Bats love houses, especially old ones. They often gather in chimneys, holes, vents, etc. They can even get inside through 3/8″ x 1″ cracks. Sometimes bats can stop in your house for a moment, during migration season, and that’s not such a big problem. However, if you notice guano, bat poop, everywhere, you should act fast.
Getting Rid of Bats
Remember that bats are very important for our ecosystem. They help to control the insect population and it’s inhumane to kill them. Moreover, in most cases, it’s also illegal. This is why you have to get rid of bats without harming them.
If you have a problem with a big bat population or the problem recurs over several years, you would do best to call professionals that can help you with exclusion and cleanup. There are professionals out there who are experts at safely removing bats.
What Do Fruit Bats Look Like?
Fruit bats are crucial when it comes to the pollination of edible plants. They also eliminate insects and keep their populations lowered. These bats, like most others, are harmless to humans and create an integrated part of urban and natural areas.
They are often called “flying foxes.” The name comes from the face of fruit bats, which brings to mind a fox’s face. They have pointy ears and big eyes that shine. Fruits bats are small and have lightweight bones to be able to fly.
You can recognize them thanks to their woolly fur that has a golden color on the head, neck, shoulders, and sometimes back area. They have black wings with no fur.
These bats also have a strong sense of smell, so they don’t need to use echolocation to find their food.
Why Fruit Bats Can Go Extinct
Like many animals, fruit bats now suffer from the destruction of their natural environment. Their habitats are disappearing because of deforestation, pollution, etc. Drastic weather changes, drought, tornadoes, and wet weather can cause poor flowering and make fruit bats hungry and unable to survive.
Because of tree clearing, maternal roosts are disturbed and reduced. That causes a lower level of reproduction of fruit bats. All of this puts this animal in risk of extinction. This is why it’s so crucial to get rid of the bats from your residence without killing them.
How to Get Rid of Fruit Bats
Inspection
First of all, you should verify if any bats can get inside your house. On a sunny day, you can do an inspection to check if there are missing shingles, holes in soffits, etc., through which a bat could get inside. You should close all those gaps to prevent bats from getting inside.
Exclusion
The process of exclusion should be proceeded by specialists. They use netting and/or tubes. Thanks to them, bats can drop down and fly away. Those mechanisms are left in place for a week, and after that time, bats are going to give up and leave. When that happens, you should once again inspect to check if there are no weak spots in your house’s construction through which bats could reenter. If bats were living in your chimney, cover it with a special net.
Cleaning
Cleaning a house after bats is not only a matter of aesthetics. Bats can scent a prior roost and try to come back. Moreover, guano often contains fungus. By breathing it, you can face serious respiratory problems, including histoplasmosis.
During cleaning, protect yourself with gloves, long sleeves, and a mask with a filter. After removing guano, clean surfaces with a bleach solution.
If you don’t want to bother with cleaning, or you are afraid for your health, you do best by calling professionals. A cleaning team can mist the guano. Thanks to this, they prevent dust from appearing. They also use a special HEPA vacuum. Professionals can provide a deep cleaning that includes removing finishing materials to clean urine. They can get rid of the odor and easily use an antibacterial solution.
With the help of pros, you are going to be able to find more holes through which bats can get inside.
You can consider creating a bat house on the edge of your residence. Thanks to this, you create a space for bats, who can manage the mosquito population without destroying your place and creating a health hazard.
Fruit Bats Outside
Fruit bats prefer staying outside. High trees are their natural environment in which they thrive. If they appear in your and your neighbor’s backyard, they can make your life a bit more complicated. Here are some tips that you can follow to coexist with these magnificent creatures.
Put a Net on Your Fruit Trees
If you have an orchard or a backyard with fruit trees, you have to protect them, especially when they start having fruits. Putting a net on the tree prevents bats from eating your crops. It also stops birds, rats, and possum attacks. By using a net, you can even create a unique microclimate that can improve the crops.
Remember to use the correct net to protect your fruits. If you pick the wrong type or install it badly, you can injure or even kill birds, bats, possums, and other animals.
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