Maryland Wildlife Solutions offers expert bat removal in Greater Baltimore Area. Your home is a perfect nesting ground. If you see them flying around your home in the evening, you may have some living in your home. Call now 410-994-8881 for an inspection. We can find out if you have any animal issues and offer solutions to remove them humanely. Removal should not be attempted by an inexperienced person. Guano is a breeding ground for insects. They also can also carry diseases that may be spread to you or your pets. These critters are vulnerable to rabies so call now to get rid of bats in the Greater Baltimore Area.
Professional Bat Removal
Exclusion Of Bats In The Attic
Bats are federally protected and this can make controlling a bat population in a home tricky. Killing bats is illegal and trapping is both ineffective and inhumane. No deterrents or repellents are proven effective at relocating bats.
The ONLY viable method for bat removal is a complete home exclusion. What is exclusion? Exclusion is the practice of sealing ALL gaps and cracks and bat proofing ALL ventilation systems in the home. We place one-way doors (called bat-valves) over the active entry points to allow the bats to leave and not return. Did you know that bats can squeeze through gaps as small as ⅜”? That means in order to effectively exclude bats from a structure every gap ⅜” and larger must be sealed from top to bottom. Bats are called quality control inspectors in the industry because if you miss one tiny gap, the colony will re-infest the home. This is why it is critical to have a thorough evaluation conducted on your home to find any and all active and potential entry points for bats
Bat Damage Repair
Once they are removed, your home may be left with a need for bat damage repair in Greater Baltimore Area. Urine often soaks insulation in most attics. It smells and damages the insulation over time. Guano droppings can pile up into large mounds. In extreme cases it may even cause structural damage. To make matters worse, guano is both flammable and explosive. To keep this problem from coming back, we need to seal up every nook and fix any damage. We are experts in carpentry and can repair any damage to look like new.
Our team has the tools to safely remove stained insulation from your home and then replace with new. We have the proper equipment to prevent the spread of disease causing guano and make your attic livable again.
Can Exclusion Be Done Year-Round?
The actual removal of bat colonies from homes can only be done in two short windows in the fall and spring. This is because in the winter, bats are in a state of hibernation called torpor. While some species overwinter in hibernaculum (caves where bats congregate), other species will experience torpor in your very home. So if exclusion is done in colder temperatures, we might trap the bats inside which can cause many problems. In the spring, bats will give birth to one or two pups. All of the females will raise the non-volant (flightless) young together in what is known as a maternal roost throughout the spring and summer.
If exclusion is done during this time, we risk trapping the young in the structure as they are not capable of leaving. Again, this situation results in many problems for the bats and homeowners alike. If you suspect you may have bats in your home, don’t hesitate to call us at 410-994-8881 as these time restraints will play a factor in our control program. Maryland Wildlife Solutions will still conduct bat evaluations year round, and will conduct partial exclusions off-season to help stabilize your bat problem until we can safely remove your colony!
Bats in Living Quarters
A frequent call we receive in the Greater Baltimore Area is a frantic “THERE IS A BAT IN MY ROOM!” bats very often end up in living quarters by accident. While it is hard to believe, they don’t want to be there as much as you don’t want them to be there. Occasionally these bats will enter an open door or window, but more often than not this incident is in direct correlation to colony activity in your attic. These occurrences are highest in late summer as juveniles are learning to fly, but can happen year round. If you have a bat flying around your home, make sure you follow these steps:
- Keep calm, and vacate the room the bat is located. Make sure no pets or family members remain in the room.
- Close all doors in the home, this reduces the bats ability to travel throughout the home. Place towels under the door of the room in question, and under any doors where family members and pets are located. Follow this step even if you’re unsure of the bat’s location.
- Call 410-994-8881 and we will dispatch a 24/7 emergency technician to locate and remove the bat (emergency fees do apply).
- Call your local health department to discuss potential rabies exposure. If they believe there might have been exposure, they may request the bat be sent for testing.
- We will arrive to locate and capture the bat. Should the bat need to be submitted for testing, we will contain the bat and prepare it for pick-up.
- If the bat is not located, discuss with your health care provider about post-exposure rabies vaccine.
- Schedule with us an evaluation for entry points and attic activity. We will determine if there are more bats in the structure and what exclusion will need to be done to make your home bat-proof.
Bat Remediation
Large deposits of bat guano in your home can pose serious health risks. Bat guano contains histoplasma which is fungus found in bird and bat droppings. The spores of the histoplasma can cause a potentially life threatening lung infection called histoplasmosis. Bat urine also soaks into insulation causing a putrid smell.
This is why the final step of bat control is remediation of the attic space. Remediation of your attic includes removing all the soiled insulation, sanitizing the area, and only after, replacing with fresh insulation. If the colony was infested with bat bugs (a relative to the bed bug that lives exclusively off bats) then we will treat for ectoparasites as well. Failure to do so could cause bat bugs to bite and feed off the residents of the home.
It is important to note that full attic remediation is not necessary for every bat infestation, some require only spot cleanings. An improper remediation could cause more health risks than leaving the guano alone, so be sure to hire a company that follows proper protocols to reduce histoplasma exposure to your home. Maryland Wildlife Solutions is trained in attic remediations, so if you this service call 410-994-8881.