Bats have a reputation as troublesome creatures that is not entirely earned. North American bats may bite if provoked but do not feed on blood and do not attack humans. However, they can spread diseases through their droppings, so it is not safe to have them in your home. If you do find evidence of bats roosting in your home, you should call for professional bat removal right away.

While it isn’t safe to have bats in your home, it can be good to have them on your property. Bats are hugely beneficial to the environment, and if you provide them with a safe place to roost and raise young, you can take advantage of the benefits and help a threatened species. Not only that, but bats may be less likely to try to roost in your home if you provide them with a good alternative.

What Benefits Do Bats Provide?

Bats play a vital role as pollinators, helping plants to grow and reproduce. A lot of the food crops we rely on only survive because bats pollinate them or spread their seeds through their droppings, which can also serve as fertilizer.

Bats also help to keep populations of harmful insects in check. One study showed that the presence of bats in an area can decrease the mosquito population by nearly one-third. Mosquitos that have just taken a blood meal are easier for bats to catch because they are larger and slower, and becoming meals for a bat prevents them from laying eggs and generating more mosquitos.

How Do You Help Bats Find Shelter?

One way to ensure that bats have a place to stay without inviting them into your home is to put up a bat house for them. Bat houses provide an ideal roosting environment, which helps to discourage the flying mammals from taking up residence in the cave-like atmosphere of your attic.

Bat houses provide protection from predators as well as weather conditions of rain and wind. They may have one chamber or several, but they provide rough places for bats to climb up more easily. Because bats like tight areas, each chamber is typically very narrow. There are bat houses available for sale, or you can build one of your own.

Where Should You Put Your Bat House?

When it comes to placing a bat house, the two most important factors you should consider are height and temperature. Because bats are flying creatures, they prefer high roosting places. A bat house needs to be approximately 15 feet above the ground, although it may be better if you can put it as high as 20 feet.

Instead of putting the bat house in a tree or shaded area, you should place it out in the open where it will receive plenty of sunshine. This helps ensure that it is the right temperature for the bats, which prefer to roost in spots between 85 degrees and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Painting the bat house with certain colours may help it to absorb the right amount of heat.

Bat houses can be mounted on a pole or the side of a building. Because of the risk of contamination from bat feces, it is better to mount them a ways away from your house, if possible. As long as there is a bat house available, the bats should choose it over your attic, but it may be better to mount it elsewhere and avoid tempting them.

If bats do get into your house, you can help them while protecting your home by choosing Skedaddle for wildlife control in Coquitlam. We use humane exclusion methods that prevent the bats from getting back into your house while supporting the bat community.