How to Eliminate & Get Rid of Bats From the Attic
Bats comprise 1,000 species of mammals under the order Chiroptera. A single bat can eat as many as three thousand insects per night, equivalent to half its weight. While bats can be considered pests when they enter the attic and their droppings can spread diseases, it is illegal to kill them because many species of bats are endangered. When bats enter your house, the only legal way to deal with them is to exclude them from your home. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Observe and Investigate
-
1
Stand outside at dusk and wait for the bats to exit your attic. Because bats are nocturnal animals, they must go out at night to feed on insects to survive.
-
2
Take note of where the bats are exiting from your house. Because bats are typically very quiet creatures, it is difficult to know how large of a problem you have. Observing them as they exit will give you an idea of how many bats are in your attic and home and where they are entering and exiting the attic.
-
-
3
Go to your attic and look inside. Any bats you see in the attic are babies or pups that are too young to fly. Because of their presence, you will have to wait before you can successfully eliminate your bat infestation. Once the mature bats are no longer able to return to the attic, the pups will die of starvation or crawl down the walls into your home in search of food.
Eliminate by Exclusion
-
4
Locate all of the outside exit points during the day while the bats are asleep and there is no risk of them entering or exiting the attic. Take note of any less obvious gaps or cracks that are as small as 1/4-inch.
-
5
Seal all of the exterior exit points leading from the attic to the outside of the house using caulk or heavy duty mesh. Leave one or two exits uncovered.
-
6
Place exclusion netting over the uncovered outside exits. This will allow the bats to fly out but not re-enter.
-
7
Walk through the inside of your house. Look for any cracks or gaps in the walls or ceiling that the bats can use as a means of exiting out of your attic and into your home. Seal off all of the openings that you find.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Bats can enter spaces as small as 3/8-inch.
Bats give birth during the late spring. Depending on where you live, attempting to eliminate bats from your attic during the summer months, early summer in particular, may result in baby bats dying and rotting in your attic.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit fruit bats 6. image by mdb from Fotolia.com
