Professional Bat Removal
Humane Bat Removal
If there is one nuisance animal that causes near-unanimous stress and panic, it would be the bat. Bats are a gateway to some of the worst diseases that animals can spread to humans, making them a very important pest to remove from your home as soon as possible. Keep reading to learn more about bats and the different ways you can get them out of your home.
What attracts bats to a property?
No matter where bats are located across the globe, they generally look for two important components to any place they will call home. The Houston Metro area is immensely popular with bats due to the high humidity and hot temperatures, which are perfect for large colonies to raise offspring. The Woodlands area is home to ten species of chiropteran from the more commonly known free-tailed bat to the big brown. As with most animals, the most important requirement is access to as much food as possible. For bats, this means locating different areas that are loaded with a high insect population, as these critters have an insatiable appetite. This makes them a benefit when left to their own devices in their natural habitats such as the Waugh and Watonga bridges. Some bats will eat other foods besides insects, but a majority will take to the skies at night in order to find sustenance. If your yard has many insects, be prepared to deal with bats.
In addition to their food requirements, bats are also very picky about the shelter in the areas they live. The shelter is very important to bats, as an unsafe place to roost can lead to death and can prevent any young they are raising from surviving. Many times, bats will find caves, trees, or other natural shelters that they can live in. When they make their way around humans, however, they will gladly poke around buildings in order to find a hole to get into attics, walls, or even the living quarters of your home.
What problems do bats cause?
While capable of causing damage and ruining your property, bats are one of the most disease-ridden critters in Nature, carrying well over 100 diseases according to various studies. While capable of carrying serious diseases like Marburg, Ebola, and others, bats more commonly are found carrying rabies, salmonella, and other viruses and bacteria that can harm humans. One issue with bats is that there are a few main ways they are able to spread diseases to humans and pets. Being bitten by a bat is a surefire way to get an illness, but their diseases can also be spread through their urine and feces. Finally, bats can contaminate any food products they come into contact with, as well as any surfaces they touch.
Bats are not only a serious threat because of the diseases they spread, but they can also cause damage to your home. More often than not, bats find a way into people’s attics, and here they will make themselves at home. The main destructive action bats take is that they leave feces all over everything. This can stain insulation and other building materials, and it has the potential to lessen the effectiveness of your insulation. The corrosive nature of bat feces can also cause structural weakening of any metals in your home, possibly causing a future repair bill that could be quite expensive. Between the health risks posed to you, your family, and your pets, as well as the property destruction problem, bats should be removed as soon as possible.
How can bats be prevented?
The best way to prevent bats from getting into your home is to keep them from being able to find any entrances into your home! In order to do this, you will want to begin by looking all over your home. Check the exterior of your home and keep an eye out for any holes, cracks, or other entry points. Be sure to look closely at the roof and roofline for any problem areas. Once you check the exterior, check the interior, performing the same process.
If you find any areas that are concerning, there are several ways to go about fixing them. Many problem areas you may find can often be repaired with some all-weather sealant, aluminum sheeting, new lumber, or new shingles. If there are a lot of problem areas that may be beyond your repair level, consider hiring a professional to fix up the areas for you. Another good tip to be aware of is if your chimney does not have a chimney cap, consider buying one, as it can keep many different nuisance animals out. Once you have done these steps, you can rest assured that no bats will get into your home.
How should bats be removed?
For a couple of main reasons, the short answer is that any bat removal should be performed by a licensed and trained professional wildlife control company.First off, bats are very sensitive animals when exposed to stress. If an inexperienced person tries to remove them, they will often die. This is a big hit to Nature, as bats consume large amounts of insects that bother humans. Another big reason is that bat removal can spread bat diseases to you and your family, potentially causing a serious illness. Finally, it can be illegal in some jurisdictions to remove bats from your home or property, so it is often a great idea to just call in a professional. We consider ourselves lucky to be experts in the safe handling and removal of bat species for the Woodlands Metro area.
Why hire Woodlands Wildlife Elimination?
At Woodlands Wildlife Elimination, our experts have been removing bats from homes for years, keeping families safe and comfortable during the removal process. We are a full-service wildlife removal company that not only performs removal services, but also offers attic restoration, exclusion, animal damage repair, sanitation, and odor removal services. If you have a bat problem and live in Houston or the surrounding areas, give us a call at Woodlands Wildlife Elimination!
How to Get Bats Out of the Wall?
Although many people find bats and other animals moving throughout their house or attic every year, some unfortunate few might encounter these animals within their walls. When something like this happens, it can be pretty scary and might seem nearly impossible to fix without damaging your home, although there are a few things you’ll be able to do to make sure everything works out well.
Bats are incredibly shy creatures, for example, and will usually invade someone’s attic or basement to keep out of the noise of a human’s everyday movement. Unfortunately, whether thanks to getting lost or scared, they might find their way into your walls, which provide enough space for the animals to squeeze around an area, while also giving enough cover to noise and chaos.
It can be pretty tough to get bats out of a wall without either resorting to just killing them or tearing your wall open. Fortunately, we’ve got a few ways that should work and help you find out how to get bats out of your wall.
Taking Action
Find the Bats
Whether you see them flying down by the river or fluttering around your neighborhood streetlight, bats are a native species of Texas with the population fluxuating depending upon their species and migratory patterns. The Houston area is home to over 250,000 free-tailed bats alone, with many people coming to view them on ther nightly flight from the Waugh bridge. While it’s amazing to see these creatures in their natural habitat, it’s less delightful when they pop up in your home.
Of course, the first step is to make sure you know where and how many bats there are. When dealing with bats in your wall, it’s essential to make sure you know exactly how many there are and know where they might be roaming about. Otherwise, you put yourself at risk of leaving a bat in your wall to die, which has more than a few negative consequences.
The easiest way to find a bat is to listen for squeaking or rustling within the walls, alongside looking for droppings. Although it might seem like a bat just managed to wander its way into a wall, they’re usually moving in and out via an entrance. Finding dropping might give you a hint as to where the entrance is, giving you a chance to form a plan.
Additionally, if you know where bats enter and exit your home or property already, then you’re already one step closer. Knowing how many bats and where they move is essential in making sure everything is accounted for and ready to go. If you can find an entrance into the wall, then great; feel free to move onto the next section. Otherwise, call a local professional or animal control, as the situation might be a little more delicate.
Getting the Bats Out
If you’ve found an exit or entrance for the bats, then all you need to do is put in a one-way extraction tunnel or attachment and wait. Bats move quite a bit throughout the night, meaning that leaving a spot for them to leave and be locked out could end your problem that easily. Even if you’ve managed to find more than one entrance into your area or walls, you can simply put an extraction/exclusion add-on to as many as you find.
These work as little flaps, allowing bats out, but preventing them from being able to come back in. If they’re free to move to and from your walls, then this is the easiest solution and it’ll clear out the whole group within a few days, as they’ll eventually need to leave for family or food. Otherwise, if any are left or you can’t find a spot to put an attachment, then you’ll need to contact someone.
Either way, there’s a high likelihood that you’ll eventually need to contact a professional – even after bats are removed from your walls, they’ve likely left behind droppings called guano amongst other things. Guano is corrosive and disease-carrying, meaning that it can dissolve certain materials within your wall and potentially get you sick if it’s within an air vent or such. That’s why it’s essential to make sure you contact animal control or a local pro to make sure everything’s covered and good