Bats nest under the eaves of your roof. This is the space between the roof extension and the walls. Bats do this because they hate bright lights. But these animals cause massive problems when they are in your home.
Bat droppings may start to accumulate on the ground just outside your house. Also, bats fly noisily at night. So, you may need to deter bats from roosting under the eaves of your house.
But dealing with a bat problem may not be easy. The bats may keep on growing in numbers if you are not careful.
Here are some of the best methods that you can use to achieve your goal. Remember, you may not have to harm bats to keep your house safe.
How to Tell if you have a Bat Problem
It is difficult to tell if you have a bat problem. This is because people confuse it with what other animals may cause. So, unless you physically see the bat colony in your house, you may mistake the problem for other animals.
There are many clear signs of a bat problem. One of them may be in the form of white stains along the walls. The bats in a bat colony usually use a few openings while getting to their dwellings.
As a result, their urine usually sticks to the walls where the animals enter the bat house. When you see these white marks, consider how to get rid of bats.
You can also tell if you have a bat problem by their sounds: bats flying cause a lot of noise. However, the sound waves from flying are clear at night. So, if you hear a lot of noise at night, consider how to get rid of the bat houses in the eaves.
Are Bats Useful to the Environment?
Bats may be unwanted guests in your home. This is because of the smell from their nests. Also, they tend to urinate along the walls while they hang upside down during the day. But bats are very useful to the environment.
For example, they control the insect populations in the environment. Bats feed heavily on many other insects. One bat is said to feed insects equal to its body weight. This is only for one night. So, without bats, the insect population will grow out of hand.
Bats love to fly at night. Bat activity at night is important for pollinating cacti. The cacti flowers open up at night only. When bats fly at night, they transfer the pollen among the flowers of cacti.
So, bats enable cacti to pollinate and grow successfully. So, bats keep the insect populations in check. They also help cacti grow.
Are Bats Useful to Humans?
Many people want to prevent bats from roosting in their homes. They believe that bats are very harmful to them. But this is not entirely accurate. Bats can harm you if they carry rabies.
This is a condition that produces flu-like symptoms in people. But if bats do not have rabies, they may be useful to humans.
Bats are powerful eaters of mosquitoes and other insects. Mosquitoes cause malaria, one of the main killers in the tropics. Having bats in your home can effectively control the mosquito population. So, keeping bats around can act as a natural insecticide if your home is full of mosquitoes.
Bats also act as reservoirs of some dangerous viruses. This is because these animals maintain their body temperatures at high levels. So, the viruses cannot manifest in their bodies. However, they can help prevent the spread of viruses from one species to another.
Why do Bats Settle in Homes?
There are many reasons why bats settle in your house. In some cases, multiple bats may be living in your home without your knowledge. Here are some reasons why bats may be in your home.
The most important one is about food. Bats, like any other animal, love to live near their food. In addition, bats feed on various types of insects. If these insects are easily available in your home, you will have bats roosting in the house.
The second reason is shelter. Bats like to live in small and dark spaces. This is why you will find bat roosts under the eaves or in cracks. In addition, dark space provides an ideal environment for bat activity. So, if you have cracks and other dark spaces in your home, you may have bats roosting there.
The third reason is the temperature. Bats hate bright light and high temperatures. This is why bats roost under eaves and other cool places. You will have to check such small spaces and other cool locations to deal with the bats.
What Happens if I Leave the Bats to Roost Under the Eaves?
It is a good idea to prevent bats from roosting under the eaves of your roof. This is because they are a protected species. You should not kill bats once they roost in your home. But if this happens, you need to get rid of bats.
The bats will cause you various problems if you do not do this. For example, bats’ entry and exit points are full of bat droppings. The bat droppings may also drop all over the floor under your eaves. This will give you additional work of removing the droppings.
Also, if you do not get rid of bats, the noise that they cause may be unbearable. There is a lot of noise that comes from any bat house. This may be a nuisance to people at home.
So, it may be good to prevent bats from roosting on your eaves. But if they do, then think of how to get rid of bats from your home.
How to Keep Bats from Roosting Under Eaves
1. Build a One-Way Cage
Building a one-way cage is one of the most effective ways to get rid of bats. A one-way cage may take the form of a bird netting or a pipe:
- You need to identify the exact entry points the bats use. Once you know this, get a nice-fitting pipe and connect it to the entry point.
- Ensure that the pipe fits perfectly. If this is not the case, use calking to achieve a perfect fit.
- Let the pipe extend outside, away from the roof of your house.
This one-way exclusion gate works because it does not harm the bats. Once the bats use the entry point, they are automatically redirected to the gate. They cannot return when they go out of your house via the gate; they cannot return.
2. Use a Natural Bat Repeller
You can repel bats by using some chemicals that produce strong odors. Naturally, bats hate very strong chemical odors. One easy way of delivering such an odor is using bat repellent sprays.
You will have to put these bat repellent spray strategically in different locations in your attic to achieve this goal. Putting just sprays in the eaves will not be effective. However, if you apply them in the entry points, resting spots, and hollow spaces, they’ll be effective.
One example of a bat repellent is Bonide Bat Magic. It contains essential oils, including peppermint and spearmint, that give off smells that bats don’t like. The good thing is these products are harmless to bats and other animals.
3. Place Mothballs Around the Cages
As mentioned before, bats hate strong chemical odors. Mothballs work well if they are in large numbers. Some people complain that mothballs are not effective against bats. But the problem usually lies in the number of balls that one uses.
The same principle works if you use mothballs to chase away rats. You need a large number of balls around the place where rats frequent. If you use this for bats, you should keep large amounts of mothballs in cages. The strong chemical odor from the mothballs will drive the bats away over time.
Remember to check the bag containing mothballs occasionally. As the mothballs get rid of bats, their smell starts to fade. Over time, the bats may find the place bearable again. So, remember to replace them occasionally after you place bags full of mothballs.
4. Use White Phenol
White phenol is a common chemical with a mild pungent smell. White phenol is widely used to sterilize medical equipment. If you spray this liquid in and around a bat house, its smell will remain in the air. The pungent smell of white phenol is very disturbing to bats.
Bats have a very sense of smell. They use their strong sense of smell to tell their mates. However, they use their strong sense of hearing about flying about. This explains why they never ram into people or items, even in the dark.
If you use white phenol, you will be using their strong sense of smell against them. The bats hate such a smell and will eventually keep off. Increase the amounts of white phenol that you pour around the bat houses. This will keep your eaves free of bats.
5. Make a DIY Essential Oil Sprays
Bats roost in your eaves for shelter and food. They also do so if the environment is comfortable for them. If you make it uncomfortable, they will leave. One effective way is to use chemicals that emit odors. Bats hate some strong odors. Mothballs work well in this regard.
But there are many other compounds that you can use to get rid of bats. One of them is cinnamon. This natural compound produces a very strong smell.
Put some cinnamon powder in the small spaces where bats stay. The bats will eventually flee. You can also use eucalyptus powder to chase them away.
Other natural compounds of spices like mint and peppermint work perfectly fine. Such natural spices are better than other repellants like mothballs. But, of course, it would help if you kept a bag full of mothballs in the eaves to drive off bats successfully.
6. Install a Light Source
Bats function perfectly in the dark. But they are not blind. The eyesight of bats is just as normal as that of many other animals. The only difference is that bats can see ultraviolet light.
At night, bats work well because they rely on their strong hearing ability. If you install bright lights in the dark spaces, you would have messed up with them. The bats will find it difficult to operate in bright light.
You can also change the main lights in your house to yellow. This kind of light will attract fewer bugs to your home. Because bats roost under eaves for food and shelter, they may leave. This is if the amount of food available in the area reduces.
7. Use Newspaper Roll Slaps
Identify the main bat roosts in your house. Once you have done this, roll up newspapers and place them near the bats. You can also slap the rolled newspaper on the eaves. This creates a noise that the bats hate.
Also, the newspapers may reflect outdoor lights. Bats do not like a lot of light. So, the combination of reflected light and noise from the newspapers will work. The bats will leave the eaves if you keep doing this.
8. Fill Up Holes and Seal Cracks
Bats use holes and cracks as homes. This is common if you have a closed eave in your house. But dealing with this problem of a bat infestation is easy.
First, you need to identify and seal up all the holes and cracks. This method works because it denies the bats’ exit and entry points to the eaves. Thus, doing this can keep bats from roosting in your eaves.
Ensure you seal all the holes and cracks. If you fail to do this, the bat problem will worsen. The entire bat population will start using the few cracks and openings you would have missed to seal. They can even return to the same spot every year.
9. Remove Food Sources Around your Roof
One common type of bat is the fruit bat. They primarily feast on fruits that grow in gardens. One easy way of dealing with this type of bat is to prevent them from getting food.
You may not have to cut down your precious fruit trees because of bats. It may be reasonable to use objects that can scare the bats away from their food. Place windsocks and wind chimes on the fruit trees.
These objects will make a sound that the bats cannot stand. This will keep the animals off the trees and force them to migrate. For the other bats, remove the food sources from around your roof.
10. Implement a Bat Cone Bat Deterrent
You can use a bat cone bat deterrent to keep bats from roosting on the eaves. This small device usually lets bats fly out. It then prevents them from reentering the house again.
This is because of the conical shape that makes it impossible for bats to reenter the house through it. If you have closed eaves, this may work perfectly.
You can also use a decoy bat house. This fake house attracts the bats and traps them inside. You can then drive them out of your home safely.
11. Scare them with Sound
You can scare bats away from your home with sounds. Remember, bats have an excellent sense of hearing. But they do not enjoy all kinds of noise.
So it is possible to irritate them and send them away from your house. For example, you can use simple devices such as wind chimes. However, this and related devices make loud noises that scare bats.
If you can afford it, place ultrasonic devices near the bat houses. The ultrasonic devices will produce sounds that are harsh to the bats. Maintain the sound for as long as the bats are around your home. After some time, the bats will find the noise unbearable. They will then eventually leave your house.
12. Use Aluminum Foil Under the Eaves
Using aluminum foil under eaves is another effective way to get rid of bats. Bats are nocturnal animals. They like operating in the dark. Aluminum reflects light.
The trick of using this method is to create as much light as possible in the small holes. These are usually the dwelling places of the bats. You can do this by hanging aluminum foils from the roof.
Hang strips of aluminum in the area where the bats stay. The more light that comes to the crevices, the bigger the problem the bats will experience. Soon, the bats will get uncomfortable and move away from the area.
Apart from aluminum foils, you can use anything else that reflects light. Mylar balloons, CDs, and other items are a good alternative. Hang them prominently all over the place where the bats stay. Most bats will back off when there is too much light in their place.
13. Call a Professional
Consider talking to a wildlife removal specialist if these methods fail. The professional will assess the situation and recommend the right steps. The professional will use additional methods to keep the bats off the eaves on many occasions.
Conclusion
It would help if you prevented bats from roosting on the eaves. But if this happens, you should get away from driving them away humanely.
So all these methods work to an extent. But no single method is 100% effective. So at times, you may have to combine two or more. If this works, call a professional to solve the problem for you.