Bat Removal And Its Challenges
Bat removal is always a challenging topic to discuss with homeowners. A colony of bats can devastate an attic space with urine and guano (bat poop). The cleanup and restoration of an attic can be very expensive and time consuming, often costing thousands of dollars. Complicating the situation even further, most bats are federally protected and to maintain conservation goals, can not be evicted between May 1st and July 31st. As you might expect this doesn’t sit well with a lot of homeowners, they will likely hear sounds coming from the attic and may have an errant bat make its way into the living areas of the home (more on this later).
The eviction moratorium provides time for the new pups to be born and mature. It takes several weeks for a pup to be able to fly and gain independence. If an eviction occurs before the pups are ready only the mothers end up being removed from the home, which leaves the pups to die in the attic space. This ultimately creates a worse situation for the homeowner. You now have maternal bats trying to get back to their young, and bat pups trying to find a way to their mother. This can quickly result in bats ending up in the living spaces of the home, trying to find a way in or out. Young bat pups are notorious for crawling their way down inside the wall and dying.
Bats Roosting in an attic of an older home.
So what can be done? During the moratorium, we will inspect the interior and exterior of the home and make repairs to ensure that a bat does not find its way into the living space. We will review the damage and entry points with the homeowner, provide a plan of action and start work immediately after the moratorium is lifted. It is important to get in contact with a Wildlife Control Agent now so that the work can be scheduled as soon as possible.
If you are hearing strange sounds in your attic or noticing a lot of bat activity around your home, give us a call at (336) 915-7373 to see how we can help.
Some additional facts about bats:
Only 1% of bats carry rabies, but if you suspect you were bit you should professional medical advice right away.
Bats do not intentionally swoop at you and are excellent at avoiding obstacles, they can bite if threatened or cornered but are not aggressive creatures towards humans.
Bats are excellent at keeping the bug populations in check, eating several thousand bugs a night on average.
Bats have a significant impact on food production by eating insects that would otherwise harm crops such as corn. Which in turn can significantly reduce the amount of pesticides needed to protect crops, the savings for farmers is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.
