Disease

The most important reason why you do not want bats too close to your property is the risk of disease. Not only are bats known carriers of the Rabies virus, which once contracted is 100% fatal, they can also possess and transmit several other types of diseases, health complications, and outbreaks. Such risks include Histoplasmosis, which is an upper respiratory disease contracted as a result of toxic spores that grow on bat guano. See our blog, “What is Histoplasmosis?” to learn more about this disease, including who it affects the most and how to prevention tips. Additional risks include lice, mites, ticks, fleas, and other parasites.

Structural Damage

Bats in the Kentucky regions are very small. So small in fact, most can squeeze themselves through an opening as little as 3/8ths of an inch, or .037 inches. To give you an idea of how small this is, consider a dime, which is around .053 inches thick. This means that the tiniest opening in window screens, siding, roof shingles, crumbling mortar, and more, can be an open door for bats to come inside and roost. Furthermore, bats are not solitary, so where there’s one, there’s typically handfuls more. Once inside, bats soil every surface with their droppings, which can result in stains, leaks, wood rot, and all types of costly structural damages.

How to Safely Get Rid of Bats

As mentioned before, bats are important ecologically, which is why they are also protected under law. It is illegal to trap, harm, or kill bats in Kentucky. For this reason, it is necessary to hire a licensed and insured wildlife abatement company that provides non-lethal bat removal services in your town. Coming across a dead, dying, or abandoned bat is also common if you have bats around your property, so you should know how to respond if it ever happens to you. See our blogs, “What to Do If You Find a Dead Bat” and “What To Do If You Find a Bat on the Ground” to be prepared.

Louisville Bat Removal and Control You Can Trust

Call 502-553-7622 to request a free estimate for Louisville bat removal and control, today. We offer a wide range of safe and humane bat removal and control services for both residential and commercial properties within Central Kentucky, at the most competitive prices in town. That means you can get affordable bat removal and control you can trust. It was over 30 years of experience under our belts, you can feel confident in our results.

By now, you are well-informed that bats are not blind. In fact, they see quite well. Their echolocating abilities are more than just a visual guide; they are a biological instrument that provides an advantage in many areas of Microchiroptera bat life. Here in this blog, you will learn the fundamental facts surrounding echolocation and bats, including which bats are not equipped with natural echolocating abilities.

Louisville Bat Removal and Control 502-553-7622

What is Echolocation?

Dictionary.com defines echolocation as, “the general method of locating objects by determining the time for an echo to return and the direction from which it returns, as by radar or sonar.” But in terms of animals, like bats, they better define it as, “the sonar-like system used by (…) animals to detect and locate objects by emitting usually high-pitched sounds that reflect off the object and return to the animal’s ears or other sensory receptors.”

In plain language, echolocation is like sonar, in that you let out a sound wave, wait for the sound wave to come back to you, and then use that data to define an environmental guide for whatever application you need.

Bats are not the only animals who use echolocation; dolphins and whales are well-known echolocating species, as well as, some birds and species of shrew, and possibly even hedgehogs, are suspected of using the same type of biological gift. For these animals, the primary purposes of echolocation are coordination and direction, evading obstacles, hunting or obtaining food, and interacting socially.

How Does it Work?

Although it is not yet fully understood by the scientific community how echolocation in bats works, but we do have a basic theory. Scientists and researchers have ultimately determined that bats have built-in vocal chords that vibrate when they move air past them.

They emit these extremely high-pitched sounds from their mouths (or sometimes noses) as they fly, which in turn, travel through the air as a sound wave. These traveling sound waves have energy that bounces off anything it comes into contact with.

After emitting these extremely high-pitched sound waves, bats listen carefully for their return, and use the time data to configure their surroundings more precisely. They use this to dart and dive for flying insects, better navigate obstructions, and more.

Dealing With Nuisance Bats?

Although bats are an important part of our Eco-system, and even our economy, they can sometimes pose certain threats if their colonies get too close. If you suspect you have issues with bats, or a bat infestation in the attic or other area of your home, contact our DNR licensed and insured professionals at 553-502-7622 for safe and humane bat control service in Louisville, Kentucky and its surrounding counties. We have more than two decades of experience working with bats, and offer both residential and commercial bat removal and control services, including minor attic restorations for bat damages. Request a free estimate, today.

Bat Removal in Louisville, Kentucky

Monthly Archives: May 2019

Should I Be Threatened By the Presence of Bats?

Continue reading to learn which types of risks nuisance bats pose to you and your property, as well as, how to get rid of them in accordance to local ordinances and best practices.