Bats rarely cause humans any harm, yet we hate their sight and want to get rid of bats when we see them. Bats are natural mosquito baits, and a single little brown bat can swallow over 600 mosquitoes in an hour. So, bats are OK as long as they stay outdoors; the problem starts when they propel themselves at mad speeds inside the house, causing commotions.

It is not just a couple of bats invading your house; they can settle in colonies, making life hell for the household. That’s why people want to find the best means to get rid of bats, which can be a nuisance.

Why do Bats Enter Homes?

Females are always on the lookout for a safe place to nest and multiply. Bats love roosting in attics, chimneys, and other hollows in the house, secure areas to build nests. Wooden beams running across a building also provide an ideal place to settle down from the prying eyes of humans. Bats prefer darkness and hate the light; hence a dimly lit attic or a sooty, dark chimney is a natural preference for nursing their little ones. We need to keep in mind that a bat’s natural dwelling place is a cave, which is damp, dark, and safe. Any dark place inside your home will attract bats as they are sensitive to light.

Guano, or bat droppings, can raise a horrible stink, so can its urine, and the odor is intolerable to humans. Moreover, the urine and feces of bats are fertile breeding grounds for fungi known as histoplasmosis, which can cause lung infections if humans breathe in the spores. Bats are also known carriers of rabies, which can spread among humans and cause paralysis and fatalities. Bats are also noisy creatures and make shrill, screeching sounds. If you detect any signs of bats at home, you need to take immediate steps to get rid of bats, lest they settle down and multiply in your home.

How to get rid of the bat menace?

You can’t wish them away or shoo them away. Moreover, getting rid of bats yourself is a futile exercise simply because you don’t have the experience or the gear to undertake such an acativity. Despite the popular misconception, that bats are blind, they can see very well. Bats depend on their excellent vision to detect light and environmental recognition, which is essential for their survival. Another story goes that bats are vampires, which also is merely a myth. So, that’s how little we know about bats, let alone trying to get rid of them on our own.

Here are some natural ways to get rid of bats:

Bright Light

As mentioned earlier, bats are highly sensitive to light. They like to sleep in the dark during the day, in a place like your attic. All you need to do is have bright lights (preferably floodlight) installed in the attic, facing the roof. As bats hang from the ceiling when they rest, turning on the bright lights will chase them away. You will need many lights so that there isn’t an inch of dark space in the attic for the bats to take refuge. Your electric bill might go up for the next month or so (don’t expect the bats to leave once and for all), and you’d have to spend on the extra wiring and the extension cords to have the lights installed.

Heating the Area

Another way of getting the bats to exit from your home in a hurry is to heat the area where they hang around (literally). While bats find it comfortable if the area is damp and warm, they can’t stand intense heat. There is no need to install high-intensity heaters in the attic or any other place where bats reside. If you can heat the place to 100ºF, it is enough to send the bats flying. They may not start moving out the moment you switch on the heaters. The area has to heat up, and the moisture within has to dry up before the bats can start moving. You may have to leave the heaters on for a while, and you can keep checking if they are still there. Once they move away, you can take steps to make the area a bat-free zone.

Essential Oils

Bats are naturally allergic to the smell of natural oils. Although not considered a fool-proof bat- repellent, most natural oils have a strong enough odor to repel bats, which find the smell uncomfortable and offensive. Moreover, when you use cinnamon, eucalyptus, clove, peppermint, or mint oils, they are not harmful to humans and emit a pleasant smell. Spraying the entire area with any of these essential oils should do the trick.

If you still find difficulty getting rid of the bats yourself, you need a professional company’s services to do the job for you.

Summing it Up

Bats live on insects that are pests to humans. They live on mosquitoes, bugs, and other night-flying insects and do us a favor by getting rid of them. However, when they start nesting inside our homes, we have to find ways to get rid of them.