How to Eradicate Bats  by Yourself?

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eradicate_batsBats can exist inside or outside your house

Eradicating bats depends on the scenario of their existence. You need to follow methods accordingly to send them out.

For instance, they can stay inside your house or outside your house. Sometimes, they enter your house accidentally, while sometimes, they roost in a place from where you cannot send them in a single attempt.

This article guides you with methods you can follow to exclude the bats in two scenarios. The first one is when the bats roost inside your house, and the second is when the bats roost outside your house.

However, before you exclude them, you need to be aware of the fact that, the law in most of the countries is against killing or moving bats.

If you reside in such country then, you might need to take the help of specialists who are authorized to interfere and help you in sending these mammals out of your place.

Section – 1: Eradicating bats inside your house

The activity of excluding bats that roost inside your house involves three main phases. Every phase involves a particular procedure that you need to follow.

1. Phase-1: Timing

You need for wait for right time of the year, during which you can exclude them. Generally, during the maternity period, you can find a nursing colony in their roosting areas.

The maternity period varies in different countries. If you exclude them during this period, the baby bats will be too young to fly. This might result in their death, which is illegal in some countries like UK. A young bat starts to fly once it reaches the age of 5 weeks.

Even if you use bat removal methods like mothballs or garlic or high frequency noise making machines, the mother bats will still be too stubborn to leave their babies, as the babies cannot fly.

It is also not good to exclude bats during winter as it is their hibernating period. It is inhumane to inhibit them during this period as they will not find enough food to survive outside. This might result in insects like mosquitoes springing up in your yard because of the absence of bats.

Maternity period varies in different countries accordingly:

  • In Indiana, the maternity period is during late June till early July. So, mid of August can be the right time to remove them.
  • In countries like United States and Canada, the maternity season falls during the period of 1st of May till 31st of August.
  • In southernmost part of United States, the maternity period starts during the mid of April.
  • In Washington, the period ranges from May till July.

2. Phase-2: Investigate entry and exit points

Investigating entry and exit points for bats needs a lot of ground work, and is time taking. Generally, these are very tiny in size and are mostly unexpected openings.

Never touch them with your bear hands as they carry diseases like rabies, histoplasmosis and many more.

Bat droppings make a great fertilizer but, it is not good to inhale as you might end up with diseases.

Night time is the right period to identify the entry and exit points as they fly out during this time and get in during the early mornings.

Common method to find entry and exit points are:

  • Always wear a thick mask and gloves before you start to visit the place where bats are roosting, to avoid the threat of diseases.
  • Inspect how and when bats are travelling in and out of the house, the place where they are actually residing, the type of damage they are causing, their behavior etc.
  • Find out all the outlets from which they are entering into the house. No matter how tiny the entries are, suspect every opening you find.

Some common areas that you can suspect as entry points are:

  • Imperfectly fixed or cracked or broken screens.
  • Missing or loose tiles or shingles.
  • Where piping and wiring is done for the entire building.
  • Where dormers meet the roof.
  • Where cracks are formed on walls, chimneys, doors or windows.
  • Look for cracks that have gaps as thin as ½ cm wide.
  • Where attic meets the wall.
  • Where porches meet the house.
  • Where fixed boards have become loose, thus forming gaps.

Learn more about how to get rid of bats in various scenarios

3. Phase-3: Inhibit re-entry

Inhibiting the re-entry of bats after their eradication is very important. Or else, you need to suffer their re-existence and repeat procedures numerous times to exclude them.

Usually, you can inhibit them in one of the following three ways:

  1. Screen or Hardware Cloth

Every night, the bats leave out through the exit points in search for food. Not all of them leave at a time, but most of them leave the place. Once you find that most of them have left and there is no other bat intending to leave the place, cover the opening with a screen or fine hardware cloth so that the ones that left will be unable to get in.

Next day, again during the night hours, remove the fixed screen or cloth to let the remaining bats to go out for food. Once they leave, again fix the screen or fine cloth. Repeat the process several times until you are sure that there is no bat existing inside. Then, cover the opening with the sealing so that they can never make a re-entry.

  1. Excluding devices

This method is generally followed by professionals. Exclusion devices are one-way devices through which, the bats will be able to go out naturally, but will be unable to get back in. Using these devices over all the entry points will result in all the exit of all the bats within 2 weeks. Once you are confident that there are no more bats roosting, you can seal all the openings with wood or caulk.

  1. Netting

Another method for bat extermination is to make a one-way device with netting. For this, you need to make a mesh with a lightweight flexible plastic netting that is 1/6th inch or smaller, and cover the openings such that it is fixed only on the sides and the top.

Ensure that the length of the mesh is as long as 18 to 24 inches from the point of lower edge of the opening. Repeat the similar kind of installation for all the openings you find.

This kind of setting enables all the bats to fly out naturally, but will not allow them to get back in. Wait until the area is free from all the bats. It might take around 5 to 7 days and sometimes more. Once you are sure that all of them have left, seal all the openings with wood or caulk or hardware cloth so that they will be away permanently from that area.

Section – 2: Eradicating bats outside your house

Getting rid of bats that exist outside your premises can be done through many methods. However, in this article, we will be discussing about 4 effective methods.

1. Method – 1: Use Mothballs

mothballs

 This is one of the best bat eradication methods one can follow. Take handful of mothballs and sack them up in a cheese cloth. Hang it near the place where the bats roost. The odor will discourage them to fly away from their nesting place.

2. Method – 2: Use Pet Repellants

Spray aerosol dog or cat repellant over the nesting area when the bats are out for their food. Generally, night period is the right time to follow this method.

3. Method – 3: Use Mylar

Hang strips of tin foil or Mylar balloon near the nesting place. This enables to move them off the place in the breeze.

4. Method – 4: Use Water Spray

Water scares the bats, but does not hurt them. Therefore, you can spray the water in the areas where they are nesting. Repeat the process to discourage them to move off the place. You can do this even during the day. Once all of them are out, hang mothballs sack or place Mylar strips or bat repellants over the area they were roosting to discourage them permanently.

Suggestions

  • Wear thick mask and gloves before you attempt to get rid of bats.
  • If a bat falls on the floor, place it onto a dust pan or cover it with a bowl and slide a thin sheet from the beneath such that the bat rests on the sheet. Then let it go after leaving it in a place that is far from your surroundings.
  • Remember that ultrasonic devices work to be unsuccessful in exterminating the bats.
  • If your surroundings is full of bugs and insects, you can let the bats to stay so that they will eat away all of them.

Alerts

  • Never try to touch the bats with bare hands. They are woodland creatures that carry diseases like rabies and histoplasmosis. Also, they might bite you.
  • In some countries, though you are permitted to exclude the bats, you are prohibited by law to use pesticides on them. However, you will be permitted to use few selected pesticides. Ensure that you only them.
  • Attempting to disturb the roosting areas of bats is strictly prohibited by the law in some countries like United Kingdom. Therefore, do not disturb their roosting areas in such countries.
  • Ensure that the active ingredient in mothballs and naphthalene that you are using to eradicate bats is not in so large quantity that it turns to be a health hazard for humans living in surrounding areas.
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