Bats are scary to most people. Maybe it’s from all those late night movies we watched as kids or we picked up the fear from the adults we were around as kids. Whatever the reason, bats scare most of us. We really get unnerved and feel bat control is in order when bats arrive in our homes uninvited. Bats are very important in the scope of the ecosystem. They eat insects, pollinate plants, and are endangered in some cases. We need bats. They do many wonderful jobs for us, unnerving as the bats may be. When they move in to our homes or building steps need to be taken to keep them outside were they can do there work without interrupting our lives or sleep! Pest Detective L.L.C. can help you get life back to normal. We are listed with Bat Conservation International as a Professional Exclusion Company. We follow their approved practices for your bat problems. We are one of a few companies in the state of Indiana with this distinction. Bats get into homes through unscreened vents, loose brick and siding, and uncovered chimneys just to name a few. Pest Detective, L.L.C. uses exclusion techniques to move the bats back outside where they can do their job. This is really the only effective method for keeping your home free of bats. There are lots of ineffective solutions on the market so beware. Bat houses give bats a place to live around your home without being in your home once exclusion has been accomplished. Pest Detective, L.L.C. has custom bat houses built to Bat Conservation International standards. Call Pest Detective, L.L.C. We will be happy to help and you will be glad you called.

Indiana has the little Brown Bat, Big Brown Bat, and the Indiana Bat (endangered). The Little Brown Bat and Big Brown Bats are the ones you will most likely to encounter. To help you identify your Bats we give the following brief descriptions.

Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)

The Little Brown Bat is one of the most common bats Pest Detective L.L.C. encounters in homes and buildings in Indiana. They are brown to dark brown on their upper body with a paler underbelly. The ears and nose are black. Adults are 3 to 3.5 inches long with a wingspan of about 8 to 10 inches. Little Brown Bats hibernate in winter and look for areas in the fall that will stay above freezing such as caves. In spring females bearing young return to maternity colonies to have their young in May to July. This may be within attics, barns, and buildings where it is hot in the daytime. They prefer to form colonies near water. Usually one young is born. Sometimes twins do occur. Within 3 weeks the young are flying and in 4 weeks they are adults. Most young mate their first autumn. About 50% of little brown bats die their first year. BATS CAN AND WILL BITE SO BEWARE!

Big Brown Bat (Eotesicus fuscus)

This is probably the second most encountered bat for Pest Detective, L.L.C. within homes and buildings in Indiana. With a brown to rusty brown body and dark brown to black ears, feet, nose, and face they are larger then the little brown bat or the Indiana Bat. Adults are 4 to 5 inches long with a wingspan of 13 to 14 inches. Because of their larger bodies they can deal with cold more then heat. They can be seen outside sometimes as late as November. During hot weather they look for cool places to hide which may be a room or basement. Oftentimes they winter in homes and buildings unlike other bats since they can endure subfreezing temperatures. If temperatures rise they may awake and seek water. The Big Brown Bat mates in fall and one to two young are born in May to August. At four weeks the young forage for themselves and at two months they have reach their adult size. Big Brown Bats can and will give a painful bite if captured by untrained personnel. They squeal and continually try to bite to get free. BATS CAN AND WILL BITE SO BEWARE!

Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis)

The Indiana Bat looks very similar to the Little Brown Bat and without close inspection can be mistaken for one. This bat is on the endangered list so proper identification is a must when dealing with bats. The Indiana Bat is 3 to 4 inches long with a wingspan of 9 to 10.5 inches. They hibernate in caves in winter and use trees as roosting and foraging sites in summer. The most outstanding characteristic is the fact that Indiana Bats have pink lips and Little Brown Bats have brown-black lips. As you can imagine if you do not work with bats this may not help much. So, when in doubt call a professional. Pest Detective, L.L.C. has personnel trained and ready to help identify problem bats in your home or buildings and will work with you and the Department of Natural Resources to save these bats if it should turn out that your bats are Indiana Bats.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 1st, 2007 at 8:56 pm and is filed under Bats, Pest of the Month. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.