For more information on bats and more details on bat boxes and bat conservation, check out Penn State`s booklet A Homeowner`s Guide to Northeastern Bats and Bat Problems and the video „Bat-Free Belfries: A Guide to Bat-proofing,“ available at your Pennsylvania County Extension Office. The second drawback is that homeowners may struggle to make their home completely shockproof. Bats can crawl through a crack of just 1/2 by 11/4 inch, allowing stubborn bats to find a way back into their traditional resting place. Toxic chemicals should never be used to control bats, as they cause dead and dying bats to disperse around the building, yard and neighborhood, increasing the likelihood of contact between bats and humans. Currently, no toxins for bat control are recorded in Pennsylvania. Chlorophakinone, also known as tracking powder or Rozole, can no longer be legally used to control bats. Naphthalene, also known as mothballs or moth flakes, is registered as a bat repellent. This repellent can be useful when bats are in very narrow areas, such as crawl spaces or between walls, but is not very useful in large open spaces such as attics. In addition, bats repopulate a building as soon as the repellent dissipates. Have you ever wondered why bats are a protected species? Different bat species face different threats, but all endangered species have limited or declining populations. Habitat destruction and insecticides have decimated the number of some bat species. However, the biggest threat to all bat species in North America right now is white-nose syndrome. It is illegal to kill a bat, but there are some exceptions that allow humane euthanasia when necessary for human safety reasons.
This may include their elimination because they are infected with rabies or have injured people or pets. However, in most cases, this should be done by professional pest control specialists who can access hard-to-reach areas such as attics and other structures without harming bats in the process. They devour harmful insects such as mosquitoes, which carry diseases such as Zika virus, West Nile virus, malaria and dengue fever. In addition, they help reduce crop damage by eating many types of crop-destroying insects, such as corn earworm moths, beetles, cucumber beetle larvae and other pests in the fields. However, bats carry diseases that can be harmful to humans, so it is important to treat the infestation accordingly with bat control. If bats are present in your home or property year-round (even if there are no signs of damage), they may live somewhere nearby and enter through another opening, such as a chimney. This situation requires the professional help of wildlife experts who have experience in removing these animals without harming wildlife or pets, as well as other valuable structures. A popular way to manage bats in the attic or on your property is a process called bat exclusion. This technique usually involves sealing all access points and installing a one-way door, which allows them to exit but not return. In most cases, it may be necessary to install an area with mesh nets around all areas that have been identified as potential entrances for these animals. Remember: if you find evidence that they nest indoors, contact professional wildlife experts immediately! For advice on how to effectively and humanely treat these wild animals, call us today! Extremely. White-nose syndrome kills 70-90% of bats in affected colonies.
100% mortality rates have been observed in cave bat colonies consisting of hundreds of thousands of single bats. White-nose syndrome is an epidemic. If you feel uncomfortable entering the attic when bats are present, you can inspect the attic for bat droppings at night. The dry, black droppings are about the size of a grain of rice and gather in piles under areas where bats sleep. Mouse droppings look similar, but they would be scattered in small quantities in the attic. If the colonies are large or have been in the house for many years, the feces may be quite deep in the attic. Bat droppings are very dry (urine evaporates quickly in warm attics), so the presence of bats usually does not contribute to structural deterioration or rotting of wood. Research has shown that bats eat many types of mosquitoes and feed on mosquitoes more frequently than previously thought. By reducing mosquito populations, bats help prevent mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and Zika virus.
Bats occasionally enter homes on summer evenings. Fortunately, these incidents can be handled quite easily. A bat flying around the house usually goes around a room several times in search of an exit. The best way to get a bat out of the house is to let it find its own way. Hunting or hitting the bat causes panic and flies erratically across the room, unnecessarily prolonging the incident. „Diatomaceous earth“ scrapes the outer cuticle of insects as they crawl through it, causing them to die of dehydration. It may be helpful to remove external bat parasites from an attic after the bats have been expelled. This product is organic, non-toxic and acts on many other insects. A disease caused by a fungus, white nose syndrome, first appeared in 2007. In six years, the disease wiped out a total of 5.7 million bats. This alone led the United States Fish & Wildlife Service to consider protecting three new species under the Endangered Species Act after the population declined by more than 90 percent. Bat boxes in Pennsylvania must face southeast or southwest so they receive at least seven hours of direct sunlight per day in the spring and summer.
A bat box to house a displaced maternity ward should be placed on or in the immediate vicinity of the building from which the bats were expelled. Place the box against a wall or chimney or on a pole within 10 to 20 feet of the building. The box should have at least 3 feet of free space underneath to allow bats to enter and exit from below. Do not place a bat box in a place that is very frequented by people or in a place where feces from the box is a problem. Bat boxes can also be placed on trees – provided the boxes receive the required seven hours of sunlight. Whether on a building, pole or tree, bat boxes should always be placed at least 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Correctly identifying the animals causing a problem is always the first step to solving the problem. For example, squirrels and mice in an attic make running and grinding noises that resemble bats, and chimney sweeps sailors resemble bats when they fly away at night.
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