Wildlife Removal and Exclusion Specialists Remove These Animals Everyday
HOW DO I GET BATS OUT OF MY BUILDING - WHAT DOES
AND DOESN'T WORK?
Repellent devices are not effective. One Chicago manufacturer was fined $45,000 by the EPA for misleading claims about an ultrasonic device. In fact, when ultrasonic devices were tested by bat experts some of them actually attracted bats!
Moth balls are not effective because they evaporate quickly and require frequent replacement. Additionally, chemical toxicants should never be used to solve bat problems. In fact, it is a violation of federal law to use a chemical in any way other than for what it is strictly intended. Currently, there are no poisons or chemicals licensed for use against bats. Poisoning bats is illegal and, in fact, may create health hazards and liabilities for property owners. Poisoned bats will die inside the walls and ceiling, creating bacteria and odor, and dying bats may fall to the ground both inside and outside the property where they are more likely to come into contact with children and pets.
Traps are not recommended and have actually been
known to drive bats to the inside of a structure. Trapping is also extremely
inhumane. They are positioned to block the exit of the roost and can quickly
fill with bats as they emerge to forage for insects at night. Once trapped, the
bats are unable to escape and those that fell in first become crushed as others
fall on top of them. The filled trap then blocks the exit for the bats remaining
in the roost, forcing them to search for another way out. These bats are likely
to end up inside a business or residence, greatly increasing the chance for
The only safe, humane way to evict bats from a building is by exclusion, a method of using plastic mesh or tubes to create one-way valves that allow bats to leave the roost but then prevents them from re-entering.
WHY DO BATS CHOOSE TO LIVE IN HUMAN
The increase of human expansion has resulted in a loss of habitat for bats, forcing them to look for alternative roosts to live in and raise their young. Roof voids, attics, vacant buildings and barns all provide bats with warm, safe places to hide and live. Unfortunately, the news media is occasionally guilty of sensationalizing stories about bats in buildings and the dangers involved. In addition, some unscrupulous pest control and trapping companies prey on people's fear of bats and then charge exorbitant fees for removing or illegally killing bat colonies from the homes of the people they've terrified.
For these reasons, many people wish to have colonies of bats removed from the building. Please be aware that this is a specialty service.
North America is home to many species of bats, but these are the three most common nuisance (colonizing) species in the US: First is the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) which is common in most of the US, especially the more northward states. These bats are small, with a wingspan of 8 inches, and a weight of less than half an ounce. The females form large maternity colonies, often in buildings such as attics or barns. Young are born in June, and can fly by August. They can live up to 30 years apparently, though average lifespan in the wild may be about 7 years. They hibernate in the winter. The Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) is also common in the northern areas. It has a wingspan up to 13 inches, and can live up to 19 years in the wild. They mate in October, before winter hibernation, and after a delayed fertilization and a 60 day gestation, give birth to one or two baby bats in early June. The Mexican Free-Tail Bat Tadarida brasiliensis is common in the south. It has a wingspan of about 8 inches, a weight of half an ounce, and can live up to 16 years. These bats will form huge colonies, up to several million members in some cases. They mate in the fall, but delay fertilization, and one pup is born in early June, and can fly about eight weeks later. All of these bats often roost in man-made buildings, and love the attics of homes. None of these animals are actually blind, but they do use echolocation in order to aid in navigation on the wing. They are all insectivorous, catching insects on the wing.
Bats are nocturnal. They sleep in roosts during the daytime, and emerge at dusk. If it's a colony of bats living in a building, they crawl to the edge, and fly out. First they head for water and get a drink, skimming the surface on the wing. They then feast on flying insects, primarily moths and beetles. After a while they get full and head back to the roost in order to rest. They then fly back out to feed some more. They may make several trips per night. Bats use echolocation in order to aid in navigation and feeding on the wing. They emit high-pitched chirps and read the sonar-like returns of the sound waves as they bounce back off of objects. Roosting preference depends on the species and even gender of the bats, but we are only concerned with colonizing bats such as the three mentioned above. These colonies are composed primarily of females. The males roost alone in solitary areas, such as trees. The females form huge clusters, very frequently in man-made architecture such as church towers, attics, bridges, etc. They tolerate and even prefer very high temperatures. Many of the southern bats migrate to different areas as climates change. However, bats in the north hibernate in colder weather.
The primary concern involves large colonies. If it's just a few bats, it may not be a big deal. However, if you've got a typical maternity colony of bats in your home or building, it can be a big problem. A large colony is not only noisy and unsettling at dusk and dawn as swarms of bats fly in and out, but the main problem is that they leave their droppings and urine behind. With a large colony of bats, this really adds up. After a while large piles of droppings form. Not only do the droppings and urine corrode wood/metal, but the weight of them can collapse the ceiling below the attic - I've seen if a few times. The waste has a foul odor, but it can also grow fungual spores that people can breathe in, leading to the lung disease Histoplasmosis.
I've already discussed Histoplasmosis, a fungal infection of the lungs that results from the fungus that grows on nitrogen-rich bat droppings, but it's also important to keep in mind the fact that the majority of the cases of rabies transmission in the United States have come from bats. This may be because people are less cautious around bats than say, rabid raccoons, or because bats are very small and can bite and infect people in their sleep. Or perhaps the particular strain of rabies that bats or certain species of bats carry is more likely to infect people. Regardless, if you see a sick bat on the ground, don't pick it up, because you might get bitten!
Bat removal is not a simple task. The proper way to get rid of them is to exclude the colony - seal off 100% of possible secondary entry points on the home and remove all of the bats from the building safely. It is often very challenging, and it must be done just the right way. An amateur attempt could result in disaster - dead, rotting bats, and bats swarming throughout the walls and the home.
There is no registered or effective bat repellent available. Some companies will try to sell anything - there's a lot of so-called bat-repellent or bat-away products on the market, but they are bogus. And those high-pitch noisemakers? The FTC has issued a warning against them - ultrasonic sound emitters do not work. There is no quick and easy fix when it comes to bat control. It's best to have a professional with years of experience take care of the problem
We can remove bats by excluding them from your building. This means we close all possible entrances except for one. We leave the area that is used the most open and we install netting or tubes that allow the bats to exit. These devices do not allow them to enter, only exit. We allow enough time so all the bats can leave, then we remove the netting and or tubing, and then we close off the last entrance. We then set up another appointment to come back and check to make sure the exclusion has been successful.
SIAMESE CAT VS. BATS
I live in an old farmhouse and have always had bats in the attic. My attitude was “they could have the attic and I would have the rest of the house”. I had no flies, mosquitoes, and very few other flying insects. It worked quite well for a number of years. We lived in harmony, more or less. Unfortunately, word got out and I soon had 4 colonies in the attic. Than a black snake took up residence. Harmony was destroyed and utter chaos took its place. Bats began to slip under the doors, through the keyholes, down the chimney etc.etc. Princess Nephriti (the Siamese cat) thought that this event was on a par with the invention of Fancy Feast and as playmates, right up there with snakes (that‘s another story). She would sit on the newel post of the stairs, and when one would fly by, she would grab them in mid-air. She would then come to me with bat in mouth and wings flapping. I would grab the leather gloves, take it out of her mouth and pitch it outside. After a few episodes of this, she stopped bringing them to me and would instead play with them, throwing them in the air and jumping up after them. Than I noticed that she wasn’t sleeping much during the day anymore. Found her sitting in front of the woodstove patiently waiting for a bat to come out. They would come down the chimney and slip out through the air vents. After I shut those down, they would slip out where the stove pipes fit together: a bat would slip a wing through, than his body and head and than the other wing. Nephie always waited until they were all the way through before pouncing. She always got her bat. It got to the point where Nephie couldn’t keep up with the traffic and when I came downstairs one morning to find a row of bats hanging from a bookcase I gave up. Called in professional help. We all live in harmony once again, the snake is still in the attic, he got to fat to get out again. At least I hope it’s a he and not a she producing little snakes.