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Lesley Rotchford is a contributing writer at USA TODAY Homefront. Lesley has held senior editorial positions at Cosmopolitan, Allure and Women’s Health. She also wrote for InStyle, Self, Redbook, Forbes and Delish. When she is not creating content, she is creating beautiful spaces. She has an interior design and gardening business based in Connecticut and renovated her circa 1846 farmhouse. Living in an antique home, Lesley has extensive experience tackling home repair projects — from replacing doors and windows to sanding and painting walls. Lesley is a Colgate University graduate living outside of New York City. She is heavily involved in her community, where she is president of a gardening club, a college essay editor and a house committee member at her country club.
In many states, bats are protected species and are illegal to harm or kill.
Bats are essential to the ecosystem but responsible for 70% of human rabies cases in the U.S.
To get rid of bats in your home, it’s important to find a licensed, experienced and ethical removal expert.
Bats are misunderstood — if you spot one near your house you might wonder how to get rid of bats pronto. Lacking the movie star allure of sharks or the cuteness of bears and raccoons, they are generally regarded with fear and distaste. But bats are pretty amazing creatures.
According to Bat Conservation International, bats are responsible for keeping insect populations in check, and they aid in plant pollination and seed dispersal. When you consider that they can eat up to 12,000 mosquitoes per hour, serve as the primary pollinators for the agave plant (used to make tequila), and spread seeds for nuts, figs and cacao (used to make chocolate), it’s hard to argue their importance.
Bats are helpful, and we want to keep them around — just not in our houses. No one wants bats rattling around in their attic or flying through their family room. So it’s important to find a humane way to evict these unwanted houseguests.
Yes, homeowners are allowed to remove bats as long as they don’t hurt or kill them. Many bat species are federally protected, making it illegal to harm them. In fact, doing so may result in hefty fines.
It’s highly recommended to hire a professional to banish bat roommates, though you could try a DIY approach in some cases. But before you try to remove a bat (or a colony of them), check with your local wildlife agency to find out the restrictions and removal guidelines in your state.
Bats have environmental benefits like insect regulation and pollination, but they can still pose health risks. To clear up rumors, bats aren’t blood-sucking monsters. According to the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), just three out of 1,400 species of bats are vampire bats.
“They eat blood but don’t suck it, and you won’t find any vampire bats in the United States,” said Hannah K. Frank, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Tulane University and principal investigator at Bats at Tulane (BAT) Lab.
However, bats can carry rabies, which is a potentially deadly viral disease transmitted through bites and scratches. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 70% of rabies cases in humans in the United States are due to bat encounters.
What’s more, bat droppings, called guano, can contain fungal spores that, when breathed in, can result in a potentially serious respiratory condition called histoplasmosis. Bats also can carry parasites, including ticks.
The good news is that bats don’t chew on electrical wires like squirrels, raccoons and mice (they have that going for them). The biggest risk to your home is their guano, which can degrade wood and other structural materials.
The last thing bats want is to fly into you. “Bats want to get away from people, so they won’t approach you, get in your hair, or bite you unless you try to handle them,” Frank said. They like dark, quiet, warm spaces, so they prefer to hang out in your attic. If you live in a colder climate, they will hibernate in your attic during the winter and then resume activities outside in the warmer months.
Suspect bats have taken up residence in your house? “Conducting a bat watch at dusk for bats exiting the building to forage is a good way to find the entrance holes,” said Paul D. Curtis, Ph.D., professor of Wildlife Science at Cornell University. Then look for the following signs:
When bats are coming and going, you may hear flapping, squeaking and scratching noises, especially around dusk and dawn. Bats are nocturnal, so they are active at night.
Bat guano is dark, oblong-shaped pellets that tend to pile up. The main difference between guano and mouse droppings is that guano will crumble easily when handled. Although don’t touch it with bare hands to find out.
“If bats have been in an attic for a while, the smell of urine and feces can provide evidence of their presence,” Curtis said. Bat urine has a foul ammonia smell that is quite unpleasant.
When a bat enters or exits your home, it will often leave streaks of grease caused by resin that collects in their skin. If you see dark markings near a crack or crevice, you probably found their entrance to your home.
Noticing any of these signs means you must deal with the problem to prevent damage to your health or your house. You can do this by calling a professional wildlife removal specialist — or taking matters into your own (gloved) hands.
To ensure that you effectively remove all the bats in your home without harming them, it’s best to call a professional. Bat World Sanctuary provides a nationwide list of rescuers who have volunteered to help remove bats from people’s homes.
If a volunteer isn’t available in your area, you can call a local wildlife agency. They should help by recommending a highly-regarded removal expert. If you find one by your own means, make sure the pest control company is licensed, experienced and ethical.
Once you find a professional to evict your bats, they’ll perform a bat exclusion — a process of sealing entrances so bats can’t come back to your house. Just keep in mind that bat exclusion can only be done at certain times of the year. Young bats may be present in an attic from April through early August, and exclusion should be avoided during those times, Curtis said.
This is because young bats can’t fly and could get trapped in the attic. The best time to do bat exclusion is from mid-August until the bats depart for their winter roosts in October, Curtis added.
Assuming you are looking to get rid of bats during the proper time frame, the wildlife control expert will likely follow these exclusion steps.
A professional will first inspect your home to determine where the bats are entering. Once the technician has identified these holes, they will likely install one-way doors at every entry point. This will allow the bats to fly out — but not return.
“It only takes three or four days for all of the bats to exit, but we usually leave the Batcones in for about a week,” said Jim Dreisacker, owner of Westchester Wildlife and inventor of the Batcone, a cone-shaped apparatus that pros use as a one-way door. Once it’s been confirmed that the bats are gone, the technician will seal up these areas. “We typically use aluminum flashing or silicone sealant,” Dreisacker added.
Bats can make a real mess, especially if you have large colonies that have burrowed into insulation. Your technician will use a special vacuum to suck up any debris. They will also apply a deodorizing product to areas where guano has accumulated. Bats have an exceptional sense of smell, so if the odor is not completely removed, the scent of guano and urine may entice bats to return to their previous roost.
To prevent bats from entering your house in the future, the professional will search for any other potential entry points. Bats can squeeze through spaces as small as 3/8-inch by 7/8-inch, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Ensure your house is completely secure. Entry points include chimneys, air intakes, exhaust vents, openings around plumbing, power or cable lines, spaces around doors and windows, and places where exterior siding or shingles have come loose. In addition to sealing holes with aluminum flashing or silicone sealant, a professional may also install hardware cloth over chimneys and vents.
This may include installing new installation, repairing woodwork, and removing exterior smudge marks.
Bat exclusion is something you can do yourself, but there are caveats. “Anyone doing bat work should have rabies preexposure immunization,” Curtis said. “Also, because this work involves sealing holes or using one-way doors in the soffit area, ladder work will be required.” If you aren’t used to climbing ladders, Curtis recommends calling a professional.
Additionally, a professional will be able to tell the species of bat you have and know if that type of bat is federally protected. “It would be hard for the average person to be able to determine species,” Frank said.
Thoroughly research the laws regarding bat removal in your area. Wildlifehelp.org allows you to search regulations and information by state, but you should always check with your local wildlife agency. If your state falls into this category, do not attempt to remove bats yourself — call a professional.
A single bat flying through your house might be alarming, but chances are that the bat entered accidentally and is eager to leave. In this case, close the door to the room where the bat is flying and open the windows, which will allow the bat to fly out on its own.
Another option: Gently trap the bat with a jar or cardboard box, using a piece of cardboard as a lid. Bring the container with the bat outside, remove the lid and release the bat. Be sure to wear thick leather gloves during this removal process, as the bat could bite.
If you are noticing noise, smell, droppings and staining, you likely have a colony of bats that made a home in your attic and have no intention of moving out. Inspect your home for holes and crevices that the bats may be using as an entrance.
Once you find the openings, install one-way bat cones or bat valves in these areas. Leave them in for about a week.
Once the bats have left, seal up these holes with caulk and search your home for any other small spaces that might serve as an entrance to bats or other critters.
To protect yourself from the dangerous guano spores, wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, thick rubber gloves, booties, and an N95 mask or respirator mask. Then take the following steps:
Bats are territorial and like to return to familiar areas. For that reason, you should take preventive steps to deter bats from moving back into your attic.
These trendy structures are like guest houses for bats — a cozy place to live as they go about their insect-eating duties. With their own luxury accommodations, they won’t be tempted to shack up in your house.
“Bat houses should be secured to a pole about 15 to 20 feet off the ground, in a sunny area,” Dreisacker advised. “If a bat house is attached to a tree, raccoons could prey on the bats.”
Guano has to be placed into the bat house to attract the bats to the structure. “Bat houses aren’t like birdhouses — it takes some work to attract them,” adds Dreisascker.
Bats don’t like strong smells and annoying sounds. Placing ultrasonic-repellent noise machines and mothballs in your attic can help. Peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils may also work — but only to an extent.
“Repellents have had limited success for deterring bats,” said Curtis, warning that odor-based products would be considered pesticides and must be EPA-labeled for that use. Curtis also warned against mothballs, which could pose a health hazard to people if you’re using a high concentration to deter bats.
Some experts recommend installing bright lights around your house to shoo away bats, but according to Curtis, this tactic only drives the bats to dark hiding places in the attic or soffits where they can avoid the light.
Maintaining buildings is the best way to bat-proof a structure. Trim tree branches close to your home. Stay on top of the trash, as rubbish and compost attract one of bats’ favorite food sources: insects.
Bat conservation experts have been educating people about the importance of bats. This has resulted in bats becoming a protected species, and appropriate regulations have been instituted to protect bats.
Whatever bat-proofing method you choose, ensure you follow the rules dictated by your state to prevent hurting these remarkable and unexpectedly gentle creatures.
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