What You Need to Know About Bats if You Have Some Around Your Property

Posted on March 17, 2022 by virginia

Bats are an incredible species of mammal, and we are lucky to have them as a part of our surrounding Eco-system. Their high metabolic needs and diverse diets significantly impact our ecological communities by playing a vital role in pollination, seed dispersion, crop fertilization, insect control, protozoan hosting, ecotourism industries, and more. But where there are advantages, there are also disadvantages. If you have spotted bats around your property on a nightly basis, it is essential to better understand their behaviors so that you can better protect your home or business from bat damages and associated risks.

Continue reading to learn what you need to know about bats if you have them around your property.

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Nuisance Bats

Bats are common nuisances for home and business owners. They are attracted to dark, warm shelters to raise their young and hibernate through winter, including attics, crawl spaces, garages, sheds, roofs, and walls. They can enter through a crevice as tiny as 3/8^th inch, so it is easy for them to get inside a vulnerable structure. You can tell if you have bats in the house or around your property by looking for the signs. This includes hearing strange noises in the walls or attic at night, spotting animal droppings around windows or doors, smelling foul odors from attic or crawl space areas, and more.

Bat Damages

Bats can cause a long list of structural damages to a home, and the accumulation of their droppings can create an unsanitary, biohazardous environment. Furthermore, they pose a wide range of health risks since their guano can cause respiratory illnesses, and they may carry diseases and parasites like rabies, lice, mites, and more. Fortunately, several professional wildlife control companies offer restoration and decontamination services for damages caused by bats. They will remove the bats from the space using safe and humane methods, clean up the mess they made, sanitize the entire area, and restore any structural damages they caused from their stay.

Bats and Rabies

Many people wrongly assume that all bats have rabies. The truth is that bats are common carriers of the rabies virus, but that does not mean all bats are carriers, nor does it mean that carriers are infected. If a bat is rabid, you will be able to tell by a blood test, which can only be done correctly by a state’s Department of Health. A rabid bat is not likely to be a threat since they generally seek out isolation to die. In fact, bats that are not sick are not likely to attack either. They are more afraid of us than we are of them. It is very rare for one to bite or attack unless provoked. This is why regular vaccinations are so vital for pets.

Bat Removal and Control

To properly eliminate a bat problem, bats must first be removed, and then specific precautions must be taken to ensure they cannot reenter your home or building. There are many things you can do yourself to reduce the level of wildlife activity around your property, such as removing all food and water sources, including bird baths, squirrel feeders, pet food, gardens, and more. You can also install automatic motion lighting or ultrasonic sound machines, as well as, spread predatory urine or other non-toxic repellents around your yard. Just use water, ground hot pepper, and menthol oil to make a homemade b a t repellent.

Are you dealing with a nuisance bat problem in or around your property? Contact Virginia Bat Pros at 804-729-9097 for prompt and professional bat removal and control you can afford. We serve residential and commercial clients.

There Might Be a Bat Infestation in Your House if You See These Signs

Posted on February 8, 2022 by virginia

There are many problems associated with having bats in the house. Not only do bats carry infectious diseases that can potentially be transmitted to humans and pets, but their droppings also pose several health risks, including a serious upper respiratory disease known as Histoplasmosis. If you suspect that you might have a bat infestation on your hands, there are some things you need to know right away.

First, bats are not solitary mammals. They live in large colonies, so where there’s one or two bats, there are likely many more. And since bats are nocturnal, they sleep quietly for most of the day, so they can go undetected for a long time. Second, the signs of a bat infestation are visible or apparent, you just have to know what to look for.

Continue reading to learn the common signs of a bat infestation and what to do if you find one in your house.

Bat Infestation Damages and Risks

The longer bats roost in your house, the more damage they cause, which ends up costing you money, time, and frustration that could have been avoided with proper nuisance wildlife prevention. Furthermore, bats are known carriers of several diseases that can be transmitted to people and pets, like Rabies, mites, lice, ticks, and other parasites. Needless to say, it is not safe to have bats in the attic or other area of your home.

Fortunately, most Richmond VA bat removal professionals also provide full-service decontamination and restoration work for bat damages. This includes disinfecting, sanitizing, and fumigating the area to eliminate waste and pests like bat mites and lice. It also includes replacing or renovating damaged areas like attic insulation, drywall, floorboards, siding, roof shingles, and more.

Lastly, you will need your trusted Virginia bat removal and control company to implement the proper measures of wildlife proofing and prevention to stop future bat infestations.

Here are the Common Signs of Bats in the House:

Bats flying around your property at dusk and dawn.

▷ Chirping, scratching, or screeching sounds in the walls or ceilings.▷ Unexplained stains on walls and ceilings.

▷ Foul odors lingering in the living quarters of the home.

▷ Flutter noises in the attic or walls.

▷ Bat droppings around doors and window sills.

▷ Greasy spots or stains on siding, doors, walls, or roofs.

Contact an Emergency Bat Removal Service

If you notice any of these signs in your home, be sure to contact a professional Richmond bat removal service as soon as possible. You will need the bats extracted from your home, safely and humanely. Once extracted, they will be relocated to a faraway habitat where they can live out their significant lives in peace. As for your home, the job does not stop with bat removal. After bats are extracted, you will need further remediation to eliminate the mess, destruction, and health risks left behind.

Do you suspect that bats are living somewhere in or around your house or business? Contact Virginia Bat Pros at 804-729-9097 for affordable and prompt bat removal services in Virginia, including Richmond, Virginia Beach, Glen Allen, and all surrounding areas. We serve residential and commercial clients.

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Why Landlords Should Never Ignore a Bat Infestation

Posted on December 7, 2021 by virginia

Landlords have a lot of responsibility, from property and tenant management to facility maintenance, building code compliancy, insurance coverage, business expenses, record keeping, tax planning and preparation, and more. So, it is not a surprise that many landlords tend to fall short when it comes to critter control. A few animals scurrying around here and there can be harmless, but when an infestation occurs, it’s a whole other ballgame. As a landlord, it is important to fully understand the consequences you can suffer if you neglect to resolve a critter infestation, especially if that infestation is bats.

Continue below to learn why landlords should never ignore a bat infestation or nuisance bat problem, plus where property owners can get reliable critter control and animal-proofing services in Richmond, Virginia.

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Landlord Liability and Bat Infestations

Landlords and property managers have a legal responsibility to make sure their premises are safe from reasonably-foreseeable dangers and hazards. This legal responsibility is known as duty of care, and the law takes this duty very seriously. There are many consequences you can face as a landlord or property manager if you fail to address a bat infestation anywhere on your commercial premises. Top consequences include premises liability lawsuits, building damages, and expensive repair work.

Premises Liability Lawsuits

If a landlord fails to take care of a bat infestation within a reasonable timeline, and as a result a tenant is seriously injured and suffers damages and losses, that tenant can take legal action against the landlord. Such claims, which can turn into lawsuits if no settlement can be negotiated, are known as premises liability lawsuits, and they tend to cost landlords tens of thousands of dollars. Not only will legal fees add up and potentially devastate the business but losing a premises liability lawsuit can lead to a large settlement payout. Keep in mind that bats are carriers of the Rabies virus, and if a tenant or pet is exposed from a bat bite, it could quickly lead to a lawsuit.

Building Damages

Bats are not great housemates. They are highly destructive in a short amount of time. Bat droppings accumulate at a massive rate, plus pose several health and safety hazards. Everything from roofing and siding to electrical wiring, insulation, window screens, vents, floorboards, ceilings, and walls will be damaged by a long-term bat infestation. If the bat infestation remains for too long, a building can suffer severe structural damages, possibly even leading to it being condemned until renovations are completed and approved by the city.

Renovation Expenses

Resolving a bat infestation does not stop at removing the bats. There will be a lot of cleanup and repairs needed to bring the environment back to a healthy condition that is up to code. Bat infestations that are neglected over a long period of time tend to require the most invasive renovation work, and therefore, very expensive. And in many cases, insurance policies will not cover repairs that are required as a result of facility negligence. After all structural repairs are made, animal-proofing strategies must be incorporated, which adds to the overall cost. The last step is hygienic cleanup, which sanitizes the area and mitigates any lingering pest infestation, like lice, ticks, fleas, bat mites, and similar parasites.

Do you want to make sure your business and tenants are protected against bat intrusions? Contact Virginia Bat Pros at 804-729-9097 for comprehensive bat removal and control services in Richmond and all surrounding Virginia counties. We serve commercial and residential clients.