Less than one percent of the bat population contracts rabies, which is a much lower rate of incidence than other mammals. Still, you should not handle or disturb bats, especially those that are active and appear sick during daylight hours. All bat bites should be washed immediately with soap and water, and a physician should be consulted.
Does one bat in the house mean more? One random bat in the house doesn't always mean anything. Most of the people that call us have had at least two or three instances of bats in the house over the last few years though. Multiple bats in your house is a very strong indication of an infestation. Most bat colonies found in houses are maternal colonies.
Process Of Removing Bats From The Attic
Step #1 – Inspection: During the bat inspection we locate entry points & evaluate working conditions for the exclusion process.
Step #2 – Bat Proofing: Every nook and cranny of the building must be sealed up, except for the entrance bats are using.
Step #3 – Bat Exclusion: We use one-way doors to evict bats outside the home and they cannot get back in, hence “one-way door.”
Step #4 – Guano Cleanup: Bats tend to leave a lot of droppings, which is why we offer bat guano cleanup and attic restoration.
How long does a bat live? Between 20 and 40 years. Compared to a similar-sized animal like a rat that lives only two or three years, bats live between 20 and 40 years. Researchers theorize this has to do with the ability of bats to fly.
Why are bats important? By eating insects, bats save U.S. agriculture billions of dollars per year in pest control. Some studies have estimated that service to be worth over $3.7 billion per year, and possibly as much as $53 billion. This value does not, however, take into account the volume of insects eaten by bats in forest ecosystems. U.S. Department of the Interior
Bats are usually able to exist near human homes without making their presence known. However, with decreasing amounts of habitat available for bats (e.g., trees being cleared), bats may find their way into man-made structures. Bats use existing openings (cracks as small as 1 ¼ inch by 3/8 of an inch) to enter buildings or to roost in attics.
There are a wide variety of bat species in the US, though it’s usually the colonizing bat types that cause problems in buildings and require bat removal services.