August Is The Prime Month To Safely Remove And Exclude Bats From Your Home

Perhaps no creature is misunderstood and shrouded in mystery as bats.  Are they birds? Flying rodents? Bats, with their rat-like faces comprised of large, bulging eyes, pointed snouts, sharp teeth, and alien-like ears won’t win any beauty contests. It’s hardly surprising that along with ghosts, goblins, and spiders, bats rank high up on everyone’s Halloween décor.

The fear of bats is no doubt tied to the myths, legends, superstitions, and bad press over the years. Hollywood’s horror films associating bats with mythical vampires, the persistent incorrect beliefs that bats become entangled in people’s hair and that they thrive on human blood doesn’t win these little creatures any popularity contests.

So, what’s the reality of these admittedly unusual creatures. Bats are neither birds nor rodents. They are mammals. There are nearly 1,000 species of bats and New Jersey is home to nine, six are year-round residents and three are migratory. If you run into a bat in New Jersey, it is likely to be the insectivorous Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus). The truth is that bats do far more good then harm. Bats do a phenomenal controlling the insect population, especially bothersome adult mosquitoes. They are vital to our ecosystem and conservation groups are active in their protection

Drew Cowley, founder & co-owner of Cowleys Pest Services and president of the National Wildlife Control Operators Association (NWCOA), often receives frantic phone calls from homeowners who have found a bat suddenly appearing in their kitchen or living room.  There is a usual litany of questions:  “Is it rabid?”  “Will it attack me?”  “What should I do?”  I have not yet heard “Will I turn into a vampire?”   

Perhaps, the most important place to start is what you can’t do. Bats are a protected species. It is illegal for anyone, including animal control officers and professional wildlife removal specialists, to kill bats. Terminal traps and poisonous bait traps should never be used.

That is when it’s time to call a wildlife control specialist, like Little Rascals by Cowleys, who can remove the bats safely and humanely and more important, after eviction, “bat proof” the home to prevent later reentry. Eviction and exclusion are the only safe, permanent remedies.

Close inspection of entry points usually will reveal brown stains caused by body oils where the bats squeeze in and out and possibly a few mouse-like droppings adhering to the building just below. Bats must eat and drink daily. When they emerge at dusk to feed, watch your home to see where they leave. Then closer inspection by a nuisance wildlife specialist will reveal the holes or cracks providing access to a home. 

Common access routes are:

• Under the eaves

• Behind a chimney or loose board

• Beneath a roof’s ridge cap

• Inside an opening made by squirrels or birds

• Loose-fitting screen doors

Once exits have been located, the bats can be excluded. This should not be done when flightless young may be present which is usually in June and July. Excluding the parents will starve the young and create an odor problem from the decaying carcasses. Most bats leave their roosts starting in August and into the fall. This is the time to set up physical barriers, mostly netting, permitting exclusion during their winter absence. Bats are extremely roost-faithful, returning year after year to the same building sites. If exclusionary measures are not implemented, it is highly likely the bats will return. 

It should also be stressed that bats are nuisance wildlife and the same health concerns and precautions that we take with other nuisance wildlife like raccoons, opossums, and skunks, apply equally to bats. Bats can carry rabies, therefore, if you suspect you may have been bitten, or a bat was in the room with you while you were sleeping, contact your health professional immediately. Children, in particular, should be warned to never pick up bats.