How to Evict Bats From Your Home

The most effective long-term solution for evicting bats from roosting or hibernating in one's home is to prevent them from getting there. If they are already present, their place of entry must be sealed while the bats are gone.

There are several ways to located the entry and exit points. Keep in mind that our bats are small and the ones that use attics and other buildings may enter through a crack of one-half inch or less. Try watching in the evening around dusk. See if you can spot the bats emerging, and mark or remember where the holes are. Another way is to enter the roosting place during daylight hours. Look for light leaks coming in from the outside daylight. Still another way is to turn on the lights or place lights in the roost and then look from the outside for light leaks after dark.

Once the holes are located they must be sealed in some way, whether it be by caulking, wood strips, or even steel wool placed in the holes. Do not do this until late July when the young are able to fly and are leaving to feed.

Another means of exclusion is to hang half-inch polypropylene bird netting directly above the exit holes. The netting should extend at least one foot to each side and below the hole. The sides and tops of the netting should be attached to the building but the bottom should be allowed to dangle free so that bats leaving the building can find their way out by dropping down to the open end of the netting. After about two or three nights, all the bats will have left the building and the entrances can be plugged permanently.

The U.S. government no longer registers any chemicals as safe for bat control.