Signs of Bats: Bat Proofing Your Home
While bats are beneficial to our environment and should not be harmed, they are not exactly welcome house guests. By learning about the dangers of bats and checking for a sign of a bat infestation, you can protect your home and family from these creepy critters. D-Bug Pest Control is here to provide you with important information on bat control!
Are Bats Dangerous?
While bats inside homes usually try to avoid interacting with their human housemates, attempts at removing them could cause them to confront you. Bats bite only when they feel threatened, and while only 10% of bats carry rabies, it’s important to get tested for rabies as soon as possible should you get bitten. Even their feces can spread disease, as it carries histoplasmosis fungus that can become deadly if not treated properly.
Although bats are not aggressive and do not have the intention to harm you, bats can still be dangerous. This is why bat removal should be handled by a pest professional like D-Bug Pest Control.
Bat Identification and Behavior
It is important to know that bats have both summer and winter homes that they return to over and over. This means that if you have a bat infestation, they will be back year after year if something isn’t done. If a bat takes up residence in your home, their droppings will attract more bats to the areas. Additionally, bats create a large number of droppings that attract other pests such as cockroaches and beetles.
They carry a large number of bat bugs, a pest that resembles bed bugs but prefers to feed on bat blood. If you notice these pests in your home outside of your bed, it’s probably a sign that bats are hiding somewhere.
Identifying a bat in the dark of night can be difficult to do if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Here are some physical characteristics you can use to identify a bat in your home:
- All bats have webbed wings
- A bat’s flight is uneven and sporadic compared to a bird’s flight
- Their wingspan can range from six inches to five feet
- Their face may resemble a Chihuahua or other small dog
- Are often colored brown or black
Signs of a Bat Infestation
Bats leave a number of clues to tell you they have taken up residence in your home. As pretty active creatures, you are likely to notice the signs of a bat infestation in your home quickly. The trick is to do something about it before it is too late. Here are some signs to look for:
- You see piles of bat droppings beside your home, stuck on your home, or in closed areas like the attic. (Warning: Bat dropping carries a fungus that can be dangerous to humans and cause disease.)
- You see greasy, black marks around your home, especially on the outside. Their fur contains oils that wipe off where they nest, as well as where they enter and exit your home.
- You smell a strong odor that you did not notice before. This could be bat urine.
- You hear scratching noises around dawn and dusk. These may sound like they are coming from the attic or inside the wall.
Bats can be dangerous, but they are beneficial to our ecosystem. This is why it is important to leave bat removal to the experts, ensuring that bats are removed from your home completely without causing any harm to them. If you see any signs of bats in your home and you live in Southwestern Pennsylvania, contact the bat control professionals at D-Bug Pest Control immediately.
How to Prevent a Bat Infestation
The best way to avoid a bat infestation is to bat-proof your home. This can be done by sealing crevices and cracks on the exterior of the home -- such as fascia boards, attic louvers, chimneys, windows, and other small holes that lead to dark secluded areas of the home. Luckily, bats are too weak to burrow into your home or cause substantial structural damage to your home. They will build nests in already existing crevices or holes. The biggest damage concern is from their droppings, which can cause mold if not removed properly.
You can identify where a bat might be entering your home by looking at the following areas:
- Shutters
- Chimney
- Torn screens
- Holes in pipes or wires
- Eaves, sidings, and shingles
Bat-proofing must take place after autumn when the bats have migrated to their winter homes to ensure you don’t trap baby bats in the interior of your home. Exclusion is the only way to completely ensure they won’t return. Regularly maintain your property to prevent them from being attracted to your home, which can include keeping your door shut and installing protective screens on your windows. If the bats are in a hard-to-reach area or there is more than one, it might be time to reach out to bat control professionals at D-Bug Pest Control. Our technicians service Murrysville, North Huntingdon, and the surrounding Western Pennsylvania area.