Getting Rid of Bats

Cherokeekid88

Cherokeekid88

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Location
High Point, NC
So it appears that I have some bats roosting.....

My wife noticed some dropping on our fence right under our roof vents for the attic. You can see the droppings on the siding coming down to the fence on both sides of the house.

From what I have read, it seems they usually hang out inside the actual vents and not in the actual attic. Seems they like the heat that comes from the attic.

I checked up in the in the garage and upstairs and it seems the dropping are inside the attic but only near the vents, which leads me to believe they are not actually inside the attic.

I know that I can get some screen to put up on the inside, but I would have to wait till after they have left for the night and Im not so sure if there are any pups up there or not and I know that bats are protected right?

I want to get rid of the droppings, but can I use a pressure washer to clean up the areas around the roof line or is it best to get a pro?
 
I would want to keep them around, just not in the house. block off the entrance and create another home for them. Really good bug exterminators..
 
Only downside to bats is the guano. It stinks like all hell when its fresh. They are good roommates otherwise.
 
I don't mind them...I just don't want them in my attic. I guess putting up a screen is really my only option. Just don't want to go up there whenever they might be up there with their pups if there are any.
 
I've actually built 2 bat houses and put them up on my property trying to encourage some to move in close. They do like the heat and the draft from the soffit vents. Bat houses are built to draft air through them. Maybe you could build one and put it close to where they are roosting. Here's a site that I got alot of good info from.....

http://www.batmanagement.com/Batcentral/batcentral.html
 
you need to put up a 1 way door first. Also need to make sure you eliminate all other points of entry other than this 1 vent.

basically this is a screen on the enterior of the vent. attach the screen on the top and part way down the sides, and extend the screen below the vent for a few inches. this will allow them to fly out under the screen at night but they cannot re-enter the vent. Wait a few days to a week for them to all leave, and button it up. Bats do not hunt every night, it could be a few days for some of them to leave.

you need to find out if there are pups there. You are not allowed to evacuate them when it is mating season, as the pups will die in your attic.

The above site is a good one for all kinds of bat info.

If you plan to build bat houses, make sure you have your house sealed upm because they will come in eventually when you invite them around.

You can pressure wash the house and clean out the attic. I would recommend wearing masks, gloves, breathing apparati because the guano can be harmful when airborne. Most of the time, they will completely remove the insulation or effected materials and replace, vs cleaning because of inhalant concerns.
 
Back in high school, I did some temporary work cleaning bats out of the attic at New London's elementary school. The one way door they used was basically a PVC pipe with nails/screws inserted at angles. That way they could make it out, but the points wouldn't let them back in without hurting themselves. Then after a month, they just sprayed great stuff into the PVC to seal it all up. I think the screen over the vent would look better though!
 
I was just having this problem in my shop vents. Did some research and they hate moth balls. I put some up one day and they have not come back at all.
 
This usually does the trick:

aupload.wikimedia.org_wikipedia_en_c_c6_Bat_signal_1989_film.jpg
 
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