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There’s something to be said for doing a thorough home inspection before buying a new property – an upstate New York couple have learned this the hard way after discovering over a ton and a half of bat guano in their attic.

When the couple from Ballston Spa first visited the house last summer, their home inspector pointed out some bats in the attic. The couple contacted an exterminator, who investigated the bat infestation and determined that they should wait a short while before trying to remove the animals, as there were a number of baby bats too young to fly.

In the mean time, the couple simply forgot about the bats. That is, until they noticed the acrid smell permeating their home in January. When the couple ventured into the attic to investigate, they found a number of dead bats and a whole lot of guano - 3,500 pounds of guano, to be precise.

The clean up cost the couple $25,000 and their insurance company refused to cover it. The couple are presently battling through the courts trying to recoup their losses – it obviously didn’t occur to them to sell the guano.

Retailing at over $6 a pound, bat guano is one of the rapid-rising super stars of the organic gardening movement because it makes an exceptional fertilizer. The 3,500 pounds of guano would have been worth an estimated $21,000.