A prominent figure in horror movies and vampire romance novels, bats are often portrayed as blood-feeding spawns that burst out of nowhere, aiming to use us as a juice box.
In real life, bats don't have much in common with the hysterical image offered by the media and children's stories and offer a plethora of benefits to our environment ( and look pretty cute when seen up close).
There are over 840 known species of bats in the world, with 45 different types of bats found in the United States, with the vast majority of them feeding exclusively on insects and just three rarely seen species, making a home in Brazil's Amazon, likely to find your blood more appealing than a moth or a fly.
Let's learn a bit more about what bats are, what to watch out for if they've decided to make your house their home, how do bats get in the house, and what treatment Kittitas County pest control pros recommend to get them out of your home.
What Kind Of Animals Are Bats?
Bats in Kittitas County are a widespread species of mammals, found just about everywhere hospitable enough to allow trees to take root. They are the only mammals capable of true flight, assisted by so-called "Merkel cells" organs on their wings, helping them detect the direction of the air patterns and making their flight more effortless. A big brown bat, common in the southern parts of the United States, can cover many miles in search of food each night.
Bat species vary wildly in size and shape, ranging from three ounces to three pounds and from light brown to black in color. All types of bats are nocturnal, roosting during the day and hunting for food at night. Their bodies are covered with hair; most have large ears and a very well-developed sense of smell.
Bats give birth to live young. Usually only a single pup and females are tasked with taking care of it until the pup is capable of flight.
How Dangerous Are Bats?
On the whole, bats are extremely beneficial to the environment around us, keeping the number of destructive insects down. A single bat can consume more than 600 insects each hour of the night. Bats are a boon to us as long as they keep outside our home's walls, but sharing your house with a bat colony is a pretty bad idea.
While utterly non-aggressive, a bat will bite you if handled or trapped and can carry rabies transferable through their saliva. Exposure to bat droppings can result in histoplasmosis, and given enough time and the number of bats in the attic, their droppings have been known to accumulate enough weight to crash through the roof and destroy the house.
How Bats Find Their Way Into Your Attic
The strategy to keep bats away from your Kittitas County home is centered mainly on making it as hard as possible for them to make their way in. Bats are attracted to dark, secluded places and will often get into the house through a damaged attic vent, louvers, or under the fascia.
To keep bats out of your home, use these preventive tips:
- Keep attic vents in good shape with openings smaller than 3/8 inch.
- Keep window and door screens fitted tight and free of holes.
- Consider attracting bats' natural predators, such as owls, or installing a plastic imitation designed to scare off bats.
- Change your outdoor light bulbs to yellow from white. White light attracts insects, and bats will follow them to your home.
Keeping bat pathways into your home closed and removing insects from the vicinity that might attract bats will go a long way to keep them from developing an interest in your home. If, regardless of your best deterrent methods, you're starting to see signs of bats in your home or hearing strange noises in the attic-it's time to get a professional involved for effective bat removal services in Kittitas County.
Call The Professionals For Safe And Effective Bat Control
A well-trained pest control professional will be able to fall back on their experience when approaching bat removal, motivating the little invaders to find their way out of your home and keep out for good without endangering you or your family. Reach out today, to get started and to learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in Kittitas County.