Bat Control

Good bat exclusion starts with good timing. Bat babies are born in June and July, and don't start flying until about three weeks later. The best time for you to start bat control through bat proofing is in the early spring (March, April, May) or late fall (September onward). If bat proofing measures are taken during the time when the babies are still flightless, there's a damn good chance they'll end up getting trapped in the area the parents were excluded from, starve, die, and stink like hell.

Bat detection. To get rid of bat populations from your home, you must figure out where they're roosting. Begin by looking in attics and along outside walls, eaves, and fascia for brownish stains. Stains from urine, guano, and body oils are often left under and around entrances to roosting sites. And since bat guano has a nasty, musty smell and bat urine smells of ammonia, roosting sites can often be found by spending some time sniffing around. You should also be listening for rustling, scratching noises, and squeaks within walls, eaves, attics, and crawlspaces. Use a stethoscope if you can. Pressing your ear against the walls will do, too.

Set up a stakeout. Gather up a few close friends, supply them with a clipboard, a pen, diagrams of the house, and a few beers, and set them up in chairs around your house. Do this about 30 minutes before dusk, and have them keep a close eye on the house for the next hour or so. The bats can be spotted as they leave the roost. When bats are seen leaving, have your people record the exact location of where they were spotted. If you and your friends are morning people, this can also be done just before dawn, and by watching for their return. Remember, just because it's early doesn't mean you can't give them beer.

Exclude bats from your home. Small bats can fit through holes and cracks that measure no more than ½ in. x 1¼ in. On the morning after the stakeout, search the outside of your house for more holes and record their whereabouts on the same diagrams used the night before. Pay attention to areas around doors and windows, at the corners of buildings, where the siding meets the foundation, soffits and fascia, where eaves meet the structure, where the chimney meets the roof, around ridge caps, around all cables and wires entering the house, and around all electrical components. All holes should be patched after dark when the bats are out with caulk, metal sheeting, etc. Finally, make sure vents are fitted with bug screens.

Get bats out of buildings and attics with bat excluders. Bat excluders are perhaps the most humane devices for controlling bats. There are a number of different styles that can be found and purchased all over the web. While they all look slightly different, the idea is always the same. Bat excluders work as one way doors. They allow bats to get out at night, but not to return after they're done feeding. One bonus of using these for bat control is that they allow bat entrances to be patched during the day, when it's safer to do so. Look for brands like the Bat Excluder, the EX-100 Hank's Bat Excluder, or the Barn in the Sticks Bat Excluder.

Getting rid of a bat that's flying around inside your house. There's a good chance that you're here trying to learn how to get rid of bats because you've got one swooping around your living room as we speak. The best thing to do is to get the bat into a room that has windows and can be completely closed off from the rest of the house. This may require you to do a little bat herding. Once there, open all the windows, remove the screens, dim the lights, be patient, and let the bat do what it will. More often than not, they will feel the breeze and head towards it and out of your life.

Devices for getting rid of bats flying around the house. One of the simplest things you can do to get rid of a bat in the house is to wait for it to land on a flat surface, plop an empty Tupperware or coffee can over it, slide a piece of cardboard (I would cut a square chunk from a soda or beer can case) between the flat surface and the container, take it outside, and let the bat go. If you don't want to get quite so up close and personal with the bat, use a cheap ass butterfly net. Wear leather gloves for either method.