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BAT REMOVAL PROCESS

ASSESS AND REMOVE

Assess and Remove

The key to removing bats from your home is determining their entry points. Bats can enter through small openings and leave very little trace behind. Our expert technicians will identify all the entry points and evict the colony humanely using one-way doors that allow the bats to leave for food but prevent their re-entry.

clear and clean

Clear and Clean

Depending on the size of the colony and how long they’ve been living in the home there could be a large mess to clean up. Our wildlife technicians will thoroughly remove bat guano and disinfect the space to eliminate any harmful traces left behind.

PREVENT AND PROTECT

Prevent and Protect

Our wildlife technicians will provide a full, comprehensive protection plan against any future bat infestations. This would include sealing all the tiny gaps and openings around your home’s roofline to keep bats out.

 


Reviews from Our Ottawa Clients

Bat Removal Ottawa

Most Ottawa residents won’t know they have a colony of bats in their house until they are awakened in the middle of the night to one flying around in their bedroom. That is certainly not a pleasant experience and it usually leaves startled homeowners with many unanswered questions. Fortunately, Skedaddle’s team of bat removal specialists is available to separate myth from fact when it comes to bats and help homeowners safely and humanely prevent future run ins.

Though considered scary by some, bats serve an important role in Ottawa’s ecosystem. Our local bats are insectivores and their feeding habits help to keep insect populations under control. They also eat moths, beetles, crickets and grasshoppers, thereby protecting agricultural crops from insect damage.

Unfortunately, over the past decade some species of bats that call Ottawa home have seen steep declines in their population. There are eight species of bats in Ontario and each of them can be found in Ottawa and the surrounding area. Of the eight, only two species, the little brown bat and the big brown bat, are likely to seek shelter in the walls and attics of houses. Little brown bat populations throughout North America have been hit particularly hard by white nose syndrome, a deadly fungal disease that spreads among hibernating bats that gather in underground caves and abandoned mines during winter.

The fungus was first discovered in New York state in 2006 and by 2009 it had made its way to caves and mines in Ontario and Quebec. The fungus kills hibernating bats by forcing them to awake from hibernation prematurely and at a time when there are no insects to feed on, ultimately leading to starvation. It is now estimated that 95% of little brown bats have been wiped out by the disease.

These days, the bats found living inside walls and attics in homes across Ottawa are most likely to be big brown bats. One of the reasons big brown bat populations have not been entirely decimated is because unlike little brown bats that preferred to over-winter in large numbers in caves and mines, big brown bats were more likely to hibernate inside buildings. White nose syndrome thrives in cold and damp conditions and it is believed that the warmer and dryer conditions of walls and attics has reduced the spread of white nose syndrome among big brown bats.

Whether your walls or attic are home to a colony of big brown bats or little brown bats, professional bat removal is almost always your best course of action. Bats have a complex biology and their unique behaviour can make humane bat removal challenging. Skedaddle’s experienced humane bat removal team has been protecting homes and families from the dangers of bats since 1989.

Ottawa‘s Bats Through the Seasons

Between outdoor festivals, cross country the greenbelt and skating the Rideau Canal Ottawa is truly a winter lover’s paradise for both residents and visitors alike. Ottawa’s bat population is a notable exception when it comes to enjoying our region’s often frigid temperatures. By late fall, once insect populations have died off, bats need a safe place to slumber until the arrival of spring. Our attics spaces mimic the natural roosting locations of bat colonies, where darkness, shelter and most of all consistent temperatures are key.

During this time period, their metabolism drops, which reduces how many of those precious calories they burn. As their food sources die off in the fall and winter, bats rely on a safe place to gather, huddle for warmth and hibernate until the arrival of spring. To help them prepare, bats spend the spring and summer seasons coming and going from their roosts and feeding heavily. Adding some extra fat to their bodies helps them live off of their caloric stores while they sleep away the cold months.

Mating occurs in early fall but female bats store the sperm in their uterus during hibernation and fertilization does not take place until the following spring when they become active again. Female bats give birth to a single pup each year, usually in June, and those babies are weaned and feeding on insects themselves by August. During summer, female bats gather separately from males in maternity roosts to nurse and care for their babies, often inside walls and attics of homes.

Bats are most active during summer when insects are plentiful and female bats in Ottawa have many homes, and structures to choose from to form their maternity roosts. This is also the time of year when a bat is most likely to find its way into the living space of your home. Due to their small size, bats can easily squeeze through gaps in siding, soffit and fascia to get inside the attic. A home does not need to be run down or in disrepair for bats to make their way in along the roofline, even newly built homes or those that have had a new roof put on are at risk for bat entry. Bats cannot make openings themselves but they are adept at finding gaps between building materials and using those as their entry points. Common bat entry points include, where the brick and soffit meet, where the soffit and shingles meet or where a chimney comes through the roof. Bat colonies grow over time and while bats are found in both older parts of Ottawa and fairly newly built suburbs, the largest colonies are usually found in homes in Ottawa’s oldest communities throughout the Glebe and Centretown, as well as in rural farmhouses surrounding the city in places like Carleton Place, Kemptville and Cumberland. Bat colonies can range in size from a few dozen or in the hundreds depending on local conditions and how long they have been established and the conditions.

When to Remove Bats

The key to removing bats is knowing not only how the bats are coming and going but also when they are doing so. Skedaddle’s team of bat control experts specializes in locating and identifying bat entry points, scouring the roofline for droppings and staining that give away how bats are getting in. Once bats are established inside the walls of the home it is not possible to remove them by hand, it’s impossible to access the spaces they take up. The best way to evict the colony is by installing one-way doors over their entry points that allow bats to exit at dusk for food but prevent their re-entry. The clues bats leave behind are often subtle and a trained eye can mean the difference between a failure and a successful removal.

Ottawa’s long winters mean there are only a handful of months each year that bat colonies are active and can be humanely removed. One of the best times to remove bats is spring, after hibernation but before babies arrive in June. The other window is from August to early fall after the babies born that summer have had a chance to become mobile but before hibernation begins. One-way doors should never be installed during the summer birthing season as it will lock mother bats away from their still nursing babies.

Skedaddle’s bat removal process begins with a thorough assessment of your home and attic and our team of experienced technicians will be sure to take the time to walk you through the timing and steps needed to humanely protect your home and family. Regardless of the time of year, if you suspect your attic had a colony of bats or if you have had one enter the space it is best to schedule a property assessment by a professional to understand what might be going on and arrive at a removal and prevention game plan.

Bats Pose Health Risks for Ottawa Residents

When a bat colony makes itself at home inside an attic, they can leave behind a significant amount of droppings. Over time those droppings can lead to odour issues inside the home and they can pose risk to humans if disturbed. The most common danger associated with bat droppings is histoplasmosis, a long infection that can result from breathing in fungal spores found in large amounts of bat droppings. For this reason, great care should be taken when attempting to clean bat droppings or performing renovations or other work in areas that bats have roosted in. Professional cleaning services and proper protective equipment should always be used to prevent the spread of bacteria when removing bat droppings.

Droppings are not the only thing that Ottawa residents need to be concerned about if they have bats living inside their home. Bats are a relatively common carrier of rabies and in Ottawa, most confirmed rabies cases in wildlife are found in bats. Humane rabies is very rare but because it is a deadly infection great care should always be taken when handling bats. In 2021, Ottawa Public Health reported that 47 residents were offered rabies post-exposure prophylaxis after potential exposure to a bat. That same year, two out of 19 bats tested by Ottawa Public Health were confirmed to be carrying the rabies virus. In 2019, a part-time nurse working at a hospital in Ottawa, with a long-term bat infestation, when she was bitten by a bat. She later received post-exposure treatment. When left unattended, bat colonies can create unsafe environments for the occupants and their pets. Skedaddle technicians use over thirty years of experience to safely remove colonies from homes and businesses with the property safety protocols that protect people and other wildlife from infection.

Understanding Bat Behaviour

While bats across North America have been impacted by white-nose syndrome, local efforts have been made to help give Ottawa’s bats the chance to rebound. The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF), a non-profit organization based in Kanata has been leading the charge by helping to promote bat conservation and conducting important field research. CWF has gone to great lengths to build and install bat houses at properties throughout Ottawa. They even offer instructions for the public on how to build, install and monitor activity at bat houses. Providing additional roosting sites for bats is one way we can help bats but erecting a bat house on your property is not going to solve the problem of bats living inside your attic. Bats might take up a bat house when temperatures are favourable but Ottawa’s unpredictable weather means they are unlikely to trade the comforts of an attic or interior wall or an exterior bat house.

In recent years they have been studying the behaviour of bats that have been evicted from homes and attics in an effort to understand where the colony goes afterward. Their findings suggest that evicted bats are aware of alternate roosting sites, and once evicted are likely to relocate themselves to homes, buildings or natural spaces nearby. Bottomline, humane bat removal is possible, provided bat eviction occurs when there is no risk of locking mother bats away from their babies and they are allowed enough time to find an alternative home.

Humanely removing and excluding bats is detailed and often challenging work. Their complicated biology, combined with the dangers of safely climbing ladders and scaling roofs to install one-way doors and seal up potential re-entry areas, requires a professional approach. For over three decades Ottawa homeowners have trusted Skedaddle’s bat-friendly removal techniques. At the first sign of bat activity inside your home contact Skedaddle to schedule a property assessment and begin the process of humane bat removal.

Bat Facts

All bats are protected species according to both provincial and Canadian laws. It is illegal to harm or kill them, and one cannot keep them as pets. They are generally not a danger to humans, but they do have the potential to transmit rabies, so it is not advisable to handle bats without training and safety equipment. Skedaddle’s humane wildlife control measures ensure the safe handling and removal of bats.

FACT:

Bats are the only mammals that can actually fly, and they are arguably better at it than birds! This is due to the structure of their wings that are formed around hands, and all five digits are flexible, which gives them great manoeuvrability and precision in flight.

FACT:

While erecting a bat house can help to conserve bat populations it won’t stop them from living inside the walls of your house. The best way to get rid of bats inside your home is to employ humane bat removal methods.

FACT:

Insect-eating bats are being severely impacted by white-nose syndrome, a fatal fungal disease. The fungus proliferates in caves and mines and infects the bats during their hibernation period. Since 2006, more than 6.7 million bats have succumbed to the disease.

FACT:

Bats have tremendous hearing. When they emit a sound, the sound bounces off of objects in their path. The information they receive from these echoes tells the bat the size and shape of the object and can even tell them the direction of movement. This bat adaptation is called echolocation, and it is key in helping bats locate and catch prey.

FACT:

Bats have voracious appetites. They are capable of consuming as many as 1,000 insects in just one hour! A nursing female needs to eat as many as 4,500 bugs per night to feed her pup.

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