The most common problem that people have with bats is getting them in their attic. Most people have no idea what to do or how to get them out of their homes. One of the biggest problems caused by having a colony of bats in your attic is that they will produce droppings that can cause structural damage, smell really bad, and may lead to the growth of a fungus that causes respiratory problems.
Trying to get bats out of your attic isn’t easy work, especially for beginners. The smartest thing to do is to contact a specialist that deals with this issue regularly and knows what works best to remove the bats from your home. Professionals have the knowledge and experience to remove the bats safely and without harming the bats. The first thing that a technician will do is survey your home and locate the access points where the bats are getting in. The technician will also make sure that there are no baby bats that might be snuggled away in your attic as well.
Bat Removal Devices
Once a technician has surveyed your home and found no baby bats, then they will start to seal up your home for you. They will go around your home and install a couple of the one-way valves on your home. The one-way devices are no bigger than a water bottle and are not too obtrusive in your home.
After these are installed, the technician will also close up any entry points that are dime-size or smaller with 100% clear silicone caulk. This caulk will not change the appearance of your home. Once they have done that, they will go around and seal up anything more significant than the dime-size points with a galvanized steel mesh. They will also seal up any soffits, box vents, fascia, Gable vents, and ridge vents. Not all homes have ridge vents. When it comes to the ridge vent, they have to measure it due to every home having different sizes.
Once your technician finishes putting the devices on your home, you will want to give the bats about thirty days to leave your home. The last thing that you want is a bunch of baby bats (pups) up in your attic. If the babies are not with their mothers, they will try to get out, and they will end up dying and decaying, which will smell terribly bad. Bats live in colonies, and once you have one in your attic, it is tricky to get them out for the simple fact that bats will return to their roosting place where they feel safe and warm. As long as they have access to the same location, then they will return to it and bats live for a very long time. Every bat has one baby, and on rare occasions, they can have up to two babies.
Hearing Bats In Your Attic
When people have bats in their attic, they will typically hear them at night simply because bats are nocturnal. Bats usually are relatively quiet, and you probably won’t hear them unless there is a colony, then it can get rather loud, with all of them starting to move around and making some noise when they do.
Sometimes people will hear them rustling and fluttering above the ceiling or in the walls. You will most likely hear them at dusk due to them lining up to fly out of the house. Many people don’t understand how in the world do bats end up getting in their homes. It does not take much for them to be able to get inside of your house or attic. Bats can fit through a gap the size of 3/8 of an inch. They like to fly into homes at small architectural gaps near the edge of the roofline. From there, they crawl to their roosting spots.
It is relatively easy to spot where bats are coming into your home. They will leave a brown looking spot on the side of your house due to the grease and oil they have in their fur. There can be several different entry points for them to get in– you can watch at dusk and see where bats are coming out of as well. If the attic is warm enough year-round, then they will want to stay there. Otherwise, they migrate and return each spring. Many bat problems happen because the young start to crawl around and fly, and sometimes the inexperienced young crawl down into the house. This typically occurs in August. Maternity season for bats usually runs from mid-May until mid-August.
Removing Bat Droppings
Double-check your home is bat free after you’ve sealed their entrances. Typically it does take about thirty days to be sure that the bats have left. Cleanup can begin as soon as all bats are removed. Most of this process includes cleaning bat droppings, also known as “guano.” You will want to clean this up because it will begin to smell horribly bad, and if you had a bat colony in your home, there would be a large amount of it in your attic. If the droppings are not cleaned up, then you will start to get a bad smell of it decaying.
If the droppings are not handled correctly, you risk getting lung disease. What is this lung disease? The pulmonary (lung) infection results from inhaling airborne spores of the fungus. You can end up with flu-like symptoms, and if left untreated, it can also be fatal. Fatalities are most common in people with a weak immune system, such as the elderly and young children.
When cleaning up bat guano or droppings, you will want to wear rubber gloves versus latex gloves. Start to remove loose droppings on smooth surfaces by using a vacuum. After that, a person should scrub the surfaces with an enzyme-based cleaner. Insulation that has any guano on it should be removed because it cannot be cleaned. If the insulation is not completely covered and it is not too bad, you can spray it with your cleaner as well. The last part of cleanup is to spray your attic with a special cleaner to ensure that all the fungus has been killed off. Once you have cleaned your attic, then you will want to dispose of any clothing you wore as well as the gloves.