Bats in the Building
Staff Member: “We need $30,000!”
Me: “Why do we need $30,000?”
Staff Member: “Because we have bats in the building!”
This type of conversation is fairly normal in my line of work. Not necessarily the “bats in the building” part, but the “we have a problem and the only way to fix it is to spend a lot of money we don’t have” part.
There are always metaphorical “bats in the building.” There are problems…real problems…that need to be addressed. These problems are typically presented with only one possible solution. It is easy to get tunnel vision when solving problems and lose sight of a broader perspective of multiple options. It happens innocently enough…we become aware of a problem, consult an expert, and assume that the solution offered to us is our only option.
My “bats in the building” conversation is an excellent example of this. We owned a building and we discovered that some bats had taken up residence in the ceiling. We called a pest control expert to get a consultation regarding our bat problem. The pest control expert informed us that the only way to get rid of the bats was to relocate them at a cost of $30,000. The pest control expert cited a local law that protected the bats and required their safe removal and relocation.
I do not question the law or the pest control expert’s quote. I do not know what is involved in moving a family of bats…the price seems high, but maybe bats do not travel light. Maybe a bat family needs five U-Haul trucks to move to an attic across town. Maybe bats have travel anxiety and require bat-friendly anti-anxiety meds to be safely transported to a new domicile. Maybe the $30,000 included first and last month’s rent and a security deposit on their new home. These are things I do not know, but what I do know is that spending $30,000 on our bat problem was not our only possible solution.
I asked the staff member what our other options were and he said that there were no other options. I then asked if he knew anyone with a BB-gun. I noticed the undeniable look of discomfort spread across his face as he considered the possibility of bat termination in place of bat extraction. My last question was if we were having any encounters with the bats in our normal use of the building. Had the bats bitten anyone? Were the bats flying into old ladies’ hairdos? Were children running in fear from a hoard of blood-thirsty bats? It turns out that the bats were not causing any issues other than simply being in the building.
We had three obvious options:
Pay the price – We could spend $30,000 on a bat relocation initiative.
Break the rules – We could try to find some wiggle room in the law and “take out” the bats another way.
Live with them – We could continue to co-exist with the bats. They were not bothering us, and we were not bothering them.
Once we stepped back and considered different options, we were able to come up with a plan to deal with problem. We ended up taking a hybrid approach. Since the bats were not an immediate threat to the health of people or our organization, we were able to take a little more time and spend a lot less money to relocate them. We sealed the building and installed one-way exits that allowed the bats to go outside but not come back in. Within a short period of time, the bats relocated on their own.
When you face problems in life, deal with them. Face them head on. Get some advice. But remember that you always have options.
Bats in the Building:
Pay the price.
Break the rules.
Live with them.
