Keeping bats and mice out of your home is our job. Keep reading to learn why it’s crucial to protect your home from these pests. Then, we’ll walk you through a recent and successful project to seal off the home of one of our valued customers, keeping their home and family safe and secure.
Why It’s So Important to Remove Bats and Mice From Your Home
On a basic level, few people would argue with the idea that it’s good to have a pest-free home. No one really wants bats or mice taking up residence in their walls or, worse, moving into their living space. But, if they find food sources or safe spaces, they may move in.
But why is it so important to keep bats and mice in the natural environment where they belong, exactly?
The Potential Dangers of Mice in Homes
One clear reason to set mouse traps and seal your home is that mice are vectors of disease. That means they can spread a variety of illnesses directly and indirectly. The CDC maintains a list of many of those diseases.
Mice can also eat your food and damage your home — they may even chew through wires and cords. They may also cause smells, stains, and other issues. Because they can reproduce very quickly, it’s especially important to eliminate them.
Learn more about our mice treatment, including setting traps, applying rodenticide, and sealing off entry points.
The Potential Dangers of Bats in Homes
Bats may have a slightly better reputation than mice, at least for some people. Many species eat pest insects and play key roles in local ecosystems.
Even so, that doesn’t mean they should be guests in your home. And bats present some dangers, too.
Although not as prolific as rodents, bats can still carry disease. That includes rabies — and that’s enough of a reason to never want any bats inside your home. Bat guano can also cause problems, ranging from stains and smells to respiratory problems.
Learn more about our bat removal process that helps you humanely get rid of bats in your home.
Report from a Successful Bat Removal
Bat and Mouse Identification and Removal
June 2022
Ingham County, Michigan
A new client in Okemos, Michigan, called concerned over noises they heard in their attic and walls. The noise described was light scratching and rustling.
In Michigan, this typically means bats or mice (or both) when it comes to nuisance animals making those noises inside of structures.
How does our team identify and then remove these bats and mice? We begin with a thorough inspection to determinewhich species is harboring inside the home. Then, we identify the active entry points, and finally identify any secondary possible entry points. From there, we build a detailed game plan for removing the offending animals from inside the structure.
Finding the Culprit: Identifying Bat Droppings vs. Mouse Droppings
We inspected both the interior and exterior of the home. Immediately upon entering the attic, we identified two separate culprits: bats and mice.
Their droppings were left behind.To the untrained eye, these look almost identical.
However, there is one surefire way to know exactly which is species it is: we playfully call it the “Crush Test.” Take an object — be sure to use something is not your bare hand, such as a pocketknife —and simply try to crush the dropping.
If the dropping is from a bat, it will crumble into powder. Bats in Michigan eat insects primarily and therefore excrete the exoskeletons of those insects. The insect exoskeletons are what crush so easily and turn to powder.
Mice, on the other, have a varied diet. Their droppings will simply squish flat, or if old, will be rock hard. While it’s not the most pleasant way to tell if you have mice, bats, or both in your home, it’s effective.
Wondering how to identify and remove mice and bats without interacting with any droppings? Get in touch with us and we’ll do the dirty work.
How to Remove Bats: Work From the Outside In
Now that we know what animals we’re dealing with, we inspect the exterior for their entry points into the home.
All homes that have roof returns also have construction gaps left behind from the original roofing and siding of the home (See Figure 3). These gaps are very common and often allow entry for all nuisance animals. That’s true whether it is raccoons, squirrels, bats, or mice.
This is common across the board. Such issues can affect new homes, old homes, small homes, and large homes.
The photo below shows the size of the opening in the roof return. This small hole easily allows bats and mice inside the attic, and ultimately into the wall voids and living space. There are bat droppings spilling out of the roof return, a clear sign of activity. This is also shown in the photo.
The photo below shows another open roof return with a bat resting just inside the opening.
Our solution is simple but effective: We carefully and completely seal all areas that mice and bats can enter the home. We call this process exclusion.
For the active areas used by these bats, we installed a simple and temporary bat one-way door. This humane solution allows the bats to leave, but not re-enter. We will seal all other possible openings, even if they are not currently used, so as to not shift the wildlife pressure from one side of the home to another.
The bats need to leave daily to eat and drink, so they let themselves out but then cannot get back into the home. After roughly a week or two, we remove the one-way doors and the final areas are sealed up.
Let Wingman Help With Bat and Mice Removal!
We’ve helped thousands of homeowners in the Southeast Michigan area, and throughout our entire service area. Let us help YOU!To get on our schedule for a Wildlife Inspection or other services for your home or business, call Wingman Pest Control at 810.923.3364 or contact us online today.