Get Rid of Bats

If bats have taken up residence in your home, you may have a bigger problem on your hands than noise. Invading bats often cause structural damage and leave behind droppings that slowly corrode wood and other building materials. Exposure to bat guano can also pose a serious health risk to you and your family if ignored. You might have considered calling a professional pest removal service, which can be a good idea if you’re faced with a severe infestation, but there are actually a few simple steps you can take to evict winged intruders from your property and make sure they don’t come back.

Steps

Identifying a Bat Problem

  1. Verify that it’s bats you’re dealing with. The occasional rustling in the attic may just be an old water pipe or the sound of the house settling. Make sure you’ve excluded all other possibilities before you begin spending time and energy on a bat-removal project. The best way to tell that you have bats in your home is to see one with your own eyes or come across their tell-tale droppings.[1]
    • Consult a pest removal specialist or wildlife expert to determine what type of bats are commonly found in your area.
  2. Be on the lookout for droppings. Bat excrement (commonly known as “guano”) most often takes the form of small, dark pellets. These are round in shape and give off an overpowering musky stench. Should you encounter bat guano in any part of your home, there’s a good chance that bats have recently been roosting there.[2]
    • While bat urine isn’t typically visible, it may leave behind small stains and a sharp odor.
    • Bat guano sometimes contains fungal mold spores that may be hazardous to breathe. In some cases, prolonged exposure to guano can lead to serious health concerns, including hemorrhagic fever and respiratory infections like histoplasmosis.[3]
  3. Research the types of bats found in your area. There are many different varieties of bats. Find out when maternity season begins for your local bat population. If you drive off the mother after she’s given birth, her babies won’t be able to survive. This will leave you with an unbearable stench and an attic full of dead bats to dispose of.[1]
    • Bats live in a wide range of highly specialized conditions. In most cases it’s possible to narrow down the species by the region it occupies. This will give you an advantage when coming up with a strategy for safely managing the isolation and removal of your unwanted guests.[2]
    • See if you can get a good enough look at a bat that’s entered your home to be able to reference what species it is.
  4. Inspect for places where bats might be getting in. Bats gravitate toward dark, enclosed spaces because they most closely resemble their natural cave habitats. Take a look around your attic, chimney flue, basement or crawlspace and see if you can turn up evidence that bats have been roosting there. Pay special attention to areas accessible through small cracks and apertures, as bats often use these as entry points.[1]
    • Bats are capable of squeezing into spaces as narrow as ⅜ths of an inch, so don’t discount small or inconspicuous openings.[2]
    • Watch bats as they come and go at night to see what entrances they’re using.[4]

Removing the Bats

  1. Create a disturbance to drive the bats away. Bats favor dark, quiet hideouts and have an aversion to lots of light and commotion. Try leaving a light on in the attic or another area you think bats might be inhabiting. For a two-pronged approach, you might also invest in a white noise machine and leave it running overnight to double your chances of scaring them off.[5].
    • It’s against the law to exterminate bats in places where they’re considered a protected species, which means you’ll have to find a non-lethal way to get rid of them.[6]
    • Hanging strips of aluminum foil from the ceiling can create a series of obstacles that will disorient and repel bats.[7]
  2. Set up a bat box. Bat boxes are small enclosed structures that provide a hospitable temporary environment for bats seeking a place to roost. The idea is to flush them out of your home while giving them somewhere else to go so that they won’t be tempted to return. For people living in wooded areas, bat boxes can be a good way to relocate bats without the need for more costly measures.[8]
    • You can construct your own bat box from scratch or ask your local pest control or wildlife removal service how to obtain one.[9]
    • Set up your bat box near the treeline of your property or alongside your home in a place with ample shade.
  3. Install a one-way exclusion device. By fitting suspected entry points with a one-way valve or tube, invading bats will be free to exit a space but won’t be able to get back in. This way, bats will simply leave on their own. Exclusion devices are arguably the most effective method for ridding your home of bats once and for all.[10]
    • Denying bats reentry is preferable to trapping them, which is often difficult and dangerous.
    • Exclusion devices can be found at most pet stores and home improvement centers and are relatively simple to install.[11]
  4. Call a pest removal service. If you’re not having any luck getting rid of the bats on your own, or you suspect you might be housing an entire bat colony, your best bet is to have the problem dealt with professionally. Pest control specialists will be able to pinpoint the places where bats are likely getting in, then remove them and seal vulnerable entry points to keep them from coming back.[12]
    • This will be the safest and most convenient option if you can afford to have it done.
    • In places where environmental conservation is a high priority, you may be able to find a team of wildlife experts to remove bats from your home at no cost.

Bat-Proofing Your Home

  1. Seal off all potential entry points. Once the bats are gone, it will be necessary to bar any openings that they might be using to make their way in. This can be accomplished by repairing longstanding cracks and damage, installing exclusion devices or in some cases applying new mortar, plaster or shingles. With these things in place, bats will find it difficult or impossible to regain access to your home in the future.[2]
    • Have a contractor go over the exterior of your home with you to look for places that might admit bats.
    • It’s important that you address each and every possible entry point. If the bats can’t get in through one, they’ll try to find another.
  2. Dispose of any remaining bat waste. Vacuum up dried droppings or scoop them into a garbage bag with a plastic scraper. Afterward, scrub the area thoroughly using an enzyme-based cleaning solution. This will help break down any remaining biological waste products so that no traces are left behind.[13]
    • Be sure to take the proper safety precautions when cleaning bat guano—wear thick rubber gloves, eye protection and a facemask or respirator to filter the surrounding air.[11]
    • It’s highly recommended that you leave the cleanup duties to a professional pest removal service.
  3. Check inhabitable spaces frequently. Perform thorough inspections of your attic, basement, crawlspace or other affected areas periodically to search for signs of reinfestation. Look for bats themselves as well as their droppings. Chances are that bats will stay out after you’ve sealed their entryways, but if they do happen to sneak back in you’ll want to find out as soon as possible to keep the problem from getting out of hand.[14]
    • Unexplainable drafts or debris can offer a clue that bats have gnawed their way in.
    • Though they usually wind up in attics and chimneys, bats have also been known to roost beneath decks, inside screened-in porches and under roofing tiles.



Tips

  • The best time to take steps to safeguard your home is at night when bets set out to hunt and mate.
  • Mist areas where you come across bat guano with water to keep dust and spores from spreading.
  • Fruits, nuts and other small food items can sometimes be used to successfully lure bats out of their roost.
  • Have your home inspected once a year for bats and other pests.
  • Continual human presence will ensure that bats don’t get too comfortable.

Warnings

  • In addition to histoplasmosis, bats are associated with other health risks such as rabies, fleas, ticks and mites.
  • Don’t waste your time with bat repellent products. Not only do they tend to be ineffective, they can put you and your family at risk of illness by spreading chemical irritants around your home.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-get-rid-of-bats/#.WN1G0_krLIU
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 http://www.atticpestauthority.com/bats-in-attic/
  3. ↑ https://www.cdc.gov/features/bats/
  4. ↑ http://www.wildlife-removal.com/bat-exclusion.html
  5. ↑ http://www.batsintheattic.org/repellent.html
  6. ↑ http://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/environmental-health-protection/structural-pest-control/bats-exclusion
  7. ↑ http://www.homeremedyhacks.com/15-effective-home-remedies-to-get-rid-of-bats/
  8. ↑ https://batconservation.org/help/bat-houses/
  9. ↑ http://www.nwf.org/Garden-For-Wildlife/Cover/Build-a-Bat-House.aspx
  10. ↑ http://www.pestremovalguide.com/getting-rid-of-bats/
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 http://www.oldhouseonline.com/articles/bat-exclusion
  12. ↑ http://www.wildlife-removal.com/bat.htm
  13. ↑ http://www.wildlife-removal.com/cleanbatguano.html
  14. ↑ http://www.wildlife-removal.com/batinspection.html
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