What they do:
Bats are attracted to warm dark areas to roost. While bats don’t typically cause any real damage—their droppings can be offensive to homeowners, and unfortunately one bat sighting is enough to get most households into an uproar. Bats are however extremely beneficial to the environment. One single bat can eat up to 10,000 mosquito sized insects in one night of hunting. Not only do they protect us from mosquitoes and West Nile Virus, they also eat the insects that damage our gardens and crops.
What you can do:
- The first rule in any bat encounter is to remain calm.
- Keep pets and children away.
- Keep as near to a wall as possible when moving around the room.
- Close interior doors and if possible provide the bat with an exit by opening a window or exterior door.
- Bats can carry rabies so calling Animal Control at 605-367-7000 for removal is highly advised.
- If you do have to evict the bat yourself leather work gloves should protect you from a bat’s teeth.
- Wearing gloves gently but firmly pick up the bat and release him outdoors. (Be prepared for the bat to vocalize loudly when you pick him up.)
- Next check common entry points like gaps around air conditioners, chimneys, or openings in interior walls that lead to attics or cellars. (Inspect thoroughly—bats can fit through openings as small as a half inch!)
- The best way to get rid of a bat colony is to let the bats leave and then deny them re-entry. To pinpoint entry points, watch suspect areas before sunset to about 30 minutes after sunset when bats typically leave to feed.
- Attach bird netting or flexible plastic strips above openings on the outside to create a one-way door—the bats can leave but not re–enter.
- Make them want to leave by brightly lighting the area day and night.
- Place fans in attics to cool the area below a suitable temperature for bats.
- Once you’re convinced they’re all out, cover all entry points the bats are using but make sure when you evict them there are no young present. For that reason its best not to solve any bat colony problems from May through August.
If you want to continue to enjoy an insect free area provide alternative roosting sites such as bat houses. (*the Little Brown Bat can eat up to 600 mosquitoes per hour!)
