How To Get Rid Of A Bats Indoors
To remove bats at your home successfully, you will need to follow the same procedure that professional wildlife control uses. Exclusion physically limits the bats ability to come inside but must take into account the bats already present. You should prepare for this to take several days and some amount of work, which will vary based on how large your property and the infestation is.
After you have verified that it is legal to exclude bats at the current time, these are the steps to follow:
Sealing up your home will force the bats to go elsewhere to find shelter during the daytime. It also keeps other wildlife from entering through those same gaps as the bats, preventing future infestations of squirrels, rodents, raccoons, and birds.
How To Remove Bats From Your Roof
Oct 12, 2016 | Bats |
Bats are a protected species in South Africa, and rightly so, as they are very valuable in nature. But sometimes the little critters like to share our homes with us, and the guano and smell is not always very pleasant.So what to do if a colony of bats has infested your roof? The first thing to do is to not panic. Most of the stories you might have heard about bats are simply not true. To set the facts straight, heres a couple of real facts about bats. Bats will NOT get tangled in your hair. Bats in South Africa do not drink blood. Bats are not blind, they can see very well. Insectivorous bats eat insects, thereby helping to keep pests away from your home. The flies that live on bats cannot live on any other animal, so you will not get disease from bats. Bats do not breed like rats, they have only 1 or 2 young per year.
There are 75 bat species known in Southern Africa, of which 56 species occur in South Africa.
How To Get Rid Of Bats Permanently
Bat exclusion, and the restoration that is necessary afterward, is an intensive process. It is not uncommon for people to attempt it themselves, spending significant time, money, and effort, only to discover bats have not been removed. Other times they leave for the season only to return again in the spring.
If youve attempted bat exclusion or you simply prefer a professional solution from the beginning for safety, bat removal by trained and experienced wildlife control experts is an optimal solution. Depending on the company you work with, a wildlife specialist can remove bats, sanitize the area they inhabited, and keep them from coming back.
When choosing a wildlife control specialist for your bat problem, it helps to choose a humane company that has worked extensively with bats and wildlife, with all the tools needed to complete the job and all the services necessary to effectively seal a property. Effective bat control requires careful attention to detail and extensive work, and some pest control companies including those that offer bat removal may not perform all the services you need.
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Why Are There Bats In My House
Female bats are attracted to small sections of homes for nesting purposes. The most common areas to find bats include the walls, attic, and chimney. Covered porches also provide the shelter bats are looking for in nesting sites.
A warm attic with low light is the perfect area for a bat to nurse her young. Unfortunately for the humans, bat feces and bat urine can accumulate and lead to foul smells and health issues. Did you know that histomplasmosis is a dangerous disease associated with bat guano?
Bats enter homes through small gaps. A bat only needs a half-inch crack in a structures mortar to enter the area. The animals most often access homes through gaps between the soffit overhang and exterior siding.
On rare occasions, a bat could fly into your home through an open window. This is unlikely, and if it occurs, homeowners see the animal immediately. When bats sneak in through cracks, it can take years for people to notice. Oftentimes, the first sign of a long-standing bat infestation is the overpowering smell of bat guano and bat urine.
How Do You Get Rid Of Colonies Of Bats In Chimney And Barn Fast
To eliminate bats in the barn or in porch, youd better follow the rules of exclusion technique. For this purpose install one-way devices on all entry and exit points. Here many things depend on the architecture of the building. If there is the need of the colony elimination behind the shutters, you can use funnels, cones, screening, and netting.
The matter is that every building and its parts are different and if you are in search of the most popular device, use netting. It perfectly sets, allowing the animals to fly out at night but not to get back after feeding. The device works even in basements.
Bats in an attic? Exclusion devices are perfect for this situation! They are humane, set human beings free from troubles without killing the animals.
After sealing, open the attic and wait for a few hours. Then wait for about half an hour after dark and seal the final opening. Late in the evening all bats are feeding, leaving their favorite area. This is a perfect time for bat-proofing.
As you have found out how fast to get rid of colonies of bats in chimney, attic, and barn and have used the tips, start cleaning up:
- remove all the used devices,
- clean up the location,
- use a mask and gloves while cleaning,
- seal all cracks and holes in the wall.
Pay special attention to old barns, because they usually have many openings and cracks, as well as storage areas that can be inhabited by colonies of bats.
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Get Rid Of Bats Naturally
Before driving away the bats, you need to know that they may not be sheltering in your house for sleep alone. They may also be raising their young. This is one of the reasons for first identifying the specific bat species before you drive them away.
The reason for species identification is simple. If you scare away the adult bat specimens, but they are looking after their young, the offspring will be unable to survive. They will lack to ability to feed on their own and will, therefore, die of starvation. This is not only bad for the bats, but your home. Dead bat babies will cause hygiene issues and can promote disease, not to mention unpleasant smells.
Observing bats as they leave their roost can help you to identify them. However, a more effective way is to get in touch with the environmental protection center in your area. Each region has different species of bat and they will be the ones who will best know how to identify them. Once identified, you can work out if they are in their breeding season and use this to inform when you get rid of them.
Bats Flying Around At Night
Bats use echolocation for navigation and to locate their prey. That means, even though these sophisticated little critters cannot see as humans do, they can still find their way around in the dark.
They locate their prey by sensing ultrasonic sound waves produced by small objects. So, when you see bats flying around at night, its probably an indication of a foraging flight.
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Trying To Get Rid Of Bats For Good
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As scary as they may appear, bats are actually quite benign and even shy. Though they may qualify as nuisance pests, knowing their behavior will help you to keep your home environment free of bats while letting them play their pest control role within the food chain.
Install Bat House On Chimney
Bats will continue to return to a roost, especially one that is long-established, so providing them with a new place to roost nearby, such as a bathouse, increases the chances that they will take up residence there instead of inside your house.
Since their homing skills direct them back to their favorite points of entryâin our case the gap between the chimney bricksâJim positions a bat house as close to the old “bat door” as possible. The higher you can install a bat house, the more likely it will be effective minimum height is 15 feet above the ground. Though small, the cedar bat house can accommodate a colony of a few hundred. By late spring, we should know if the bats have fully adopted the bat house as their new home.
Need help getting rid of pests? Check out our reviews on professional pest control companies.
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Getting Rid Of Bats In The Roof
John: What do you think would be the best way to get rid of those bats, if theyre infesting your roof or your roofing tiles? Are you going to have to rip off the whole roof, or whats the procedure there?
Tim: That is a great question. Number one, were going to have to start with the design of the roof. A lot of bat problems, and other rodent infestations such as mice and rats, can be completely eliminated with a thorough construction plan.
Having your contractor know what you expect, as far as tolerances. Sealing up those little gaps at each roof tile sounds like an impossible task, but there are materials designed to do that, such as expandable foam. Ive actually seen some little spacer devices that the tile sits on that seals that little gap.
It could be quite an undertaking, but theres nothing that cant be done if you want to do it. Basically, youre looking at sealing up those little gaps as much as possible. Bats that are infesting roofing tiles are different than bats that are living within the structure. Your biggest concern there is the guano and urine falling out onto your exterior spaces.
John: Those are the times when theyre the most active.
Tim: Thats correct. The best times to do any kind of bat exclusion work would be in the early spring, before the bats actually come back to your house. Theyve all left for the winter in most cases, and then that work can be done without harming the bats.
Tim: Thank you, John.
Inspecting For Bats Around Your House
First, park a chair outside your home right around dusk. Sit and listen for the classic, high-pitched squeaking noise bats make while using their echo-location to hunt. If bats are around, you can often see them swooping around in the twilight while they seek out insects. Watch for them leaving from your roof, attic, or eaves. If you see bats leaving your house, be prepared to perform a thorough inspection or find a local Integrated Pest Management Specialist to help.
If you’re going to attempt your own bat inspection, make sure you’re prepared for what it will entail.
To perform a bat inspection, you will need:
- Proper PPE
- A good quality headlamp or flashlight that clips to a hat, leaving your hands free for climbing
- A ladder
It may sound silly, but you’re also going to need some confidence in your abilities. After all, you must be safe at all times. While performing your inspection, it is very unlikely that you will be mauled by some sort of wildlife, but you will be on a ladder, and you must understand that if you’re looking for bats you very well might find them … or possibly something else.
Be honest with yourself: Do you spook easily? Could you fall off your ladder? Are you afraid of small spaces? If you are not comfortable with bats and critters, ladders/heights, or small spaces, that’s OK, but it may be best to get some help from a family member, friend, or pro.
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How To Keep Bats Away
The following 3 methods that we will talk about include:
- Bat Repellants and Deterrents
- Bat exclusion
- Bat Repellants/Deterants
Various repellants can also be employed to keep bats from roosting in carports and chimneys. Mylar, a kind of flash tape, discourages bats from touching down on the areas it covers. Fine screens and bright lights also repel bats.
Interestingly, most commercial brands of bat repellent have a very poor track record. Mothballs have been shown to be effective, but large amounts of them can trigger allergic reactions and be dangerous to both humans and household pets.
Sound machines are also marketed as being particularly effective against bats, however, their effectiveness varies from one case to the next. These machines emit an ultrasonic frequency that supposedly drives bats and other pests away.
While you can attempt to remove a bat colony on your own, there are many risks to doing so without professional help. Skilled, professional help should always be employed when removing bats.
A professional bat removal expert will know and understand all local laws relating to safe and ethical bat removal. They will also have the equipment needed to seal up every hole and entry point the bats were using. Plus, their experience and equipment will help remove every unpleasant trace of bat habitation, especially the guano left behind.
For more information on natural bat repellents check out this article
Where Do Bats Live
Bats most commonly roost in caves, which provide a safe, enclosed area for them to sleep and raise their young. But they dont always utilize a cave.
Mexican free-tailed bats, for example, can create a roost in almost any environment provided it is dark and shut-in. This flexibility in habitats means that your home could be at risk for a colony invasion. And since a bat colony can contain anywhere from 40 to twenty thousand bats, the damage done to your home can be extensive.
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How Wildlife Specialists Get Rid Of Bats
The response to most pests insects, spiders, and rodents, for instance is to call an exterminator who will kill the animals in order to get them out of your house. This isnt the case for bats. Licensed professional pest control will only offer bat exclusion and removal, not bat extermination.
Professional bat control utilizes an inspection as the first step. This generally occurs at twilight when bats are waking up and leaving the home. The visual survey identifies any places the bats are entering and exiting.
As long as there are no regulations regarding the removal of the infesting species during the present time, the specialist will begin the exclusion process. This can take several days while each bat on the property is permitted to leave. When bats are gone, the final steps of exclusion keep them from coming back.
Contacting A Professional To Get Rid Of Bats
Because a professional wildlife control company or bat removal business is familiar with bat behaviors, the tools needed to keep them out, and their environmental impact, they can identify an issue quickly and take the needed steps to resolve it.
With the prevalence of bats throughout the world, in both rural and urban areas, there are likely to be several professional options for bat removal in your area. A company can confirm that bats are the animal you are dealing with inside your home, assess the size of the infestation, and recommend the right techniques to remove it.
Nextgen Pest Solutions offers professional wildlife control to customers in both Florida and Georgia, using humane methods and the most advanced techniques to mitigate challenges with bats. We can remove bats and keep them from coming back, or assist you through the process if you have handled a portion of it yourself.
Give us a call at 866-827-7231 when you need to remove bats from your FL or GA property. We can get started with an inspection, discuss your bat control questions, and provide more information on the best ways to control bat populations.
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Can I Use Poison For Bats
When evaluating different options on how to get rid of bats, many people consider purchasing bat poison. Some may even go to the lengths of creating their own homemade poison. However, this is something we should never do. Apart from the fact that using poison in your own home poses a significant risk to yourself, others in the home and domestic animals, the vast majority of bat species are in danger of extinction. Killing them needlessly is not good for the greater ecosystem.
The resultant ecosystem changes are important to consider. Bats feed on various insects in many ecosystems and control their population. Some people even consider installing bat nests near their property to help keep insects away. They are also pollinating animals, so are important for the flora of an area. For these reasons, we also do not recommend getting rid of bats with ultrasound.
Methods of getting rid of bats from the home should be focused on doing so without causing them harm. This is why it is helpful to know a little more about them. For example, they leave their nests during the night and don’t return until the first light of morning emerges. Additionally, they prefer dark, small and hidden spaces. This is why there are some preferred places in which they nest:
- Attic
- Any gap
How Long Do Bats Stay In One Place
What this tells you is that a bat has a very good opportunity to live to be as much as 15 or 20 years old if it were to live in or directly around your home. If there are rodents or large insects for it to eat, and it has a safe place to live in, like in your attic, then it can stay there for years without issue.
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