MINNEAPOLIS BAT REMOVAL

BAT REMOVAL PROCESS

Residents of Minneapolis are no stranger to urban wildlife. Some species, like pigeons and squirrels, are so common that most people barely notice them as they go about their day. There are other species that are less understood and bats are certainly one of them.

There are plenty of myths surrounding bats that live on to this day. Part of the reason is that bats are nocturnal, so they’re rarely seen or observed up close. In fact, for most homeowners in Minneapolis the only time they will interact with a bat is when one makes its way into the living space of their home. Waking up to bat flying around your home can be both stressful and frightening. When that happens you need the help of Skedaddle Minneapolis’ bat removal specialists.

The greatest risk when a bat enters the living space of the home is the possibility of a bite. Bats are a leading carrier of rabies in Minnesota and Hennepin County. Rabies is most often spread through a bite or scratch from an infected animal. Although bats are not particularly cute or cuddly, they are not aggressive by nature. They certainly won’t seek to attack but if mishandled or surprised they may react by biting. Bats have very sharp teeth that can make bites difficult to detect afterward.

Bats in Minneapolis

Minnesota is home to eight different species of bats but only two of them are known to make their home inside buildings and structures; the little brown bat and the big brown bat. These bats are nocturnal and leave their roosts at dusk to feed on insects. During late spring and summer you might observe them in the sky at dusk, before the sun has completely gone down, darting around as they chase flying insects. Minneapolis’ many lakes, ponds, rivers and streams help to support a strong bat population. Bats not only drink from the waters, they’re also attracted to the flying insects that can be found both above the water and in the surrounding woods.

During winter, when there are no flying insects to feed on, Minnesota’s bats seek out and migrate to hibernation sites with consistent temperatures to help them ride out winter. Hibernation sites for Minnesota little brown and big brown bats could be a far off underground cave or abandoned mine or the walls of a home right in the city.

In recent years Minnesota’s bats, particularly the little brown bat, have seen their populations decline with the arrival of white-nose syndrome to the state. White-nose syndrome, or WNS, is a fungal disease that causes cave-hibernating bats to prematurely awake from winter hibernation causing their death. WNS was first discovered in New York State in 2006 and by 2016 had reached Minnesota. The largest winter hibernation site in Minnesota at Soudan Underground Mine on Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota hosted 15,000 bats before the arrival of WNS. As of 2021, the number of bats hibernating at Soudan Underground Mine has declined by over 90%.

The bats that have survived are those that over winter inside the walls and attics of homes where conditions do not allow for WNS to take root. The big brown bat commonly hibernates inside homes and buildings and has not seen as drastic a decline in its population as compared to the little brown bat. Should you discover a bat inside the living space of your Minneapolis home odds are it is a big brown bat.

Bats are recognized for the significant contribution they make in controlling insects that can damage crops and forests but that doesn’t mean you should share your home with a colony. Bats leave behind droppings that can be harmful and their presence inside your home could put your family and pets at risk for rabies. Now, more than ever, it is important to use humane methods to evict bat colonies. Skedaddle understands the complex biology and behavior of bats and uses that knowledge to provide Minneapolis homeowners with humane bat removal.

How Bats Access Your Home

Unlike other types of wildlife, such as raccoons, that may try to create holes so they can enter homes, bats get inside houses by finding existing openings. They are capable of squeezing through small cracks and crevices, so even the tiniest gap on the exterior of your house can allow bats access. Bats typically enter homes along the roofline so their small entry points can be hard to find when looking up from the ground. Their remarkable ability to squeeze into the smallest openings, as small as the width of a dime, means that just about any home, old or new, could be a host for a bat colony. Identifying bat entry points often takes the trained eye of a skillful bat removal specialist who can recognize the subtle clues bats leave behind.

How To Recognize Signs of Bats in Your House

Bats are nocturnal so it’s not likely that you will see them coming and going. They hunt for insects at night using echolocation and they sleep during the daylight hours after they return to roost. During winter their activity reduces significantly and they won’t leave the roost after hibernation begins in October until the following April or May. Their activity in and around your home can be difficult to detect and that is why bat colonies can go unnoticed by homeowners for years.

While some observant homeowners may discover droppings around their home or catch them coming and going at dusk, it is not until a bat makes its way into the living space that most people become aware of bats inside their house. A bat flying around inside your home is a certain indication of a colony living inside the walls and attic. Bats are most often found in the living space of Minneapolis homes during the hot summer months when bats occupying the walls and attic move downward in search of cooler temperatures and become lost and later emerge into the interior of the house. A bat found on the inside of your home is a lost bat that got turned around inside the walls and doesn’t know how to get back. The best way to remove these bats is by hand, but due to the risk of rabies a professional should be called.

Let Skedaddle Help With Humane Bat Removal

At Skedaddle, we understand that bats play an important role in the ecosystem. Our goal is always to get them out of your house while preserving the health of the colony. The first step in the process is a detailed home inspection to learn how and where the bats are getting into your house. That means checking along the roof lines for staining and droppings that indicate bat entry.

Humane bat removal involves installing one-way doors over the bats entry points. Bat one-way doors allow the bats exit your attic at night in search of food but prevent their reentry. Locked out, the bats then relocate to one of their alternate roosting sites in the area. Care must be taken to install bat one-way doors when bats are active and when juveniles are old enough to exit the roost to prevent locking mother bats from their babies. Skedaddle’s team of bat removal specialists will guide you through the removal process and timing to ensure a humane outcome.

As part of the service we carefully search the exterior of your house to identify any holes or crevices that bats could fit through in the future. It is critical to seal gaps around vents, soffits and chimneys to prevent reentry. The final step in the removal process is to thoroughly clean and sanitize the space where the bats were roosting. Bat guano has a distinct odor, and can be a health hazard, so safe cleaning is vital to protect the health of you and your family.

Trust Skedaddle for Bat Removal in Minneapolis

It’s important to take quick action to protect your health if you think there are bats living inside your house, and Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control knows how to get rid of bats without causing any harm to the colony. Contact us today to set up an appointment for bat removal in Minneapolis.

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