It’s partly because of social platforms such as Instagram that we develop expectations
and have experiences we wouldn’t ordinarily have.
Still, a lot of the experiences are in our dreams, especially when expectations and reality are not the same. What we see in a film about bats or bat removal and what is reality could be two entirely different meanings.
The media create such perfect pictures that we’re often disappointed or confused when reality hits us. It doesn’t matter if it’s a travel destination, a clothing line, or bat removal services, sometimes it’s difficult to match what really is to the dream advertising just sold to the public.
While bats do not come out of the ‘bat cave,’ they do set up a nesting place in your house. Although scary and annoying, these squatters are a helpful and needed species. Bats eat around a thousand or more mosquito-sized insects within an hour, according to Bat Conservation International. There are bat families that spread seeds, feed on crop-killing insects, and pollinate plants.
Still, that doesn’t mean that bats should camp out in a person’s attic. Most people’s attics are unfinished so they don’t use the space.
How to Get Rid of Bats in Your Attic
To improve the attic insulation, you have to first complete the bat removal and the contaminated insulation. Laws protect bats in some states so they are important beings. You cannot use bat poison to exterminate or kill a bat in the U.S Texas.
It’s not enough to just get rid of the vermin, however. There’s a stench you must eliminate. You can experiment with a few brands, but a good stain cleaner and odor remover spray work wonders.
Bat experts remove bats by a process known as “exclusion,” in which they seal a structure on all but key entrances/exits. They equip the openings with one-way doors that allow bats to escape while prohibiting reentry. When it comes to bat elimination, timing is of the essence. From May to August, female bats have at least one birth.
Most people do the exclusion either in the spring when insects come out (before the pups are born), or after the young bats learn to fly. Of course, this is most likely during the beginning of fall. You want to make sure that no baby bats are trapped inside the building. Little brown bats hibernate for the winter so they migrate by the time the first frost appears.
Because bats can squeeze through tiny openings, bat removal experts caulk every entry point. The opening can be as minute as 1 3/8th of an inch and they can still penetrate the point of entry. Bats leave out of different holes that they came out of. The best time to caulk is during the day while it’s hot and dry outside and so it will be hard by nightfall. Caulking is easy to apply, and it dries clearly so you don’t see it. Not only that, but it’s flexible.
How to Deter Bats from Roosting
Bats will come back to the place they normally roost, especially one that they have been coming to for a long time. Providing them with a bat house or a new roosting place nearby increases the likelihood they will choose to live there rather than inside your attic.
Before late spring, place a bat house as close to the previous bat door as possible because they unconsciously fly back to their favorite entry points. It could be in a small crack near the chimney or somewhere else in your home, but the higher, the better.
Any place above 15 feet is optimal for a bat house and don’t forget a colony of bats can live in a small place. How many are in a colony of cedar bats? It could be a few hundred or more. Stick to these bat removal suggestions as close as possible to avoid a colony.