It’s not uncommon to find bats in your Connecticut home – they love to find dark places to hide and raise their babies – attics are the perfect spot. Most people don’t even know they are there until they come out to feed or perhaps “escape the attic” and start flying around your home.
What to do if you have bats in your home.
First, it’s wise to know that according to the State of Connecticut DEEP, 8 out of the nine species of bats that occur in Connecticut are on the state’s List of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species and therefore are protected by the Connecticut Endangered Species Act – you cannot by law harm or kill them! The only bat that is not listed is the big brown bat. Bats are a very important part of our ecosystem, and if you hate mosquitoes, you need to love bats because bats are the most significant predators of night-flying insects! A tiny little brown bat, the size of an adult human’s thumb, can eat up to 8 grams of insects each night – that’s a lot of bugs!
Most homes do not have “Bat Colonies” living in their house – more often than not, it’s a single bat that found its way through a hole, and the only thing they want to do is get out!
If you find yourself with a flying bat, the best thing you can do is close off all the doorways to the room and open a window – the bat will usually find its way outside again. If that doesn’t work, get a large jar or cardboard box and slowly approach the bat, sliding the covering over it. Slide a piece of thin cardboard over the opening capturing the bat and then let it go outside.
There’s no need to be afraid they are, for the most part, harmless, although it’s wise to note like many wild animals – they will bite when threatened, and some bats carry rabies. If you do get accidentally bit, capture the bat so it can be analyzed.
More than a single occurrence – the Bat Colony!
Most people never go into their attic or crawl spaces – so they are often not aware they have an entire family of bats living amongst them.
Some tell-tale signs you may have an infestation:
- Wait for dusk – that’s when bats will leave their roost to hunt – you will see them leaving through gaps in the eaves or air vents or even from behind shutters or siding
- If you have a very large colony – you will hear them. They will leave for the hunt in packs
- Look for signs of droppings. Dark brown stains will appear near eaves or under their entrance holes. Called “guano” – bat droppings when crushed if you so dare, will often reveal insect parts. If you see droppings that are white or grey – you have birds, not bats.
Removal of bat colonies usually requires professionals – you don’t want to trap a mother outside your home if she has babies inside. Remember, most of these are on the endangered species list. The key is to get the bats out of the house and then SEAL up their entry points so they can’t get back in. if you are only dealing with a few bats and can easily see them – you can do this yourself, but as noted for larger colonies, it’s best to have a professional extractor handle the job.
The best practice is to seal up openings between October and April when bats are not breeding – but avoid doing so from June through August not only are you at risk of killing young flightless bats, but the odor as they decompose will be worse than the guano odor and noise the bats make!
Bats can be a nuisance, but they are also one of the biggest ways we can all keep the mosquito and other insect populations in check. For more information about bats in Connecticut, or to get professional help – contact the Connecticut Nuisance Wildlife Control Program.
