Stan Ketchum is the owner and founder of Ketchum Pest Control, which services the northwest corner of Indiana. His company helps customers get rid of bats, ants, termites, cockroaches, wasps, fleas, raccoons, squirrels, mice, rats, and even snakes. The company is environmentally friendly, using pet- and child-friendly methods that are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Here, Ketchum explains what you should do if you have a bat problem.
Having bats in your home is a serious problem, even if they are confined to the attic. Bats urinate and defecate anywhere they roost, causing staining and odor problems that are difficult to remove. They are also prone to carrying dozens of diseases that are dangerous to humans, including histoplasmosis (a lung disease caused by the spores of fungus which grow on the droppings — or guano — of bats, other mammals, and birds) and rabies. You can differentiate bat droppings from mice droppings because they are crumblier in texture.
Bats can be beneficial to humans because of their affinity for eating flying insects, such as mosquitoes. But if they find their way into your home and take up residence, they can also be some of the most destructive, dangerous, and expensive pests to control. And it’s not hard for them to find their way in: Bats can often squeeze through the smallest window openings.
To bat-proof your home, you should seal all common entry points larger than three-eighths of an inch on any side. Since bats cannot gnaw to enlarge an opening, you can seal entries with a variety of materials, such as hardware cloth, sheet metal, wood, or fiberglass insulation. The ideal time to seal the openings is sometime between November 15 and March 15, since bats hibernate during that time.
You cannot remove the bats in your attic using noise, light, garlic, moth balls, and other similar techniques. Bats can actually put up with smells so strong that humans would have to wear protective masks. Since bats are a protected species, their removal must only be done by a trained professional, like our trained technicians at Ketchum Pest Control. Our company can also repair your home or business so that the bat won’t return.
If you live in northwest Indiana and need your bat problem taken care of sooner rather than later, call us at Ketchum Pest Control today! Put our experience to use for you.
