how to get rid of bats

How To Get Rid Of Bats

While the giant vampire bat is extinct and only occupied small areas of central and south America, the idea of them still terrifies, and while most bats eat fruit or insects and have no interest in going near a human, they simply seem terrifying. The way they leave a cave, or your attic, in a screaming flock. The way they sleep upside down and just look like rats with wings. They are not something anyone wants in their attic. Prevention and removal are not as hard as you would think but will definitely require going on the roof and climbing a ladder. So if that is not something you are ready to do you can call a professional wildlife removal company who can do all the work for you and even offer a great warranty on the service, just in case the bats come back.

The truth about bats is they are generally inoffensive and stay far away from anything bigger than them. They travel in flocks because they are small and an easy meal for many nocturnal birds of prey along with animals on the ground who can snatch a bat clean out of the air. They are like your parents told you about spiders, more afraid of you than you are of them. Bats are also not related to rodents at all. They do not have incisors that continue to grow and do not have many of the aspects a rodent would have, like squirrels, mice and rats. They are simply an incredible demonstration of something called convergent evolution. Convergent evolution is the process used to describe two animals that look the same, have similar parts and yet have no connection at all genetically. They simply look alike. Bats are not rodents and they are not birds either. They are winged mammals that care for their young in a long-term familial way similar to other mammals and humans as well. The batwing is also very different from the bird’s wing because it contains a hand as well as having totally different bone structure and general aesthetics. The bat is like the platypus, just a fun part of nature that seemed to come from nowhere. Bats are the only mammal in the world that can fly.

big brown bat hanging on the treeBats are nocturnal but unlike rodents, they can see perfectly fine in the day. They are cave dwellers in the wild and need a place to sleep the is shielded from the sun. The cave ceiling also gives them something to grab onto. They will use an attic in the same way as the winter approaches or simply for a nice place to sleep for any time of year. The bats that live in caves in groups are generally females with babies taking care of them in a group. When a bat does not have a cave to live in they will live under bridges, in hollow logs and anywhere that is covered with an entrance about half a foot in size. This can easily be your soffits.

Most bats eat insects, their favourites include mosquitoes, moths and beetles. They also like sweet and juicy fruit like mango, soft fruit like banana and just about any fruit they can find. So if you have fruit trees in your yard the bats will most definitely come to eat them at night and then roost in your attic for the day.

One fascinating part of bat anatomy is their ability to use echolocation outside of the water. Water slows sounds down allowing animals to use it for direction. In the earth’s, airy atmosphere sound travels at incredible speeds yet the bat is capable of reading these signals and using them for guidance and locating small insects in total darkness.

If you have bats in your attic there are two things you will need to do. The first is either to hire a wildlife technician or to get steel mesh and a one-way door. The one-way door can be attached to the main entranceway the bats used to get in and will allow them to leave but prevent them from getting back in. The steel mesh will be needed to seal areas around the one way door and to seal other opening and the main entrance when the bats have left. The other important treatment is to fill the attic with Naphthalene. This can be found in mothballs. Go up into the attic late at night when there should be few to no bats inside. Throw handfuls of mothballs everywhere and then leave quickly. While they are not dangerous they are very protective of their children. This will get them out of the attic for good. And if you have an ongoing issue with this type of situation the installation of a light fixture in the attic that can remain on at all times would solve the issue completely.

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