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Getting Rid of Bats in the House with Foam Insulation
Bats in the House Can Cause Disease and Injury
By Mark J. Donovan
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Getting rid
of bats in your house can be a bit of challenge on multiple levels. First,
believe it or not they are a protected species, due to the fact that they eat
their weight in insects every night. By consuming so many insects they help to
prevent diseases associated with mosquitoes and other small insects.
Consequently local governments have specific policies on getting rid of bats,
e.g. what time of the year to remove bats from a house, and how actually to
remove them.
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Second,
removing bats can be technically challenging as well as a bit dangerous. Bats
can have rabies and working on ladders and roofs is dangerous.
One of the most common ways to get rid of bats is to set up a few bat houses
near your home, and to seal up any holes or cracks in the exterior of your home.
Basically you want to transfer the bats from your home to the neighboring bat
houses where they can still provide value to your yard.
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When
sealing up your home it should be done after the bats have exited it. Commonly
you can observe them exiting around the roof eaves around sunset. Make a note of
where they exit the home.
To get rid of bats from your home, tape or staple vinyl door/window screen
around the holes or cracks, where you observed the bats exiting the home the
night before. Make sure to not tape around the bottom of the screen area. By
leaving the bottom of the screen un-taped the bats will be able to exit the
holes or cracks but won’t be able to return. |
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The next
day, after the bats have left your home, remove the screen and seal all of the
holes or cracks. One method for sealing long cracks that may exist between the
roof rake trim and clapboard siding is to wedge plumbing foam insulation tube in
between the two. I have personally done this and it works great for preventing
bats in the house. Plus it’s easy and inexpensive to do. |
Photo by Mark Donovan |
So before getting rid of bats in the house, check with local authorities first
to see if they are “in season” for removing, and then follow the procedure I
have outlined above.
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Related Attic Information
Bat Houses from Amazon.com
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