Pest Invasion

So as my mom and I returned home tonight from shopping, we spot my dad walking around in our dark yard. As soon as we saw him we knew something wasn't right. Apparently a bat got into our house, which yes is terrible, but my dad is absolutely petrified of them which is hilarious. So my mom and I venture into the house to find said bat. I cover my head with a windbreaker while my mom opts for an empty washbasket with a flashlight. We creep into every room, turning on lights, and are eventually joined by my dad who is yielding a large golf umbrella. After my mom and I thoroughly checked every room, nook, and cranny, (my dad paced in the living room with his umbrella) we cannot find this bat for the life of us and concluded one of 3 possibilities:
1. My dad is crazy and seeing things.
2. The bat flew out when my dad had the front door open briefly prior to our arrival.
3. The bat has nestled into our house and is our new houseguest. (praying this isn't the correct choice).

True story by the way. It happened about an hour ago. (I apologize for the poor quality photo, it was taken with my phone)

This got me to thinking of natural or homemade ways to get rid of pests. Unfortunately our bat pest removal could use a lot of improvements..

I'm just going to list since that's the easiest way I can think of..
-Mice: They hate the scent of peppermint since it is so strong. We had a really bad mouse problem at my old house in Philly and I put drops of peppermint oil on cotton balls in areas the mouse frequented or just put droplets on the carpet. One of the pluses? The house smelled yummy!
-Ants: They hate cinnamon ("Tigers love pepper. They hate cinnamon. ") So do ants! I had a bad ant problem last year and found out that if you sprinkle cinnamon where they can be found they will leave. ALSO ants are attracted to the scent of ant carcasses. So don't go squishing ants. More will come to the area! Try to gather them on a tissue and flush it down the toilet or dispose of it.
-Slugs: My dad is a garden fanatic (I originally typed this phanatic.. Go Phils!) and he pours beer into petri dishes to keep them away. Although he uses Yuengling.. which makes me shake my head. Such a waste of good beer.
-Rabbits: More garden advice courtesy of my dad: if you had a dog, use their fur. After we brush our dog instead of throwing out the hair, sprinkle it around the edges of the garden.
-Deer: More garden advice! Car air fresheners around the garden!

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there's more but I am still a little on edge from the bat episode. I hope no one else has to ever deal with this type of fiasco!