Time for Baby Bats
During this late spring period, female Big Brown Bats and Evening Bats (the two most common species we remove from people’s homes here in the Akron/Canton/Kent area) are giving birth.
In attics and soffits near you, these amazing little flying mammals are giving birth and June is the peak month.
Having found a suitable habitat, the mother bats give birth to one or two bat pups. These babies are flightless until later in the summer and totally dependent on the mothers. Unfortunately for many of Ohio’s bat species, these low birth rates and high infant mortality rates don’t result in high populations.
With habitats at a premium, multiple females often use the same space. Congregations of female bats and their babies are called maternal colonies.
These colonies, with multiple bats using a space for multiple months, often result in the bats getting noticed.
And once they are on a homeowner’s radar, most homeowners want them out. Consequently, as these colonies get bigger and more active, our calls for bat removal increase.
Calls for Bat Removal Increase
As people notice or suspect they have bats living somewhere in their home, we get called to check it out.
Here is a very classic example of what we often find when going out to do a bat inspection.
Bats only need small gaps to enter a building as you saw in the video. In this case the bats were roosting in the soffit and not getting into the attic. However, based on access and temperature, bats often get into attics once they’ve found a gap in the exterior construction.
But, just because bats are becoming more noticeable, now is not the time to kick them out.
Bats are Protected in Ohio
The Ohio nuisance animal control law states, “It shall be unlawful to euthanize or kill a bat unless a bite or potential exposure to zoonotic diseases has occurred”.
Because bats in Ohio are protected, maternal colonies need to left in place until the babies are developed and good flyers.
Bat pups start to fly after a few weeks but they are not good fliers immediately. It takes them a while before they are no longer nursing, able to leave the roosting spot, and strong enough to disperse.
In this spirit, baby bats needs to stay with their mothers in a stable environment until they are self sufficient.
Bats are an important for our ecology. Big Brown Bats, specifically, are a species of concern in the State of Ohio. For these and other reasons, Big Brown Bat, Evening Bats and any possible maternal colony needs to be left alone for now…even if they are in your attic.
For more check out these great references from Ohio’s Division of Wildlife.
What Can Be Done About Bats?
Just because it is unethical to kick out bats from a maternal colony, it does not mean that nothing can be done.
Since you suspect a problem exists, now is the time to:
- Get an inspection. Knowing the extent of the problem and where the entry/exit points is vital information.
- Get on the schedule. Once September rolls around, we can begin bat exclusions in earnest. Letting them out and not back in can be accomplished throughout the Fall.
- Get a head start. If conditions permit, we can get a head start on the exclusion. All possible entries need shored up and made “bat proof”. If the job is large, the main entries can be left alone for now, but the other areas currently not in use can be closed off–even now. It’s like putting up a fence but leaving the gates open for now.
For all of your bat exclusion/removal needs in the Akron, Canton, Kent, OH area, please give us a call.
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