Bat exclusion is the best way to eliminate bats inside and outside your house. The exclusion process involves using tubes and netting at the bat entry points.
You’ve probably heard that bats are the only flying mammals worldwide. They sleep during the day in hidden nests and only fly out at night to feed.
There are over 1,400 bat species, and they travel by echolocation. This means that they emit ultrasonic pulses and time the echo to visualize a thorough representation of their surroundings.
Although bats are essential to the ecosystem by controlling the pest and insect population around your property, no homeowner would entertain the idea of bats living under their roof.
By the end of this article, you’ll learn how to get rid of bats.
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What attracts bats to your house or yard?
If you live in America, in states such as Houston, you’re likely to have one of the three bat species:
- Big brown bat—Eptesicus fuscus
- Mexican free-tailed bat—Tadarida brasiliensis
- Little brown bat—Myotis lucifugus
Bats are attracted to your house or yard if it has their food, shelter, and water.
Suppose your yard has a large supply of fresh water, especially a pond, stream, lake, or river. In that case, it is a perfect indicator of an ideal habitat. These provide a source of fresh water and a plentiful supply of insects.
Where can a bat hide during the day in your house?
Bats typically hide behind upholstered furniture, behind curtains, in house plants, and on hanging clothes.
Other things that attract bats into your home:
- Plants and flowers in your yard
- Compost heaps
- Shutters
- Uncapped chimneys
- Improperly sealed siding
- Damaged roofs
What is the very best way to get rid of bats?
Bat exclusion using tubes and netting, is the best way to remove bats from your property. This allows the bat to drop down and fly away but confounds re-entry.
The excluders are left for a week to ensure the bats give up. After leaving, sealing, plugging, and caulking can occur.
In North America, bats migrate in fall to hibernate for winter. If your bat problem is worse, you can consider calling a control specialist to help with the removal process.
Are bats easy to remove?
No, bats are not easy pests to remove.
Recently, they’ve been demonized for their part in the covid-19 pandemic and have historically been associated with rabies and other fatal diseases.
Bat droppings and urine are corrosive and can corrode furniture and roof, compromising the integrity and safety of your property. Besides, they contain fungal spores that can result in deadly diseases.
They always carry rabies, so it is vital to use a respirator, eye protection, gloves, and other protective equipment.
However, bats are not evil. In fact, for most people, bats are entirely harmless.
They feed on insects such as mosquitoes, critters, fleas, etc. Female bats usually do give birth to a single pup annually, breed towards the end of summer and early autumn, and reach over 30 years in the wild.
Do it yourself, remove bats?
You can do remove bats from your house yourself.
However, always try to remove them in early summer or late spring, not after the maternity season, when the baby bats that cannot fly would be orphaned and die.
Below is how to get rid of bats humanely and effectively:
- Filling up holes and sealing cracks
- Using natural bat repellers such as bat spray
- Installing bat nets
- Installing a decoy bat house
- Removing food sources from the garden
- Implementing a bat cone bat deterrent
- Installing bright lights
- Using mothballs
- Scaring them with sound
- Playing with temperature
- Hanging aluminum foils
- Installing mirrors
- Essential oils and house items
- Phenol
How long does it take to get rid of bats?
The bat removal process can take between a few days and months. This is because bats are usually not captured but are allowed to leave on their own and deterred from returning to their roost.
When bats are active and not around the birthing season, efficient bat exclusion can occur in a few days. This gives the bat time to leave your house before you or a wildlife control expert completes the exclusion by sealing up the holes.
In colder seasons, bats hibernate and hardly leave their roost. This makes it harder to spot due to the reduced activity, making it virtually impossible to eradicate.
Another critical factor that affects time is legislation. In some states, bat exclusion is not allowed during maternity season as this endangers the population. This can also interrupt mating affecting the population.
The exclusion periods depend between climate and states but are typically conducted in late summer, early summer, winter, and fall.
How much will it cost to get rid of bats?
The national average for bat removal is $430, with the typical range being $231-$666, and the low to high end is $100-$1300.
The services are specialized with unique liability and licensing costs. The factors that impact the cost of the bat removal process include:
- Number of bats
- Damage caused
- Location of the bats and accessibility
- Number of entry points
Where bats are present, you could also run into other problems such as rats, mice, raccoons, termites, and fleas. These infestations could further add up to the costs of removing these pests.
What will keep bats away?
It’s important to note that bats are not insects. Therefore, there are no manufactured or registered poisons to kill bats. So, what kills bats?
The ideal way to kill bats is to use super glue bat traps and hold them in steel. Once captured, they die from hunger and exhaustion.