Swooping bats may be interesting to watch from a distance, but they don’t belong in your home. Here is an overview of why you might find bats in your house in the winter and WNY Wildlife & Exclusion’s process for getting them out safely!
Where Do Bats Live in Winter?
Bats typically hibernate during the winter months, but that does not mean you will not see them when it is cold. New York’s temperatures are often lower than bats can survive in during the winter, which means that these critters frequently search for a warmer place to spend these months instead of sleeping outdoors. Bats often find their way into homes, garages, and other buildings, which provide enclosed spaces that tend to be near the most ideal temperature for hibernation. Although they do spend most of the winter asleep, bats do wake up from time to time to find food and water, which means that they may not be noticed at all until they have been in your home for quite some time.
Why Are There Bats in My Home?
Like many small critters, bats are quite good at finding small openings in your home to enter through. Bat Conservation International warns homeowners that holes that are as small as 1/2 inch in diameter are large enough for bats to fit through, especially when they inherently know that they need to quickly find a warm place to spend the winter. Many of these small openings are found in high areas of your home or other building, such as open spaces in your roofing, siding, windows, or power or other utility line entrances. Some doors also have plenty of space underneath for a bat to fit through, and damaged areas of your home can provide even larger spaces that bats can enter through.
Even damage that appears minor to you can be an entry point for bats, such as torn screens, missing shingles, and issues with your siding, insulation, or chimney. Searching for these types of damage or other openings and repairing any potential problems you come across before the temperature drops can significantly reduce your likelihood of finding bats in your home this winter. We can also handle this process on your behalf. Although our bat exclusion process is most effective at keeping bats from moving in in the first place when we complete it during the spring or fall, it is also an important final step in removing bats from your attic in winter or any other part of your home at any time of year.
What Should I Do about Bats in My Home?
Although one bat may enter through one of these openings on its own or even fly through your open door, they are more likely to stay with the rest of their colony when searching for a place to spend the winter. This means that seeing one bat in your house during the winter likely means that there are many more hidden somewhere in your home, and this situation is typically best handled by professionals.
Getting in touch with WNY Wildlife & Exclusion as soon as you notice one or more bats in your home is an essential step in getting them out safely before they damage your home or cause health concerns. We start by inspecting your home to determine where the bats are hiding, approximately how many of them there are, and where they likely came from. Once we know a bit more about your situation, we can use a variety of humane techniques to remove the bats from your home and release them back into the wild where they belong. After the bats have been removed from your home, finding and sealing their entry point is a must to keep them from coming back.
At WNY Wildlife & Exclusion, we are here to help you keep bats and other critters out of your home this winter. Contact us today to learn more about the services we offer or to schedule an inspection!
