Jarmila Jackson, Features Writer

One of hundreds of bats living in the ceiling of East's house.

When bulging sections of his ceiling began to break, Brian East realised there was something brewing.

Curiosity, coupled with the desire to repair the damage, led him to cut open a spot that would allow him entry. There, a mass of bat waste awaited him.

"I had on a long-sleeve shirt, put on a thing over my head, and a dust mask. I got about 200lb from this area here," he says, pointing to the ceiling above the bedroom. "We were very much uncomfortable with them. In the nights, you can hear that squeaky sound, hundreds of them live up there."

Living on a Gold mine

But what may have been a nasty nuisance, turned out to be a gold mine.

"My mom told me to get rid of them, but I heard somebody say one time that it is good manure, so I went on the computer and looked it up, and I asked some farmers about it. What I understand is that it's a very scarce commodity, but at the same time, very good. So, I decided to start selling it to try and make money to replace the salitex."

Although Brian and his mother have lived in their house in Salisbury Plain, west rural St Andrew, for 12 years, it is only in the last year that they've come to realise what value lies within the 36 inches between the ceiling and the roof.

To his mother's distress, the bats have always been there.

At 6:40 p.m., like clockwork, the bats begin to emerge from beneath the zinc roof of the two-storey house on hillside.

One by one, and then in swarms, they circle in the air for about three minutes before heading off into the night. They return just before dawn to their haven.

The idea of turning the nocturnal creatures' waste into money might seem weird - 'batty', even.

But now, 'Rat Bat Manure for Sale' can be seen on signs scrawled in red paint on pieces of board and placed all over Kingston.

jarmila.jackson@gleanerjm.com

A bag of guano, which is stored in East's chicken coop. - Photos by Andrew Smith/Photography Editor