When Can You Remove Bats?
The short season to remove bats is upon us. In Rhode Island and Massachusetts, bats can only be evicted during the early spring and in the late summer. This is because of their federal protection status. We can begin removing bats from homes from August to mid-October.
The reason that bats cannot be removed during certain times in the year is because of bat “hibernation” and breeding patterns. Bat removal is also called a "bat eviction."
During the winter months, bats go into a quasi-hibernation state called torpor. When bats are in a torpor state, they significantly reduce their metabolic, heart, and respiratory rate. This allows them to survive long periods of time without food.
WHEN A BAT IS IN A TORPOR STATE, ITS HEART RATE DROPS FROM 200-300 BEATS-PER-MINUTE TO JUST 10-BEATS PER MINUTE.
Bats may enter torpor for just a few hours to conserve energy during a cold day, or they can remain in torpor for up to a month.
When bats “hibernate,” they colonize in caves, mines, and rock crevices. But they can also colonize in your attic. This is because attics provide an ideal temperature and humidity for bats to enter a torpor state.
Many bats migrate between summer and winter habitats, including the Little Brown Bat and the Big Brown Bat. Theses are the most common species found in homes around Rhode Island. The early summer is the “maternity season” for bats, when they breed and raise their young.
Wildlife technicians cannot remove bats during this time because it would only evict the adult bats.
If only the adult bats are removed, the pups can get stuck in the attic because they cannot fly or they will get disoriented trying to find their way out. Some companies continue to provide bat removal services outside the permitted season. This is not only illegal, but harmful to local bat populations.
Vanguard Wildlife provides humane solutions to safely remove bats from the home during Rhode Island’s bat removal season. We use one-way valves and seal up all potential entry points bigger than one-eighth inch.
The one-way valves allow the bats to safely exit the home when they leave the attic to feed. They will not be able to re-enter, thanks to our exclusion. This includes sealing and repairing bat damage around the home. All of our exclusion has a 2-year warranty.
Bats are federally protected because they are important for biodiversity and controlling the insect population.
A single Little Brown Bat can consume more than 1,200 mosquito sized insects in an hour. Big Brown Bats can consume enough cucumber beetles to protect farmers’ crops and save them the costs of alternative pest prevention.
Bats are also considered a biodiversity marker. This means that their populations and behavior provides information on the overall condition of the local ecosystem. Studying bat behavior over time can show quality and changes of environmental conditions.
So why remove bats? Aside from being a terrifying sight when found in your bedroom, bats can carry several diseases that are a threat to public health. This includes rabies and histoplasmosis. Vanguard Wildlife bat removal services include an emergency service to catch a bat seen in the living space and test it for rabies at no additional charge.
Bat guano can also be a host to these diseases and bats can leave large latrines of guano that contaminates insulation. If your home has been heavily contaminated from bat guano, Vanguard Wildlife offers attic cleanups to remove all guano, replace insulation, and sanitize the attic.
If you see a bat in your home, try to safely release it outdoors by opening a window or doorway. Our Wildlife Specialists can also come to remove bats from the living spaces.
There are a number of reasons for why bats come into your living room, but chances are that if you find one in your home, they are likely roosting in your attic.
If you see a bat in your home, we recommend scheduling an inspection with a trained Wildlife Specialist. We can determine where they are getting in from and provide a lasting solution to remove bats and keep them from re-entering your home.
