Bat Removal

Bats can enter a hole in your home as small as ¼ inch! Any home is susceptible to bat infestations, and it’s important to remove all contamination because their droppings cause disease, bugs, and fungus. First Choice Wildlife Service has the necessary HEPA and hazardous material equipment to completely clean and disinfect your home.

Bat Problems

It’s dangerous to keep bats in your home for a long time, as they can cause the following problems.

Spreading diseases: Bats are one of the biggest sources of histoplasmosis, a nasty fungus that severely damages your lungs. These animals also carry rabies, which can be very dangerous on its own.
Damaging your home: Bat colonies are large, and all those bats living inside your attic can cause severe damage. This is because their guano is corrosive and can damage your attic’s floors. It’s also common to hear of entire floors collapsing because of guano buildup.

Bats, being nocturnal, will look for a dark, safe place to roost during the day – and in a populated area, this often means an attic or chimney. In late spring, when bats migrate back to Colorado’s Front Range, they will get into attics via gable vents, chimney flashing, soffit, fascia, or any other gap in your house. Once inside, the bats will spend their days sleeping in your attic and causing you problems.

Bats are communal animals and will form large colonies when they find a good place to roost that is near their food source. Having a bat colony take up residence can be the source of serious problems. A large number of bats in a colony will quickly accumulate droppings (sometimes called guano) that will smell terrible in your home.

Bat colonies will also attract bat bugs – a close relative of the bed bug that will also feed on nearby humans or pets.

If you are in Colorado and experiencing bat problems, contact us right away!

Professional Bat Removal and Control Services

Bats often have a reputation as creepy and unsettling, but in reality, bats are an important part of our ecosystem here in Colorado. There are many benefits to bats – they eat an incredible number of bugs and mosquitoes, including up to 1,200 in a single hour of feeding! Bat droppings are also rich in nitrogen and make an excellent natural fertilizer.

However, as great as bats are in the wild, they are a serious nuisance when a colony takes up residence in your Fort Collins home. And because bats are territorial, they will return to the same site each year – making it vital that any bat problems be dealt with as soon as possible.

First Choice Wildlife Services is highly experienced at dealing with bat removal in Colorado. From initial inspection through the final cleanup, we strive to offer the most professional pest control services in all of Colorado.

Because of how helpful bats are, there are many restrictions around removing bats. This is because the animals are sensitive and are slowly dying out, so governments are trying to prevent them from being harmed.

These regulations are why you can’t harm bats in any way, trap them, or remove them if they have children with them. All of which can severely limit how you can remove them.

Because of these limitations, the exclusion is the best way of removing bats. This technique focuses on sealing all the holes used by bats. You can do this with one-sided doors or nets.

These contraptions allow the animals to go out hunting during the night, but it stops them from coming back into your home, so the colony numbers start to dwindle.

Once all the bats are gone, you should carefully remove any bat waste to prevent the spread of disease. This can be a challenging task in itself, especially if you don’t have the right disinfectants already.

Our team is highly trained and ready to help you deal with any level of bat infestation across the Front Range of Colorado – including Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, and Boulder. Contact us today at 970-460-4044.

Health Concerns with Bats

Like most wild animals, bats can carry or transmit diseases to nearby humans, including:

Histoplasmosis – an infection caused by a fungus that grows in bat droppings
Rabies – Like most mammals, bats are capable of carrying and transmitting the rabies virus
Other Viruses – Bats are naturally susceptible to viral infections that can be transmitted via a bite or aerosolized feces and urine. These include hantavirus, coronavirus, and filovirus – among others.

Because of bats’ susceptibility to viruses, it is important to always use caution when dealing with bats. You should hire a professional to remove any bat droppings and conduct a complete cleanup of their roosting area. And if you are ever bitten by a bat you should contact a doctor immediately (and bring the bat, if possible, for testing).

Preventing Bats from Getting into Your House

Preventing bats from getting inside your attic is almost impossible. A bat can squeeze through a crack as small as ¼” – making sealing your home a very difficult process. You can seal any openings you find, but locating every potential access point isn’t easy. One way to get started is by going into your attic during the day and looking for anywhere light is leaking through. This will provide a place to start but probably won’t reveal every bat access point.

Professional Advice on Bats

If you suspect you have a bat problem in your home, we strongly recommend you contact a professional wildlife service. Dealing with a bat infestation is one of the most difficult of all the nuisance and pest animals that live in Colorado.

An experienced bat specialist will determine how the bats are accessing your attic and then build an exclusion system that allows the bats to leave but not return. Once the bats have been excluded, any remaining access points will be sealed and the cleanup process will begin. It is important that the bat droppings are dealt with in a professional manner because of the possibilities of infection or disease. The good news is that many insurance providers will cover clean-up costs after bat removal.

Bats have gotten a bad representation in media, and people rarely realize all the good they can do for us. These flying mammals help get rid of nasty insects by eating them, with a single bat catching thousands of mosquitos a night. Their droppings also make excellent fertilizers, and bats are great at spreading pollen and helping plants grow.

Unfortunately, bats are also a common problem in many homes. Their wings and small sizes let them get into houses through the smallest of holes, which can make it difficult to keep them out or remove them.

How to Humanely Remove Bats from Your Attic

If you have bats around your home, you are likely very concerned about diseases and damage. As soon as you have a bat problem localized and you have pinpointed where the problem is, you can begin to take important steps towards removing the critters. If you have bats in your attic, there are some great ways to humanely remove them from your attic. Continue reading to learn about bats and how to get them out of your attic.

What Problems Do Bats Cause?

Bats are one of the worst nuisance animals to get into your home because of their ability to spread many different diseases that can potentially kill humans. In many tests, there have been well over 120 diseases, both viral and bacterial, that bats regularly carry. This is a terrifying statistic, as each of these diseases can seriously harm you and your family members should you contract any of them. Coronaviruses, Ebola, Marburg, rabies, and many other diseases are commonly spread by bats in various parts of the world. These diseases can be transmitted by humans or pets coming into contact with the bats’ feces, as well as by being bitten or scratched by the bat. As can be seen, allowing bats to live around your home and in your attic is a serious issue that should not be taken lightly.

Why Are Bats In My Attic?

One of the first things you may question is why you have bats in your attic in the first place. The answer generally comes down to good shelter. When bats live in the wild, they often try to find the perfect place where they can live, raise their young, and live a long life of relative safety and comfort. One of the main reasons bats may have chosen your home to live in is because it provided easy access with a large population of insects around. If you have bats in your attic, you might be very concerned, but luckily there are ways to humanely remove them.

Humane Treatment of Bats

When you want to remove bats, be sure to keep in mind that bats are very beneficial to ecosystems. While they carry many diseases, they kill thousands of insects like mosquitoes, moths, and beetles. This is an excellent service that bats perform, and it actually helps reduce the diseases spread by mosquitoes. Any removal of bats that is not perfectly humane and peaceful can cause them serious amounts of stress. This stress often leaves even relocated bats dead after a few days.

How Can I Remove Bats?

Removing bats from anywhere is very dangerous, as the disease potential is very high and bats are frightening creatures to many humans. If you are sure that bats are in your attic, one of your best options can be to locate the holes or crack that allowed them into your attic and repair it. Once this is done, simply installing a one-way door is the best way to allow the bats to leave on their own with no stress and with the maximum humane treatment. These one-way doors allow the bat to leave but not enter your home again, providing the perfect way to remove bats without being exposed to their diseases or potential for being bitten. If this does not seem to work, be sure to read the next paragraph for further steps.

While it might seem simple enough to remove bats on your own, it is generally recommended to hire a wildlife removal service, as they have been performing these tasks for decades, and they have the knowledge and experience to keep the removal process safe for the bat, for you, and for your family. In addition to removing the bats humanely, most pest removal companies will offer exclusion services to prevent any future infestations.

Why Hire First Choice Wildlife Services?

Since bats are so hazardous to the health of you and your family, be sure to call First Choice Wildlife Services as soon as you know you have a bat problem. We are proud to serve Colorado with some of the finest wildlife removal services offered, and we are proud to remove all kinds of nuisance wildlife. Our respect for our clients’ safety and wishes is a big part of what makes us successful in treating animals we remove with ethical treatment. If you have a bat problem that you want to take care of, call us at First Choice Wildlife Services, as we would love to help you out.

Call First Choice Wildlife Services

First Choice Wildlife Services has experience dealing with many bat cases. We offer a full range of services that deal with all aspects of bat removal, including exclusion, sanitization, and cleanup.

We service many parts of Colorado such as Boulder, Fort Collins, Greeley, and Loveland. Call us at 970-460-4044 to schedule our services!

How to Remove Bats From Chimney

Your fireplace is supposed to be a great gathering spot where you keep warm with your family while chatting or watching TV. But unfortunately, the height, warmth, and darkness within the chimney make it a perfect spot for bats to roost. What’s more, the chimney provides adequate safety for female bats to raise their pups.

However, bats in the chimney are highly undesirable. First off, their dropping is highly acidic and can lead to the deterioration of building materials. Bats also pose several health risks, particularly histoplasmosis, a severe lung infestation resulting from bat dropping (guano).

So, how do you remove bats from the chimney? Read on to find out the most efficient way we adopt at First Choice Wildlife Services to accomplish that.

Step 1 – Perform a thorough inspection.

When given a chance, several wild animals can potentially take advantage of the chimney, from raccoons to squirrels. That’s why it’s essential to be sure you’re dealing with a bat infestation. Check out for signs of bat infestation like physical sightings and bat guanos.

After that, the next step is to figure out how they got in. Some bat species can pass through holes as small as 3/8 of an inch in diameter. Hence, it would be best if you were very thorough to ensure you identify every potential entry hole.

Step 2 – Timing is everything.

Are you surprised we didn’t jump right into the removal step? You see, bat removal is all about timing. Why? Bats are a protected species; hence, it is illegal to harm them during the removal process.

Female bats usually give birth in April or May. And until the end of summer, the pups are flightless. Hence, any removal process during this period risks trapping babies in the chimney, killing them, complicating the entire issue, and resulting in legal problems. That’s why you need to be sure there are no baby bats before proceeding with the removal.

What’s more, it is illegal to remove bats while they’re hibernating. If that’s the case, you’ll have to wait until the hibernation period is over.

Step 3 – Exclusion

This is the best method for removing bats from the chimney. It involves sealing up all the potential entry holes except one. An exclusion funnel is installed in the last hole. This funnel makes it impossible for bats to get back in once they leave. This method is also humane.

When excluding, one note of caution: Ensure that all the bats have left before removing the exclusion funnel and sealing up the final hole.

Step 4 – Perform cleanup and necessary repairs.

Depending on the colony’s size, bats can leave a whole lot of waste in the chimney. After getting rid of the bats, it’s also essential to clear out the waste because of its destructive nature. While wearing a disposable hand glove, pick up the bird remnants and store them in a plastic bag before disposing of them.

The chimney area should also be disinfected to kill pathogens. Deodorizers can also be applied to reduce the awful smell caused by the bats.

Finally, all damages in the chimney area should be fixed. Replace the chimney cap if it is damaged and install one if there’s none there. All this will help to ensure bats and other wildlife do not return.

Need Help Getting Rid of Bats in the Chimney?

As you can see, effectively getting rid of bats in the chimney is a complicated process. That’s why you need to involve a professional. First Choice Wildlife Services has rendered bat removal services for decades, and we are fully equipped to bring an end to your bat infestation problems.

How to Prevent Bats From Entering Your Property?

Except if they already have a bat situation, many people never consider bat prevention. However, the best way to ensure that bats never get into your home is by taking proactive steps in preventing it.

If bats are a problem in your neighborhood, you may need to figure out a way to keep them out of your house. Even if they don’t get in now, they might decide in the near future that your house would be a good site to set up a roost. And this is something you definitely don’t want. You never know when some bats might decide to start their own colony, and your attic or roof might seem like the perfect roosting place for them. So, how can you prevent this?

Do a thorough property inspection

Finding and sealing minor holes in your home, especially around roof peaks, dormer vents, and eaves is the main method of bat prevention. Use expanding foam or caulk to seal any area that is 3/8 inch broad or wider.

The truth is that a bat can enter your home through a little opening, which many people are unaware of. The typical bat weighs less than an ounce, and thanks to the nature of their wings, they can easily push themselves through even the slightest gaps to enter your home.

This means that almost any crack or gap on the exterior of your property could provide a simple entry point. A bat might enter your home if there is a broken board in the siding. The bat may potentially get entry through damaged ventilation screen tines or a crack made by another animal.

First and foremost, you need to do a thorough check of the home, paying close attention to any roof edges, vents, chimneys, loose tiles, and any gaps or holes. Even holes as small as 3/8 inch or 8 feet above the ground can let bats in because bats can fit through such small openings. A headlight will be very helpful for this exercise, it will help you to see well in all the nooks and crannies. To be on the safe side, it is a good idea to conduct a comprehensive inspection of your home’s exterior at least once a year. This is just a necessary precaution if you reside in a region with a large population of bats.

Seal off any hole you find

You can hire a wildlife specialist to use the proper sealant and seal to cover every access point, hole, and gap for safety and competence. Or you can do this yourself, but you have to understand that sealing off entry points from bats is a highly intense and hard task. As you need to access roofs, chimneys, vents, etc., you would need a ladder to get to some places; and you would also need to know how to get the holes properly blocked. You may also head a headlamp, as they make it easier to see tiny details in the structure at night.

Wrapping up

Bats prefer a dark hideout where they may roost alone. As a result, roofs, wall crevices, or attics provide excellent roosting sites. By making quick house repairs to close off any gaps where they could enter, you can easily keep them out of your attic. To prevent them from turning your home into their own home, you must take proactive measures. It might take you a number of hours to complete this task, but it will be well worth it to safeguard your family properly from bats and the problems they cause.