Spring Bat Activity
As many Michigan residents and gardeners welcome the Spring with new plantings of flowers, the Big Brown Bat emerges from hibernation in search of food. Bats are specialists at finding insects through the use of echolocation. Early Spring is a good time to conduct a bat exclusion, since bats are active and food is abundant.
Maternity Season:
In SE Michigan, maternity colonies consisting of females with pups, are common begining after the 3rd week in May through late July. Early litters start flying mid July, while late litters start flying by the end of the month.
During this time, an inspection could help identify if a maternity colony or a small group of males are present. During this time, the males roost in a different location than the maternity colony. If you have a maternity colony present, then special care must be taken to consider the young non-flying bats. If a maternity colony is present, we begin the bat exclusion, however we must temporarily leave an exit open so the females can return to feed the pups. Once the young bats can fly, we return to install the one way bat exclusion doors. It only takes a few minutes to add the one-way door and many of the bats will depart that evening, ridding your home of the entire colony within a few days. This process ensures that your home is bat free as soon as possible, rather than trying to get on our exclusion schedule during the busiest time of the year.
Big Brown Bat & Pup, courtesy of Bat World Sanctuary