Small brown bats, common in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, may hibernate for more than six months. With the arrival of warm weather and insects, bats too emerge in search of food. In their hunt, they may find their way into your home and decide it makes a nice area to roost. Any suspected bat invasion should be dealt with as soon as possible as these pests create an unhealthy living environment through exposure to rabies and histoplasmosis. Bats can also damage insulation and may cause a severe odor problem.
Despite their unsanitary nature, bats are extremely beneficial to our ecosystem, in part by controlling insect populations by eating 500 to 1,000 mosquitoes or other similar sized insects per hour. At Northern Pest, we recognize the importance in conserving these mammals. Depending on your geographical location and the time of the year, shortly after breeding season for bats, any exclusion work (evicting bats by the installation of check valves, one-way doors that allow bats to leave but not re-enter) may have to wait. The reason? Because any juvenile bats that are in your attic are still unable to fly. They will starve to death if their mother exits the den to feed and is unable to return due to the check valves and seal work recently completed. Usually, by the end of August, juvenile bats have matured and have flown the roost!
Juvenile bats can present another problem. Much like children, young bats are a bit clumsy and can end up in odd places by coming inside through open windows, chimney flues, exhaust pipes, or via a gap in the soffit or the ridge vent. Once inside, a young bat may not know how to get back out. Undoubtedly, a bat within the home is troubling to most people, and many customers have called us for a singular sighting of one.
The best time of year to complete bat-work is between May and July. If you need to wait until after August, try to get something done before the first constant frost (usually October-November) as not to disrupt an overwintering colony.
To lower the risk of a bat problem:
- Seal up any entry points
- Trim trees away from the roof and exterior siding
- If you hear scratching and clawing sounds coming from the walls or ceiling, especially at night, call Northern Pest to deal with a suspected bat invasion!
For safe, humane removal of bats, call Northern Pest. After a thorough inspection to identify entry points, we install check valves that allow bats to exit and prevent them from returning. Once the colony has vacated, the valves are removed, and the entry points are sealed to prohibit re-entry. After a bat exclusion, the cleanup process can begin, and any restoration repairs required can be done. Contact us to learn more about our process.
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Northern Pest: Our family serving yours! We are licensed and insured to provide insect and wildlife pest control. Our crew has the expertise to track wildlife entry points and remove pests of all kinds, including our licensed builders, who can make any of the necessary repairs caused by wildlife. Northern Pest is a member of the MDAT and the NWCOA. We are certified by the IICRC to offer professional mold mitigation services caused by animal damage. At Northern Pest, we do it all!
Written by the digital marketing team at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com