Bat Removal and Control
Consider the following scenario: you’re watching television with your family late one autumn evening. You’ve been hearing strange noises in your attic for a while, but you believe it’s just the mice you have difficulties with every fall or the birds that haven’t taken down their nest in your eaves. Then you go into the kitchen to have a snack and find yourself in a fight with a bat. So, what exactly do you do?
After you’ve calmed down and stopped panicking and fleeing from the bat, check the situation and determine if the bat has made its way out of your home. If you find the bat again, you should call a Fort Wayne bat removal expert. You should still call if you can’t find the bat, and you should possibly call more because you can’t find the bat than if you can. It doesn’t imply they’re gone just because you can’t find them. A single missing bat in your house, on the other hand, usually means an entire batty family has taken up home in your attic.
The time of day or the cost of bat removal in Fort Wayne should not be taken into account. It is quite risky to live in a house with bats. If you are sleeping, they can bite you without you even realizing it, and their guano creates harmful air for you to breathe. If you can’t get a bat removal Fort Wayne company out to your house right away, you might want to consider staying someplace else until the bat problem is resolved. It may appear that leaving them alone will be alright, but do you really want to put your family in danger by doing so?
What Is A Bat?
Bats are the world’s only flying mammals. They are nocturnal, sleeping in enclosed nests during the day and flying out to feed at night. The majority of bats use echolocation to navigate. They emit ultrasonic pulses and can visualize a detailed depiction of their surroundings by timing the echo.
A bat’s size is determined by its species. Smaller bats, such as the common tiny brown bat, have a wingspan of a few inches and a body the size of a human thumb. The larger mastiff bat, North America’s largest, with a wingspan of up to 2 feet.
Each year, a female bat will have one pup. They breed throughout the late summer and early autumn in North America and give birth in the early summer. Little brown bats can live for many years in the wild, with some reaching the age of 30.
When food becomes short in the winter, bats will either migrate or hibernate. This is very common in bats that live in colder climates. Because of the mild weather, residents in southern areas such as Georgia and Florida can keep active all year. Those who do migrate will almost always return to the same roost when they return to the area.
What Are The Dangers Of Bats In The Attic?
Bats are extremely valuable to the environment and are almost completely harmless to people in the wild. Bats, though, can be dangerous in or near your home. The danger isn’t from a bite, however, you can get bitten if you come too close to one on purpose or by mistake. Bats, on the other hand, produce “guano,” which is full of bacteria and corrosive to your attic, especially as infestations expand. Bat guano has a foul odor, produces mold, and can be quite harmful.
Bats are also well-protected in homes. Nighttime protection is provided by outside shingle siding. Attics and barns are extremely safe places to be. Bats will seek out any spot where they may reside without risk of predators and sleep comfortably during the day, and these spaces are usually found near human habitations.
Bat colonies can expand to encompass hundreds of bats if they are left undisturbed for years. Even the tiniest colonies are vulnerable. While bites are uncommon, any wild animal that feels threatened will bite. Bats are disease carriers. Because their bodies can harbor viruses that are harmless to bats but dangerous to people, bat bites are treated as urgent medical emergencies. Bats serve as hosts for the following diseases:
- Rabies — Bats account for the majority of animal-to-human rabies transmissions, with about 5% of bats in the United States having the virus. It can be spread through a bite or scratch. While strange behavior, such as daytime activity or the inability to fly, could be an indication of rabies, the only way to know for sure is to have a lab test, so avoid approaching any animals. Rabies is not necessarily fatal if treated promptly, although it is almost always fatal if left untreated.
Inhaling a fungus found in bat droppings causes histoplasmosis, a lung illness. It is typically found in the eastern and mid-Atlantic regions, and symptoms worsen in direct proportion to spore exposure. Fever, skin rashes, chest and joint pain are among the symptoms, which can develop to long-term respiratory problems, particularly in people with compromised immune systems. - Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that can be found in bat urine. Contact with the bacteria, especially if it comes into contact with an open wound, can result in fever, vomiting, liver and kidney damage, and even death.
- Other zoonotic viruses have historically been transmitted from bats to people, however, the risk of transfer from bats to humans is quite low. Bats can scratch if they feel threatened, and while their scratches are unlikely to contain viruses, they may contain bacteria such as salmonella, which can be uncomfortable and lead to infection.
Bats aren’t known for being aggressive. During removal, however, they might be aggressive. When someone tries to handle a bat, either because it was found injured on the ground or because they tried to get rid of bats without experience, the vast majority of bites and scratches occur. Cleaning up after an infestation necessitates extreme caution and the use of specialized equipment.
For these reasons, it’s vital to get rid of bats as quickly as possible, and hiring a professional bat removal business is typically a good choice.
What Are The Signs Of Bat Infestation?
There are numerous indicators that a bat infestation is present. If you hear squeaking and scratching noises coming from inside your home at night, it’s possible you have bats on your property. Bat colonies are most frequently detected in residential houses by spotting them. Bats are nocturnal, meaning they only come out at night to eat insects. When they take flight from their roosts, they are difficult to miss.
It’s critical to act quickly if you uncover a bat colony in your home. Bats build their nests and “use” the areas where they live, resulting in massive messes, persistent scents, dirty drywall, and ripped insulation. Electrical wiring can also be chewed by them. The more time the bats spend inside the house, the more damage they cause. Their urine and droppings will produce a strong stink that will penetrate into the main portions of the building or residence after a long period of time. It can also cause discoloration and spots on ceilings and walls. The worse the damage, the more expensive the restorations and repairs will be.
Bat Removal from the attic and other areas can be a perilous DIY project. In any circumstance, bats should never be hurt or killed. To deal with the problem, it is strongly advised that you contact a local animal control company. Make certain to hire a bat-specific company. Using a typical pest control company can be useless since they don’t apply the required tactics or keep the necessary bat exclusion equipment on hand. As previously stated, bat removal should never use extermination or other hazardous methods. Bats should always be protected and removed from structures in a safe and compassionate manner. It’s a good idea to examine the company’s references and make sure they’re licensed and insured. This demonstrates that they are well-prepared for the task. One of the most important aspects of properly removing bats is knowing how to hire a trustworthy bat removal company.