Bats

Bat removal services

Bats are actually a vital part of the ecological system of this planet and can provide a valuable service, but they become a pest when they decide to make your attic their home.

If you have bats on your property, call Western Exterminator. Western Exterminator Technicians are experts in bat removal and prevention. Our specialists will get rid of bat colonies inside of your home and will also identify and block access points to prevent bats from returning.

Call us at 800-937-8398 or fill in the online form to schedule an appointment.

Bat removal methods

Western Exterminator’s bat control methods are designed to relocate the bats by enabling them to humanely exit the structure without allowing them to find their way back in. Our services will not cause any harm to the bats.

Our bat control services include funneling and/or exclusion. Both methods are recommended to eliminate bats inside your home and prevent them from coming back.

How to get rid of bats

Once you have bats inside your home, they can be very hard to get rid of. Getting rid of bats without risking bites and other potential issues requires special skills, tools and knowledge. However, if you can seal up the entry that the bats are using once they have left the attic, bats will likely move on to another location.

The best method of getting rid of bats is to remove them alive and then find a new place for them to set up a home. Some people even have bat houses on their property that bats will use instead of crawling into an attic or beneath the eaves. However, completing bat removal and re-housing effectively without harming the animals can be difficult.

Western Exterminator bat removal and control specialists have the tools and skills to get into those hard-to-reach places that bats will use as their roosting place. Our professionals will treat your house like it was their own, carefully seeking out the bat hiding places and then removing them in accordance with local laws (where necessary). Our state-licensed bat exterminators are trained to perform effective solutions that will completely remove the current infestation and stop bats from coming back.

Bat repellents

DIY bat repellents can harm bats or only cause them to leave your property for a short time. If your property has any unsealed entry points, there is a good chance the bats will return. DIY bat removal methods may get rid of some bats, but if used improperly, the chemicals in the products could have an adverse effect on your family members, including pets.

Western Exterminator does not recommend any DIY bat removal methods and cautions homeowners against using these bat repellent solutions as they will not get rid of the entire bat infestation.

For the most effective bat removal, you should always contact licensed pest control professionals like Western Exterminator that know how to get rid of bats.

Bat prevention tips

Once bats have been removed, steps need to be taken to stop them from coming back. A nest on your property usually means there is damage to your roof or eaves. Bats rarely chew their way through wood or other materials. They also don’t have the strength or claws to break through roofing materials, wood, or other substances to get inside and set up their nests.

Bat prevention is key to keeping them away from your property. Here are some tips to prevent bats:

• Look for any potential access points and seal up cracks.
• Fix roof repairs and remove any other areas bats might use to roost during the daylight hours.
• Remove conditions mosquitoes find attractive as bats feed off of mosquitoes. Effective mosquito control can cause bats to look elsewhere.

Bat species

Bats are found throughout the world. The smallest bat is barely an inch long and is known as the Kitti's hog-nosed bat or bumblebee bat. The largest has wingspans of up to five feet and are called golden-crowned flying foxes. In North America, there are several species that you might see around your home or business including:

• Big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) are medium-sized compared to other bats and their faces and fore-limbs are darker in color, sometimes black. They will roost anywhere they can find during the day including shutters and eaves.
• Red bats (lasiurus blossevillii) are common in the western part of the United States. They are covered in red fur and eat a lot of insects, such as cicadas, moths, and beetles. Red bats like to burrow under leaves during the day.
• California myotis (myotis californicus) are small bats with pale fur. You can often see them at dusk and just before dawn, feeding on flies, moths, and some other flying insects. They like to hide during the day in trees, rock crevices, and sometimes in parts of buildings.
• Little brown bats (myotis yumanensis) are about three inches long. They love to eat flying insects with soft bodies such as moths. Some species will even feed off of insects around the surface of slow-moving water.
• Mexican free-tailed bats (tadarida brasiliensis) are common in the western United States and are fairly small, measuring about three inches long, and most of that is their tail. Their fur is brown and gray, and their large ears help them with their echolocation.

What diseases do bats carry?

Although bats are beneficial in helping control insect populations, such as mosquitoes, and they do things like pollinate plants and spread fruit seeds, they are known as pests for a reason. They are often the source for several diseases such as:

• Rabies - probably the most common disease associated with bats. This is a disease transmitted via bat bite and they can transmit it to animals and people. Rabies makes victims very sick and left untreated is fatal.
• Histoplasmosis - a disease that generally attacks the lungs. It is caused from bat dung (guano) that they leave behind in abundance. A fungus grows in the guano and it can cause this serious illness. Bats that set up colonies in your attic can leave droppings that have the potential to become dangerous.

Bats can also leave behind parasites such as bat bugs, which resemble bed bugs, and have been linked to diseases like marburg, Ebola, nipah and hendra in other parts of the world.