3 Bat Prevention Tips
If there's anything Texas has plenty of, it's bats. They've even become a local tourist attraction.
We love to see them in the night sky, but nobody loves to have them in their home. Here are a few ways to keep bats in nature where they belong.
#1) Enlist Help from a Scare-Owl
Mount a fake, plastic owl as high as possible, somewhere on or near your roof. Bats want to roots in your attic, so making them think a predator is nearby can help.
Here's the catch: they'll eventually ignore a stationary "owl," so you'll have to move it once every season to ensure they stay afraid of it.
#2) Swap Exterior Lights
Bats eat bugs. So if you can attract fewer bugs, you can attract fewer bats, too.
Regular white outdoor bulbs will bring plenty of bugs. Yellow ones attract less.
Don't go with a bug zapper. The blue light draws the bugs in for zapping. That's great for killing yard mosquitoes, but anyone who has ever seen one can tell you they're coated in dead bugs. It's like advertising an all-you-can-eat bat-food buffet.
#3) Keep Egress Holes Plugged
A good half of the work that we do involves finding tiny egress holes and plugging them. Bats only need a hole that's ⅜" in diameter to squeeze through, so this can be a challenge.
You can stay on top of it by plugging any you happen to find yourself. Anybody can miss one, but there's no need to leave one that you've already located.
If you have a chimney, install stainless steel chimney caps with a wire mesh covering. The chimney serves as a sort of bat superhighway straight to your attic. Don't leave it open for them.
If you want to be absolutely sure you're getting them all, you can watch the house at dusk to see if bats are entering or exiting through any point on your home. If you realize you've got bats in your attic, though, it's time to call us.
Have You Already Lost the Bat Battle?
Just call us. The team at Elite Wildlife Services has expertise in finding every nook and cranny that bats use to enter a Texas home and heavy-duty bird netting that keeps them away.
We also know how to get bats out of your home humanely, safely, and in accordance with Texas law.
Why be driven batty when you can call us to schedule an inspection?
REQUEST A FREE INSPECTION
Our goal is to take time to evaluate each customers situation and customize proven results to solve it. If you are looking for a professional solution for your Bat Removal needs, please contact us today.
How to Make Your Home Less Attractive to Bats
While the team at Elite Wildlife Services is happy to provide you with humane bat removal services, it's always nice when we can keep them out of your house in the first place. In addition, once you've paid for creature removal the last thing you want to do is see them return.
Here are a few tips for ensuring bats will want to find places other than your attic to build their next home.
Prevent Bats by Blocking Entry Points
The easiest way to prevent a bat problem is to block their access to your home. Bats can use relatively small holes to get into your space.
Start with window screens, chimney caps, and draft guards beneath attic doors. You'll also want to caulk electrical or plumbing holes. Yes, bats don't always get into the attic: sometimes they fly in through an open door or window, too!
Check out this page from Bat Conservation International to see all the surprising entry points that bats can use to get into your house.
Avoid Using Lights to Discourage Bats
Motion lights are a great security measure, as are porch lights and entry lights. We're not discouraging you from using those.
Some people try to shine huge spotlights on their attics to keep bats away though, and this is a bad idea. This is because the lights will just attract more insects. While the light may annoy the bats a little the concentrated food source will more than make up for the inconvenience.
As for the lights you have to have? Swap out white lights for yellow ones. They attract fewer insects, which means even fewer food sources.
Other Repellent Devices
Most repellents simply don't work very well. For example, expensive audio repellents don't always do a good job of keeping bats away. Scent-based repellents are more likely to upset the people who live in the home than the bats.
Fortunately, once you've closed off access to your home you should be safe. There's nothing wrong with having bats near your home as long as you don't have them in it. After all, they'll keep the mosquito population down in your yard, and they don't hurt anything so long as they're staying out of human habitats.
If you do get bats in your home, well, you know who to call. We'll help you get rid of that bat colony, and will take steps to ensure they don't come back ever again.
