Finding bats hanging from the rafters in your attic can be unnerving. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to get the bats out. Below you will find information on how the bats got in and how to remove them.
Entry Points
Bats are small and can easily squeeze through most entry points into your home. This could be small spaces under the edge of your roof or even tiny crevices in the walls. You can look to see if you can find where they are coming in by looking at droppings. Droppings are small and dark brown. You will see these on the walls outside your home.
It can be difficult to find where bats are getting in, but it is important that you do so.
Get them Out
Bats will not generally try to harm you and they are intelligent and not aggressive in any way. Bats do harbor diseases, such as rabies. If you find bats, you will likely not see a lot of them as they do not have many babies per year.
In order to get the bats out you should contact an animal removal or pest control company. They will know how to do this safely, so they do not harm the bats. The main way these companies get the bats out is to determine where they came in first. They will then install a device that allows the bats to leave but the bats will not be able to reenter. This is why this is known as a one-way device.
It is very important that you do not seal up any entry points until the bats are safely out. You do not want them to die inhumanely, such as starvation. You also do not want the smell of dead bats coming from your attic.
Repair Damage
Once the bats are completely out you will likely have damage in your attic. For example, may need to reinstall insulation and you may find things chewed through, such as wood.
Once the repairs are made double-check that all entry points are sealed. You should then have no problems with the bats coming back. Most bats do not even like going into attics. They will do so if they feel threatened by a predator or if the weather becomes very cold and they have a baby bat.
The animal removal or pest control company can give you much more information about bats and tips on keeping them out.
