says it deals with bats, and I prefer the "wildlife biologist" part over exterminator any day. Killing the bats in the wall will just make things stinky. I want them out. u.u From the couple of other websites I looked at that deal with bats (not local stuff, unfortunately), getting rid of the things shouldn't be TOO expensive... but I won't know until he quotes me his price. Feh. Better go clean up my damn dishes before he gets here.

More bat noises from the fireplace (still sealed off, thankfully) prompted massive sudden rearrangement of the living room at around 11:30 PM last night. No sleep for me. No bats got in. Cats barred from getting at the plastic that seals off the fireplace (thank God for screens). Feel like crap, so I stayed home today. Gonna call the wildlife management service guy Ed found in the phonebook here in a bit once I can string coherent sentences together. I want the little fuckers gone. Out of my house. They're welcome to live elsewhere, but it can't be my attic or chimney anymore.

**Update: Called the Wildlife Management people. Told them the problem and gave them our name, location, and phone number. The nice lady on the phone said she'd give our info to their techs and have them call me back for more details (and probably to set up a consultation). Think I'm gonna sleep until they do.

>.< Bats! I thought we'd fixed this problem, but no, hearing bat noises in the chimney again. ARRRGH! Not seeing any bats, which only makes the anxiety attached worse. Taped up the fireplace with plastic again. Nothing's getting in. We had to do this last summer and it kept them contained. I feel like cursing like a sailor and then killing something violently. I do not need this right now. That Ed is scared to death of bats is not helping matters at all, because that means *I* have to remain completely calm and in control of the situation. This does not help *my* nerves the least bit. I'm at my wit's end. This is not a problem I can fix. I don't know what else to do. It's time to call in a pro and figure out what the fuck is going on.

Addendum: I am not pissed off at my husband. Didn't intend it to sound that way. He puts up with my irrational fear of stinging insects, among other foibles. I'm just supremely frustrated that this problem we thought we had fixed last year apparently hasn't gone away like we thought it had.