One good thing about nature is it’s predictable: the seasons change in pretty much the same way every year, night follows day, and animal behavior follows annual patterns. Bats are a perfect example of this. In late fall, bats will fatten-up as much as they can and then find a deep, dark cave somewhere underground. Abandoned mines are another favorite place for them to hibernate all winter. But, when winter is over, they’ll once again make their way into the open.

Spring Bat Behavior

Once above ground in the spring, bats will try to find an elevated area to build a colony. One of their favorite places to set-up shop is in the attics and upper-levels of people’s homes. Bats are nocturnal so they may escape detection all season since you are active at different times. They are also not as horrible as they look. Rabies is not as widespread as once assumed and they will tend to avoid humans, anyway. Not only do they usually stay out of your way, but you may notice an enormous decline in your insect population since each bat can consume around 3,000 insects a night.

As the insects re-emerge, the bats will, too. Spring will see many bats flying at night catching mosquitoes, gnats, and moths that would otherwise be bothering you. Even though there are benefits to having bats around, most people will still not want them breeding large colonies behind their walls and in their attic.

Determining You Have a Bat Colony

Often, people won’t know they have bats in their home but may suspect it after hearing some noises coming from the walls or ceiling. Bat droppings, known as guano, are an obvious sign, as well. Their droppings can look similar to rodent droppings (no, bats are not flying rodents, by the way), so it may still be hard to determine whether there are bats or not. One method is to go outside at dusk and see if bats are leaving your roof area.

Once you have identified that bats are indeed present, and that you want to evict them, you’ll need a plan. It may be smartest to simply contact the professionals at this point. Evicting bat colonies can be a very complicated process. There are a lot of home remedies that friends and neighbors may recommend. They’ll tell you to just put mothballs everywhere or to use a certain spray, but unless you can pinpoint where the colony is and seal up their entry points, this will all be a waste of time. Also, what if you seal up the entries but the bats are inside? They may find a way into your living space or simply die and rot behind your walls, leaving an odor.

Bat Exclusion

The professionals practice a method called “exclusion” to get rid of the bats for good. It’s a pretty simple strategy. Allow the bats to leave. Don’t allow them to come back. Seal up their entry points. Animal control experts use tubing to direct the bats out of the home by certain paths then, once they are gone, nets prevent the bats from returning at the end of the night. Once the bats have all left and have been prevented from returning, the entry points will all need to be identified and sealed so they cannot return once the tubes and nets are dismantled.

Critter Control is experienced with this process from identifying the colony to excluding it from your home. Give us a call if you suspect you are living with unwanted guests. We can be reached at 919.382.0651 and cover the entire Triangle, Raleigh, Durham and Wake County areas.