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Bats
 Bats
can be seen as very small dark figures coming from under the
eves of barns and houses and flying away with fluttery movements.
Most of the 45 species of bats in the United States eat large numbers
of night-flying insects, many of which are pests. Also, bats are
a protected species and should not be killed.
On the down side, bat droppings are an excellent medium for Histoplasma
Capsulaturn, a fungal pathogen sometimes fatal to humans, to grow
and produce lots of spores. There is also the very slight,
but real, chance of a risk of rabies from contacting the saliva
of a rabid bat. The rabies section of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta, GA, has estimated that far less than
1% of any given population of bats in the U.S. is likely to be incubating
rabies virus at any particular time. However, if you did contact
saliva from such a bat, the risk would be both real and very significant.
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Control of Bats
There is no toxicant currently labeled for bat control in the U.S.
Although naphthalene moth balls or flakes may be slightly repellent
to bats, they have only limited effects and for only a very short
radius. The fumes would irritate people living in the house long
before they would build up enough to actually drive the bats out.
If bats are roosting inside your house, you should seek professional
help to remove and exclude them. Fall is the best time to take steps
to bat-proof to prevent them from coming in again next year. The
young of most species of bats in temperate zones will have developed
fully and can fly by the middle of September. They leave their roosts
each evening to accompany their parents in search of food.
A pest management professional trained in bat management can observe
their exits, seal shut all but one, place a one-way flap or chute
over the last one for a few days, then finally close it. He or she
should make at least one follow-up visit to be sure the removal
and exclusion efforts have been complete and successful.
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(860) 582-9242