STATEWIDE   TOLL   FREE

1-888-488-7720
how to get rid of bats infographic

How to Get Rid of Bats

    Steps to get rid of bats:

  1. Why We Want to Keep Bats Around
    Bats are helpful creatures to have nearby because they eat bugs such a mosquitoes. Keeping bats around is beneficial, but not when they occupy a place in your home such as your attic. The only type of bat that lives in buildings are insect eating bats. Each bat eats more then 2,000 insects a day so bats are very beneficial to have around. Just like humans, bats are a social creature. Bats usually live in colonies that can contain hundreds to thousands of them. People usually do not have a single bat problem but problems with the bat colonies. It is best to get rid of bats in a humane way for many reasons. Bats help keep the pes and bug population down and depending on where you live it could be illegal to kill bats.

  2. When to Get Rid of Bats
    A good time to get rid of your bats is around May 1st through August 31st. You will want to move the bats at this time and no sooner due to the possibility of baby bats living among the colony. You don't want to remove the bats for several reasons if pups are in the colony. First reason is that the pups will die if they are not big baby bat on wall enough to fly out. Second reason is that you don't want bat carcasses left behind. The carcasses can be really hard to find and dispose of. Finally, you don't want to kill the bats because they get rid of pesky bugs and it is cruel to harm such a helpful animal.

    If you live in Washington State, avoid removing the bats in May, June, and July.

    In some places bats are active through hibernation season. Others hibernate or migrate during cold seasons, which makes some think that bat are a seasonal problem. Moving bats in the winter may be a bad idea because bats hibernate during the cold season and the lack of food in the winter would result in death for the bats. Without the bats the increase in insects and pests such as mosquitoes will arrive in the spring. We like our insect eaters so lets keep them around!

    Allstate Animal Control is here to help, so if you need bats removed as soon as possible animal control will make sure the job is done right.

  3. Allstate Animal Control will protect your health by not only getting rid of the creatures for you, but also cleaning up the feces they leave behind. Our perfessionals handle it all so you don't have to.

  4. Places to Check for Bat Entrances
    bat entrance It is hard to get rid of bats because they are small and resourceful. They can enter by cracks or small holes as big as 1/4" x 3/4". You might be looking for a smaller point of entry then you realized.

    Bats can get in your house via:

    1. Wobbly or absent floor boards, shingles, or titles.
    2. Gaps and splits near chimneys, windows, or doors.
    3. Screens that may be broken or have crevasses in them.
    4. Where pipes or wiring are insert in the building.
    5. Where the porch comes alongside the house or dormers encounter the roof.
    6. Where the walls fit against the edge of the over hang of the roof where it connects to the attic.
  5. Locate Bats by Droppings
    A good way to find Bats is to follow the trail of poop. Bat feces should be around the entrance of where they are getting inside. The dropping will probably be below or on the entrance. If you can't find how they are getting inside by looking for and finding droppings then at night watch where they are surfacing.

    Information About Bat Droppings
    bat droppings on wall Bat poop contain insects of which they eat, so bat poop is shinny in the sun and the touch is flaky. Bat droppings can be mistaken for mice droppings because they look the same, but they have different textures. Mice poop is hard where bat poop is crumbly when poop is old.

    Bat poop can make a great fertilizer, but try to avoid breathing in their feces. Bat droppings can cause histoplasmosis. Histoplasmosis is a disease caused by breathing in airborne fungus from an area with bat droppings.

  6. Get Rid of Bats
    Bats might have multiple places they enter a building. You can seal up all the entrances except the main one. Make sure you leave the main entrance available for them so you can use this to allow them to leave that way you don't have any bat carcasses left to cleanup. Use a one-way device that allows the bats to leave but not to enter. Once all the bats have left, remove the one-way tool and seal the bat entrance.

  7. Block Bat Entrance
    Allstate Animal Control can help you finally get rid of bats once and for all. The opening must be fixed, sealed, or replaced, but only after the bats have been removed. Our professionals can offer repairs to seal up your home from allowing bats to re-enter your home.

  8. Cleaning Up Bat Feces
    dirt left in garage After the bats have been removed from your home the next step is to cleanup after them. Cleaning up after bats is the most unpleasant part of getting rid of bats. After getting rid of bats in the house bats leave behind their feces, parasites, urine, and other nasty biohazards. After bats have been removed they can also leave behind other dead bats. Bat poop can be really bad for your health when inhaled and can result in histoplasmosis. You must wear proper protection when cleaning up after bats like masks with filters, air scrubbers and vacuums. Without proper protection you could become ill and spread infection to others. Our professionals are skilled, qualified, and ready to get rid of bats and their feces and clear of their waste appropriately with federal regulations.

How to Get Rid of Bats in the Attic

bats in attic

An attic has certain traits for a bat that acts like a cave. Bats like dry warm areas to live in, especially to raise their pups. Inspect all holes and cracks that the bats could use to get into your attic. The holes could be as small as half an inch. Find which hole the bats use as their main entrance and exit and patch up all other holes. One-way devices need to be installed to let the bats come out but not in such as a exclusion net. Once all bats are out of your attic seal the last hole up. Cleanup after the bats is necessary afterwards to make sure all harmful feces are gone.

How to Get Rid of Bats in the Chimney

Bats roost in your chimney due to the warmth it provides and the shelter from predators. Bats are usually harmless creatures and you don't want to kill them, especially during offspring season. Bats won't ruin your chimney and fireplace, but their poop can cause health problems, so you don't want them to stay in your house to long.

To get rid of bats in the chimney the first thing you DO NOT want to do is start a fire: this is a bad idea. If you start a fire, the bats will flood into your living room and scatter into holes to hide.

Bats enter using horizontal holes not vertical, so it is most likely that they are getting in somewhere else and not in through the top. Find cracks that lead into your fireplace. The easiest way to search is by evening time and watches the bats exit through the point of entry. To get rid of the bats, an exclusion device of a one-way exit is needed. This allows the bats to exit and not re-enter. Make sure your fireplace is sealed up inside your house, so the bats don't come out that way. Make sure all other cracks that the bats can use as an entrance to get back in are closed before you set up the one-way device. Once the bats are gone the bat poop needs to be cleaned. Protection provisions must be used while cleaning up the bat droppings for your safety.

How to Get Rid of Bat Droppings

Bat droppings, also known as guano, have a fungus that, when breathed in, causes Histoplasmosis. Histoplasmosis of the mildest form might not produce any symptoms, but severe infection from Histoplasmosis can have symptoms of fever, chills, headaches, dry cough, chest pain, and muscle aches. When cleaning up bat poop make sure to where filter masks and gloves. The most common way of getting Histoplasmosis is breathing in the fungus during cleanup when it becomes airborne.

bat poop in insulation

Before getting rid of bad droppings make sure you have followed the steps of how to get rid of the bats from their nesting place. Use a outdoor vacuum to suck up all the poop that lays on flat ground. After sucking up the feces, wash the area with enzyme-based cleaner.

If bats roosted in the attic removed all insulation that has been contaminated with bat feces. If the insulation is contamination is mild then applying it with cleaner will work. The best way to make sure the whole area is covered in cleaner to decontaminate the bat droppings is to use a electric atomizer which is a fogger that will fog the enzyme-based cleaner. The fogger will contaminate the whole area leaving it sterilized after bats have roosted in the area.

Allstate Animal Control is here to help. You call all us and we will cleanup the bat poop for you!

How to Get Rid of Bats in the House

Bats Flying in Your House
bats inside house If there are flying bats in your house the best way to get them out is by cornering them into a room where you can open a window or a door that doesn’t have a screen. Most likely that is how the bat got inside is through a big open space by accident. Shoo them out by making their flying space smaller and closer to the window or door. To do this have two people hold the ends of a sheet and slowly bring it to the open window or door. Make sure you are not using tennis rackets and brooms to get them to leave the house. The best way to get a bat to leave is to turn of the lights and get rid of all sounds because bats see by their hearing. If you ever pick up the bat make sure to wear thick leather gloves for protection.

Bats Roosting in Your House
If bats are roosting in your house the best way to get rid of them are the instructions above.

How to Get Rid of Bats in Siding

You never want to kill the bats. Killing such helpful creatures in cruel and can be illegal depending on where you live. Always check the right season to get rid of your bats. To get bats out of your siding seal up all holes except one. You need to leave them one place to exit. Place a one-way exclusion device, net or tube that allows them to exit but not enter. After all the bats have left the siding then seal up the last hole. You should not have any more bat problems with that siding anymore. If you have a small left from the bats, then you will want to cleanup their feces with much care due to health issues.

How to Get Rid of Bats in the Walls

caught a bat

Before getting rid of bats in the walls always check the appropriate time for ridding your bats. Bats get in places with small holes and cracks. Bats aren't very big so the wholes they get into are going to be small. The best way to get rid of bats that is humane is to place one-way exclusion devices at the holes they use to enter and exit the roosting area. Make sure all other holes are sealed except for their main entrances. Placing one-way devices at the holes allows them to exit and not enter. Bats will leave their roost and their feces behind. It might smell and it is best to cleanup their poop due to the fungus that can cause health problems.

How to Get Rid of Bats in Vents of the House

patching holes in roof

To make sure there are not baby bats roosting in the vents check which months are the best to get rid of bats. The best way to get rid of bats is the block every possible entrance they might be getting in from except their main entrances. To find out what holes they are getting in and out from is to wait until evening and spot them flying out. The holes they are using for their main entrance hook up an exclusion device that allows them to exit, but not enter. Make sure all the other holes are sealed so they re-enter through those cracks. After the bats have left the house make sure you cleanup their feces because bat poop and bat carcasses can cause health problems.

How to Get Rid of Bats on the Roof

patching the roof

First make sure it is the proper season to get rid of the bats. If it is the right season then you can start the process of getting rid of them. Find where they are getting in. The best way to find out is to watch them fly out of their holes in the evening time. Finding their main point of entry you will want to hook up an exclusion device to allow them to come out, but not go back in. You will want to seal or fix all other holes they might be able to get back in at. When all the bats are gone you can seal up the main point of entry. Once you get rid of the bats from your roof you are going to want to cleanup the bat poop for your health.

How to Get Rid of Bats on Your Porch

Always check the season before trying to trying to get rid of the bats. You do not want to kill the bats. They help with getting rid of pesky insects of all kind.

bat droppings on floor

A few things you can try to get rid of them is to use moth balls. Fill a cloth with mothballs and tie the cloth to form a bag. Place the bag from the ceiling or lay it on the floor near the bats roosting area. Bats can be stubborn creatures and may not want to move due to mothballs, but hopefully the mothballs will disrupt their roosting area and vacate the region.

If mothballs don’t work then you can try using a dog and cat repellent spray. Squirt the repellent in the area the bats usually nest. Do not spray the repellent on the bats, just the area.

Lastly, you can spray the bats will a little water to annoy them. Do not hurt the bats.

To cleanup the bats feces after they left can be a health hazard, so make sure you are wearing protective masks and gloves.

How to Get Rid of Bats in the Barnyard

Check the season to make sure there are not baby bats roosting in your barn or that they are not hibernating. You do not want to kill bats because bats are extremely helpful. Bats eat bugs and help keep down the insect population. If it is season where all bats can leave and fly without any of them dying.

bats inside

If your barn can be patched up then follow the instructions of how to get rid of bats above. If you have an open barn or a barn that has too many holes, cracks, and small opening then the next option is to use mothballs. Tie some mothballs into a cloth that makes a sack. Put the sack of mothballs above their nest and hopefully it will annoy the bats enough to leave. Also animal repellent will help get them out. Do not squirt the bats with repellent, but spray the area the bats roost in with the dog or cat repellent. Make sure the area where the bats roosted is cleaned up. Bat feces can be harmful to your health so make sure to protect yourself from their droppings.

To help the bats move on and not enter your barn, you can set up a bat house. The bats might not take to it, but if you make it a nice roosting place and put it in a safe area the bats might move to the bat house and stay away form your barn. This also keeps them in the area to kill all insects around you.

Need Help Getting Rid of Bats?

If you are having problems, or don't want to deal with the bats yourself after reading this article, please give us a call at 1-888-488-7720, we are experts on how to get rid of bats!