Bat Removal & Exclusion

Our Humane Bat Removal Process

Bat work happens mostly at the roofline. This work usually requires tall ladders, and sometimes scaffolding and boom lifts are needed. Bats can fit into the smallest of gaps. If the tip of your little finger fits into an opening, a bat fits too. Our technicians are rabies-vaccinated and trained specifically for bat work.

Prior to eviction the majority of the home gets sealed and protected. If you evict while other gaps are still open, the colony will re-enter through the next gap over. In some cases they will crawl around the home for multiple nights seeking out gaps to regain access.

We examine every inch of the structure as we begin our sealing work: drip cap, gable and attic vents, chimney flashing, fascia seams, soffit returns, brick gaps, etc.

We look for subtle evidence that tells us which entrances the colony actively uses. All openings that are not currently in use are sealed with durable, exterior-rated materials first. Also, in order to provide a long-term guarantee we focus not just on what is open today, but on what can open up tomorrow. Areas vulnerable to future opening are fortified.

In the majority of bat infestation projects, this preliminary bat proofing is the majority of the job.

Once the preliminary seal is complete, we mount one-way devices over the active entrances. This allows the bats to exit at dusk as they always have, but when they return the following dawn they cannot re-enter. No bat is touched, trapped, or harmed. The colony ends up outside, where Tennessee's protected bats belong.

Once the structure is empty, we remove the devices and close the final openings. The house is now bat free.

Before hiring anyone for this work, ask the following questions: How long is your warranty? Does the warranty cover the whole structure or only the specific holes you sealed? How long are materials manufacturer warrantied for?

When companies who seal a home for bats only warranty the specific areas they sealed, this means that if they missed anything important, you have no guarantees for the areas they missed. Furthermore, new openings are created all the time as homes expand and contract seasonally. When companies are only sealing the current open holes that they've spotted, they are choosing not to do the extra preventive work that will keep new holes from opening up over time. The full standard is laid out on our Wildlife Exclusion page.

Cave Country: Bats That Move Indoors

Tennessee has more documented caves than any other state in the nation. Our limestone geology is full of caves, and caves mean bats: sixteen species statewide, including the federally endangered gray bat, a cave-dweller you will almost never find in a building. Two species account for nearly every attic colony we see today, though a third was common here not long ago.

The big brown bat occupies many of the attics we clear. It's hardy and it doesn't migrate. In Middle Tennessee's mild winters a big brown colony hibernates in the home and picks up where it left off each spring. Once a colony has chosen a house, it will stay and grow indefinitely until the structure is sealed.

The evening bat is commonly a summer resident. Females gather to form maternity colonies in attics and barns to raise their pups through the warm months, then fly south for warmer climates in the winter. If your bats disappear in October, the problem isn't over. The colony returns to the same spot in the spring, with last year's pups grown and roosting alongside them.

The little brown bat used to be one of the most common attic bats in this part of the country, and attics were a standard maternity site for them. They hibernated in caves, and fell victim to white-nose syndrome, which dramatically killed off their population. They aren't gone, and we still find them, but far less often than we once did.

Signs You Have Bats in the Attic

A bat inside the house. A bat indoors is almost never alone. Unless a door or window was open and unattended after dark for an extended period, that bat typically came from inside your own structure. Depending on the time of year the bat could be a juvenile that took a wrong turn, a bat that awoke early from hibernation, a sick bat that is confused, or a hungry bat that doesn't want to go outside and deal with harsh weather. Treat every bat in the bedroom or living space as a strong signal that a colony is currently present or in the act of moving in.

Droppings. Bat guano is similar to mouse droppings, and many pest control technicians confuse the two with one another. There are some differences between them that a bat expert can spot almost immediately. Bat droppings will usually crumble with slight pressure. Its appearance will sometimes have a slight sparkle or shine due to reflective insect wings inside. The shape will also tend to be rough with segmented or irregular ends. Guano may also collect beneath roost spots and under entry points. Oftentimes bat droppings will remain out of sight in wall cavities and under insulation for years before a client notices them. If any bat droppings are visible, even just a few, it very often points to a larger problem.

Rub marks. Bats squeeze through the same gap thousands of times, and their fur can begin to leave a brown-black rub mark around it. Staining like that is not always present, but it is a virtual guarantee of bat activity if spotted.

Dusk activity. Though most bat colonies are too quiet to detect, some will make squeaking or rustling sounds near sunset, and again before dawn, as they exit and return from feeding. Some homeowners will stake out the house around these times of day and night to attempt to spot them, but this requires watching every face of the house at once, night after night, morning after morning, and even then bats are easy to miss. An inspection by a bat expert will settle the question.

Are Bats Dangerous? Rabies, Histoplasmosis & Bat Bugs

Rabies. The majority of U.S. human rabies deaths trace back to bats. That's why health officials want bats that are found in a living space to be captured and tested rather than released back outside. In cases where a possible exposure could have occurred, if a bat is not tested, a hospital visit for post-exposure prophylaxis is usually required. A negative test result spares your family the post-exposure vaccine series, which can be an expensive and unpleasant experience.

Histoplasmosis. Middle Tennessee sits inside the country's histoplasmosis belt. The Histoplasma fungus is native to soils across the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys, and it grows readily in accumulated bat guano. Disturbing piles of guano can cause the spores to become airborne which can lead to inhalation and infection. Never sweep, vacuum, or crawl through suspected guano. Guano cleanup should always be performed by experts using containment barriers and proper protection, as covered on our Attic & Crawl Space Cleaning page.

Bat bugs. A roost carries parasites, and the worst are bat bugs. Bat bugs are cousins of bed bugs. You'd need a magnifier to tell them apart. These bugs can occasionally move down into the living space looking for new hosts. When these parasites are present a cleaning may be needed.

Maternity Season: Tennessee's Bat Removal Blackout

Bats are protected under Tennessee law, and there's a stretch of the calendar when eviction in most states is not allowed: maternity season, generally May through August depending on the state, while pups are too young to fly. If a company evicts during this time of year the mothers get locked out while the pups starve inside the walls. It's inhumane, illegal, and causes even larger and more expensive problems.

During the protected periods we can still inspect, plan, and complete preliminary sealing of every opening the colony isn't using. Typically even slow developing pups are flying by mid-to-late August. This is why we time our evictions to begin at the start of September. At this time the one-way devices used for eviction can be installed and the job will be finished quickly. Every step is handled humanely and in accordance with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency regulations. In most cases our company standards go beyond what the law requires.

An important warning: never hire a bat exterminator. Killing bats is illegal, and an exterminator's license doesn't cover this work. Bat eviction calls for a licensed wildlife control operator. In Tennessee the license is known as an ADC license, which stands for Animal Damage Control. If a company offers to "get rid of" your bats in the middle of June, report them to the TWRA.

Bat in the House Right Now? Do This First

If possible confine the bat to one room and lay a rolled towel or something heavy across the gap under the door. Taping it up is even better if duct tape is available. Don't open a window and let it out. If the bat is in an open area, shut all the other doors in the home so that a wildlife company will have the areas it may be hiding narrowed down.

If anyone was sleeping in the home while it was present, the health department may want that bat caught and tested for rabies, and releasing it will squander your best chance to skip the vaccine series. Give us a call at (615) 422-5923. If we can't get there until morning, and you can't find another company to come out tonight, leave the doors shut. The bat will often settle onto a curtain or wall and fall asleep and can be retrieved the following day.

Guano Cleaning, Decontamination & Insurance

A bat colony can leave a mess behind: guano in and under the insulation, urine soaked into drywall and plaster, parasites in the roost, and even a lingering odor.

After the final bat is gone, the roost area may need to be assessed to see if it requires cleaning. This decision should not be taken lightly. If a company says they are going to "throw in" an attic cleaning for a few thousand dollars, you are either being scammed, or dealing with an unserious company who is going to put your home in harm's way for a quick dollar.

All forms of animal cleaning, including bat guano cleaning, should be treated with the same care and consideration as other serious hazardous cleaning.

The work requires containment barriers to protect the home and family, full protective gear, and a rigorous protocol that bags and removes all insulation, HEPA-vacuums and disinfects the surfaces, and installs fresh insulation to spec. The full process is on our Attic & Crawl Space Cleaning page.

Bats are mammals, and that classification puts bat damage inside the coverage language of several (though not all) homeowners policies. We will help you review your policy to see if you have coverage, and if so will photograph and document the damage properly, and work with the adjuster directly.