Springtime Brings Bats and Their Babies

It’s spring! Love is in the air — and so are bats. Right now these winged mammals are waking from their winter slumbers to eat and mate, which means its the ideal time to exclude them from your house if they decided to spend the cold months in your attic.

Signs of Bats in Your House

Bats seek shelter from the elements to rest and raise their young. In the wild, this usually means caves and trees, but often times they’ll find their way into your home. These critters usually choose to roost in attics, soffits, under siding and behind gutters and shutters. Here are the telltale signs that you may have some unwelcome houseguests:

• You smell ammonia. The bat droppings, or guano, contain this pungent chemical. 
• You see brown stains on your siding. These marks left from bat droppings indicate where the bats are entering your house.
• You see piles of guano near the foundation. When bats squeeze through tiny openings, the effort squeezes some guano out of them.
• You hear buzzing and squeaking. These are the sounds of bats communicating with each other.

Exclusion

Catseye Pest Control follows state regulations and best practices so that we can ensure bats are protected during the exclusion process. Bats are an important part of the environment. In fact, they are nature’s own version of pest management. Bats eat thousands of pesky insects, like mosquitoes, every night. From mid-April through the end of May, after bats are awake and feeding and before they start having young, Catseye will seal-up the area where the bats are living and install an excluder. This funnel-shaped equipment allows bats to exit the building, but prevents them from reentering. It is a safe way of making the bats leave your home to find a new place to live. Once all the bats have left, we remove the excluder and seal the opening.

In June, bats begin having babies. The young remain in the roost and are dependent on their mothers for food. Catseye does not do exclusion work in June and July, when the young aren’t strong enough to leave the roost.

Catseye loves bats. That’s why we’re shedding some light on the bat. One pest we can keep — outside. If you’re seeing guano or other signs of activity, give us a call today or schedule your free inspection right here on our website.