How to Get Rid of Bats
Why Do I Have Bats?
What brings bats into your home and/or attic? Attics and other dark, covered places make great homes for bats. They can stay away from predators, have shelter from the rain and weather, and have plenty of room to grow their colony. Bats don't have to go far from your home to feed, either. They leave their nest in your attic after sunset, and return before sunrise in the morning to sleep.
How To Find Your Bats
Bat Roof Inspection
Set up a chair outside before sunset with a clear view of the roof. Watch for any bats entering and leaving through soffit, attic vents, or damaged siding/stucco. The bats will most likely nest in a part of your attic that is close to their point of entry. You can also do this shortly before sunrise to see them returning after feeding.
Bat Attic Inspection
If you can't see the bats coming and going from your home, you may be able to find their guano in your attic. We advise against touching or trying to remove the excrement yourself, but if you see bat droppings, you can almost guarantee that you have bats.
Bat Removal Basics
Trapping Bats in Your House
Trapping bats is extremely difficult. You can buy bat traps from local or online retailers, but be prepared to check the traps a few times each day. A caged bat can't survive for very long, and it is illegal to kill or exterminate bats. Professional bat removal companies will use live exclusion methods to take care of your bat problem legally and humanely.
Excluding Bats From Your Home
Exclusion of bats means preventing bats from entering your attic, but allowing them to leave. Common exclusion devices include funnels, 1/4-inch steel and nylon mesh, and silicone caulking. You must be careful to not completely seal bats in your attic or you will have dead bats.
When to Remove Bats
An important part of bat removal is knowing when to remove bats. There are certain months of the year that bats cannot be removed from your home. This is because the bats are reproducing and bats are a protected animal. Maternity season varies based on bat species but the maternity season is generally from the end of May through the beginning of July or August. Contact local bat removal specialists to find out if you can remove the bats in your home.
Excluding Bats
Where to Get Supplies
Once you've figured out how the bats are getting in and where they are making their nest, you can start exclusion work. Again, you should be careful to not entirely close the bats in. You can use a variety of materials to exclude bats, and can get them from a local hardware or home improvement store.
Supplies You Should Buy
Our specialists use a variety of materials to exclude bats. Silicone caulking is great for sealing up small cracks. Small openings less than the size of your palm can be covered with window screening if they can't be entirely covered with wood or plastic sheeting. 1/4-inch poly mesh is good for sectioning off parts of your attic to prevent them from moving their colony around your attic during the exclusion.
PVC piping is good for making your own bat funnels as well. You can also use plastic accordion tubing for funnels. If you need to cover the openings of attic vents with slats, screw in some steel mesh behind it. Essentially, what you are going to be doing is covering any area where bats can enter or leave once all the bats have been excluded, so buy plenty of materials.
Installing Exclusion Devices
You'll need a cordless drill, screws, and a caulking gun at the very least to install your exclusion devices. Remember to not fully seal off your attic space for risk of trapping all the bats inside. Installing the exclusion dvices shouldn't take very long, but you should monitor them to make sure that they are functioning properly.
Removing Exclusion Devices
Once you're sure that you have excluded all the bats in your attic, you'll want to remove the exclusion devices and seal any remaining entrances for bats. Our technicians remove exclusion devices and make any necessary repairs after the exclusion is complete.