Getting Rid of Bats on Your San Jose Property

San Jose’s climate is similar to that of the Mediterranean—winters are mild and wet, and the summers are dry and warm. This climate is incredibly attractive to many species of wildlife, including skunks, raccoons, snakes, and of course, bats.

When the weather gets cooler, bats will often seek out warm areas in which to huddle together and roost for warmth. This can often mean they choose human structures. When this happens, it eventually becomes necessary to remove them.

However, bats must be removed without harming them in any way. 

About Bat Control in San Jose

Bats are very beneficial creatures for humans and all other life on the planet, consuming millions of insects each night, and pollinating plants. Unfortunately, of the many bat species inhabiting the Sunshine State, 80% of them have been designated as Species of Special Concern.  This is due to a fungus known as White Nose Syndrome, which spreads quickly through bat colonies, sometimes killing hundreds of individuals in a very short time.

This is why it is illegal to trap, kill, or even possess a bat in California.

Why Is Professional Bat Removal Important?

Though you may have seen a bat or two at the beginning or end of the day, you may not have given them much thought, but once bats have invaded your property, they are difficult to forget.

And thanks to their strong homing instinct, bats can also be difficult to remove. Although trapping them is illegal, some companies may claim that this is an effective removal method, but this is untrue.

The reality is that bats do offer many benefits to us and the ecosystem. But they also carry disease and can cause a lot of damage to your property; so much, in fact, that cleanup can be very costly and time-consuming to fix. However, none of this needs to be an issue with the right kind of bat control.

Professional Bat Removal in San Jose County

You may have thought about how to go about removing bats yourself without killing or trapping them. The only way to prevent the infestation of bats at your property is to know how they live and behave. Otherwise, most bat removal efforts will be unsuccessful.

Whether you live in San Jose County or elsewhere in the state, bat behavior is the same. These tiny, nocturnal mammals live together in a colony that protects them from predators. Many times, bat colonies can be found in caves and tree hollows.

As you may already be aware, bats also choose human structures to roost in. Attics and chimneys can offer just what bats love: darkness and a place to trap and radiate body heat. Just as the old business adage goes, it’s all about “location, location, location” for bats.

The closer a potential roosting space is to water and insects, the more convenient a roosting place it will be. If you aren’t sure if bats have chosen your property to live in, we encourage you to try some of the following solutions.

Listen for Activity

If you hear movement, scratching, and other noise in your attic or chimney at dusk, this is an almost certain indicator that bats are roosting there and getting ready to begin their nightly hunt.

Watch for Exit Points

Dusk is when bats will leave their roost to feed. You can easily know if bats are living at your property by standing outside at dusk and looking up to the higher points of your structure, like between your eaves or near your attic or chimney, to see if bats are exiting.

Look for Droppings

In addition to seeing bats exiting at dusk, you may also want to look for droppings. Bat droppings resemble mouse droppings but will turn to dust if you rub them between two (gloved) fingers.

Give Bats Their Own Place to Live

Bat houses are a great way to encourage bat activity on your property and prevent them from roosting in your home or other structure. These are especially effective once bats have been removed from a home and all exit and access points have been sealed.

Our Bat Removal Services

Animal Capture Wildlife Control possesses over 25 years of experience in safe, humane, and professional bat removal. We remove bats from residential and commercial properties with bat exclusion devices.

Bat exclusion devices allow bats to leave your property naturally. Bats crawl to the opening, drop down and simply fly out through the bat exclusion device as they naturally would.

But they cannot fly back in because they must be able to fly straight into the opening, which the device prevents them from doing.

Once we can be sure all of the bats have left, we remove the bat exclusion devices and seal all the entry points we previously identified so that bats cannot return.

Bat Inspections

Are you unsure whether or not bats are roosting at your property? Sometimes, it can be hard to tell. Bats are already very small, but they also have the incredible ability to flatten their bodies to the width of a quarter to get into a structure.

That means bats can enter through virtually any size opening. Because they’re so small, these openings can be very difficult to spot with an untrained eye. We understand how and where bats get inside human structures. Give us a call, and we’ll arrive to observe where bats are exiting your property, and inspect your structures for entry points.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can you remove bats any time of year?

A: No, and here’s why. First, bats are a protected species. Out of the 24 species in California, 20 have been designated as “Species of Special Concern” because their numbers have been declining so rapidly. Bats are mammals who give birth to and nurse their young from June through August. Because their young cannot fly, installing exclusion devices would cause them to starve to death. Our goal is to protect bat species, not kill them.

Q: Does light attract bats?

A: Yes! Many think that leaving outdoor lights on will deter them, but light attracts the insects bats feed on. With such an abundant food source, bats can, do, and will build their roosts right next to outdoor lights. If those lights are on the outside of your home, you also risk letting bats in whenever you open your front door at night or before dawn.

Q: Do exclusion devices stress or hurt the bats?

A: No, and this is why we use them. Bat exclusion devices allow bats to fly out uninterrupted and without the need for humans to handle them in any way. If there are bat houses available for them to go to after exclusion, they won’t miss their old roost at all!

Q: Should I remove bats myself?

A: Yes, if you want to risk criminal charges! The only way to remove bats legally is with a license from the United States Department of Fish and Game, which we possess. Otherwise, it is illegal to capture or possess bats in California.

Why Us?

Animal Capture Wildlife Control possesses over 25 years in the removal of bats from residential and other structures, including hotels, apartment buildings, and hospitals.

In addition to bat control, we remove other species that can cause property damage and threaten health. We have removed snakes, skunks, opossums, raccoons, and more, safely and humanely.

Along with professional bat removal, we also offer cleanup services, which completely removes guano and its traces so that bats don’t return.

Our reliability, thorough inspections, bat control work, and excellent service record has also received several accolades and much recognition. Call us today for more information about achieving complete bat control: (310) 551-0901.