How to Get Rid of Bats
How do you get rid of bats? Some people say "I have bats in my attic!". The mere mention of bats can conjure up tales about all the creative ways to get rid of bats in the house, trap bats, or bat proof a house. Many of these stories are generated from personal experiences of bats flying inside the house, ridding bats that are hibernating in attics, or the latest rabies scare. A combination of hearsay, misinformation, and folklore contributes to some of the misunderstandings that we commonly hear about how to get rid of bats.
Reasons to Get Rid of Bats
Although bats are vital to control insects in agricultural crops, you do not want to have them living inside your home. The primary reason to get rid of bats from your home is due to the risk of rabies, allergies, and eventually guano damage to your home.
Tips to Get Rid of Bats:
1) Identify all the areas where bats are getting inside the house. A bat only needs 3/8 inch x 1 inch gap to get through. Locating these areas often requires ladders, ladder hooks, ladder brackets, fall protection and experience. We do not recommend that that is a do-it yourself project. However, explaining the general process is important to provide some understanding of the exclusion project.
2) Install a valve or bat-door on the active entry points. Timing of the installation is critical. You do not want to lock a maternity colony inside - otherwise the pups will die or may accidentally funnel inside your living quarters.
3) Seal up all the non-active areas on the home. Extensive caulking may be required. Otherwise, the bats will locate a new entrance to "their" home. Spot treatments are not recommended, otherwise you might end up dealing with the bats for a number of years. Bats are very reluctant to be evicted. Experience in identifying potential entry areas pays dividends in getting rid of the bats quickly as possible.
4) Install a bat house. Bat houses are a good component for your project. You may want to get rid of bats, but consider keeping them around your yard. There are many good reasons to keep bats flying around your backyard (but not in your house). For example, all of the nine species of bats found in Michigan feed on night flying insects. They are actually one of the only predators of nocturnal insects. By providing this service, bats can reduce our dependence on pesticides and improve crop yields on many of our farmlands.
5) Wait a period of time to allow the bats to leave. The timing varies depending on the time of the year. Bats hibernate in the winter; and are very active in the summer. Once you are certain that you got rid of the bats, the bat-doors can be removed. Seal the previously active points.
Get Rid of Bats - Safely.
Due to the complexity of performing proper bat removal, many people find that exclusions are outside the scope of a do-it-yourself project. Safety is a prime reason to consider a professional. The job requires working at heights, on steep rooflines and frequently in close contact with both wasps and the bats. This combination can pose a hazard with serious consequences.
Additionally, small oversights can just move the bats to a different part of the attic or even funnel them inside the living quarters. Experience can reduce this risk.