| By :
Nick Messe
Bats are important to the environment. They provide ecosystems and agriculture a natural method of pest control. By keeping insect populations under control they keep our homes and lawns pleasant and agricultural costs in check. If there were no bats, insect populations would explode. There would be more termites in our homes, more pests damaging crops, more insects would invade our yards, and more mosquitoes would spread disease. Without them, food would be more toxic and expensive as reliance on chemical pesticides would rise. Health care would become even more costly as diseases carried by insects would be more commonly transferred to humans. There are over 40 species of bats found throughout the United States. So the work bats do is felt all over the country and saves us money and makes our environment safer. Despite the beneficial impacts bats have on us and our environment, they still suffer damage to their habitat at the hands of human development. There are fewer wild places left for them as caves are lost and old-growth forests disappear. These are favorite roosting places for bats. So with pressure on their own natural spaces, bats look for other places to nest as a matter of survival. These places are usually buildings, including your home. Now bats are great, but you don't want them in your home. However, bats are protected by the government so an exterminator will not be able to use toxic or lethal means of removal. So how do you protect your home or building from unwanted roommates? Bats typically will find refuge in a home's attic space, so it's important to make sure that all attic vents are screened. This will preserve the needed airflow in your home and still be a humane deterrent to bats. Chimneys should also be capped. Chimney caps come with screens specifically designed to keep birds, squirrels, bats, and other small animals from finding refuge in your home. Also, make sure that your window panes and walls have no openings in them. However, if you have a bat colony nesting in your home's attic or another building, there are a couple things you can do to remove them and still protect them. Firstly, put something that has an annoying smell, yet is non-toxic in the space. Vick's Vapor Rub, mint, menthol, or eucalyptus seems to bother bats and it won't hurt them. Also, you can set up a watch at sunset around the building. Pay special attention to any openings that they might be using as access points. After about 30 minutes they should begin to leave for a hunt. Once they have gone, go ahead and screen up the entry points they used. You will want to do this at a time of year when there are no young in the roost in order to minimize the stress of the eviction on the bat population. Bat colonies typically have no young present May through August.
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