Bats are beneficial creatures that eat harmful insects and pollinate plants. They can pose a problem if they nest in your attic. They can leave behind a lot of toxic urine and guano that can lead to health problems and damage your house’s structure. In addition to this, they create a lot of noise that will keep you up at night.
It is important to act quickly and get rid of the bats before they do any more damage. If you need professional help, call AAAC Wildlife Removal of Gulfport, Florida. Our experts are here to help you evict your bats, clean up the mess they made and repair any damage. We will make sure they don’t come back!
Bat Removal from Attics in Gulfport, Florida
Attics are a favorite place for bats in Gulfport, Florida. They are warm, dry, and secluded enough for them to feel safe. They will find a spot in the soffit, where they can easily squeeze through cracks and openings. After the colony has established itself, they will begin to produce large amounts of urine and droppings.
Bats can carry a number of diseases such as histoplasmosis, rabies, and even the plague. The best way to avoid these problems is by evicting them from your attic before they have a chance to become established. If you see tell tale signs of an infestation, call AAAC Wildlife Removal and will remove them for you.
Gulfport Bat Removal
Bats are night-flying creatures so they will likely be visible at night. It can be quite disturbing to see bats flying around your home if they are living in your attic, walls or leaving droppings. They can also transmit diseases such as bat guano, which could cause serious health problems to people.
Once you have confirmed that there is a problem with bats, it’s time for experts to help. If left untreated, these animals could cause severe damage and pose serious health risks. Although bats look harmless, their guano can be full of harmful spores. This infection can cause histoplasmosis. It is a condition that often causes flu-like symptoms and worsens over time. AAAC Wildlife Removal can help you with any questions or concerns about bat control.
Bat Extermination vs. Bat Removal
Knowing that you have bats in your home can be unnerving and your first thought might be to call pest control and have them exterminated. Bats, however, cannot be treated like termites or ants, they are protected and cannot be simply exterminated.
Exclusion is a method of removing bats. We first find out where the bats are getting inside and seal those openings shut. A one-way door is installed once they are no longer able to enter. This allows them to leave, but they cannot re-enter. This is a process that requires experience so it is best to call a qualified professional and let them take care of the bats.
Bat Damage
Bat guano and urine can damage the insulation and structure of the house. Bat waste is acidic and can cause wood and drywall to rot. It will also cause stains in the ceiling and walls as well as leave behind an awful odor that is very hard to remove with just regular cleaning products.
In addition, their droppings make a perfect home to dangerous mold spores that can cause serious health issues for you and your family. To avoid potential health problems and damage to your house, bats must be removed immediately.
Bat Exclusion
The best way of removing bats from your home is to seal off all possible entrances. This is called exclusion. It is done by sealing all holes or openings that are bigger than an inch. Attics, chimneys, roofs are the most common entry points to bats. After the exclusion process, you can use a one-way door to allow the bats to leave but not get back in. Once gone, you must seal all potential entrance points permanently to prevent other animals from entering your home.
These entry points may include chimneys, vents, gaps under garage doors or beneath eaves, even holes as tiny as a half-inch. Once these locations have been identified by our bat removal specialist we will take steps to ensure that they are sealed off so no other bats can get inside your home.
Removing Bats in the Attic
Removing bats in attics requires experience and knowledge of the bats’ behaviors and patterns. Our team has extensive training and experience in live bat removal, exclusion, and post-removal cleanup. We use humane methods that will not harm the bats or leave anything that will pose health risks for you and your family.
Our team has years of experience dealing with all sorts of wild animals, and we are fully licensed to remove bats in Gulfport homes. Bats should be handled by professionals who are experienced in dealing with them. They are not like other pests that can be killed or swatted away without consequences. If you’ve got a bat infestation on your hands, give AAAC Wildlife Removal a call!
This is how we handle bat exclusions:
- We spend a great deal of time identifying bat entry points and then sealing them shut
- We set up one-way doors so that bats can exit but not reenter the building
- Double check that all bats are excluded and out of your home
- We then seal all entry points with steel wool or mesh screens to prevent re-entry
- After this, we go through and do a thorough clean-up of any guano left in the attic or walls.
- Proceed with replacement of soiled insulation.
- Repair of wildlife damage, both inside and outside of the home.
The first step we take is to spend a great deal of time identifying bat entry points. Ensuring that there aren’t any other points of entry is essential to prevent future infestations. The next step involves the installation of one-way doors to allow the bats out, but not back in again – this is a safe and humane method of removing the bats from your house without harming them.
To prevent any accidental contact with bats, we double-check that all bats have left your home. After which we seal all entry points with steel wool or mesh screens to prevent the bats from re-entering.
Next, clean up with professional-grade cleaners and sanitizers any fecal matter left behind by bats in your insulation and floor. We go through great lengths to ensure that your home is free of any odors and guano. Fogging with enzyme cleaner is also done after the insulation has been removed to make sure every nook and cranny is disinfected.
After the attic has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected we can begin to look at wildlife damage. To make your house look new again, we’ll repair any damage they might have caused.
Dangers of DIY Bat Removal
Bats are a reservoir of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic means that the diseases can be transferred from animals to humans. One of these deadly diseases is rabies. It has been found in bat colonies all over Florida, particularly along the coasts as they have easy access to food sources.
Bat guano is also another source of health risks. Accumulated bat guano can release spores of Histoplasma capsulatum, which can cause a severe respiratory disease called Histoplasmosis.
Those who don’t have the right training and protective gear, should not attempt to remove bats on their own. It is easy to become infected with the diseases bats carry. You don’t want to risk it. Not only is it dangerous but it is also illegal in many states, including Florida. Bat removal must be performed by a licensed professional or permit holder.
Histoplasmosis
Histoplasmosis is a fungal disease that can be transmitted to humans and other animals via bat droppings. This disease can be especially dangerous for those with weak immune systems, such as children and pregnant women.
Histoplasmosis is transmitted by bat droppings and can also be breathed in as spores from dried Guano. These spores are aerosolized by wind and human activity. Inhalation of histoplasma capsulatum spore leads to an infection that causes flu-like symptoms such as fever, headaches, and muscle aches.
If not treated correctly, this condition can cause lung disease. It is crucial that you immediately contact professionals if you suspect there may be bats in your house.
FAQs
Are bats protected in Florida?
Florida bats are a protected species. It is illegal to hurt them or disturb their nesting areas. If you have bats living inside your house, it is best that you let professionals handle their removal. We can exterminate the bats and not harm them.
What is guano?
Guano refers to bat droppings or feces. These droppings are a major cause of Histoplasmosis disease which is contracted from breathing in dust that comes from dried guano and can also cause stains on ceilings if the bats have been living there for some time.
Is guano harmful?
Yes. Histoplasmosis disease is caused by breathing in dust that comes from dried bat feces and can be fatal if left untreated. It is not advised to remove them yourself as you could contract the disease.
Is it safe to remove bats myself?
Most people will try removing these creatures themselves due to cost – please don’t do this as it’s incredibly dangerous; bats are known carriers of rabies and other zoonotic diseases(human transferable).
The health risks associated with trying to remove them yourself are too high. Also, one must remember that one does need permits for handling these animals for any kind of relocation. We highly recommend having a professional handle the job instead of attempting it yourself as the time taken is way less than medical expenses and other costs that come with contracting these diseases from bats.
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About Gulfport
Gulfport is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, bordering St. Petersburg and Boca Ciega Bay. The population of Gulfport was 12,029 at the 2010 census. Gulfport is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan statistical area. Wikipedia
