We love bats and understand that you don’t. Pest Detective, L.L.C. has helped many bats and people reach happy outcomes after having close encounters of the worst kind. We offer bat removal, exclusion, biohazard scat clean up, and much more. By working together we can exceed your needs and get life back to normal. Pest Detective, L.L.C. works with both business and home owners deal with large and small bat conflicts. We resolve problems through relocation, exclusion, placement of bat houses, and education. This helps both bats and people live together.

Bat control in Indiana may be needed throughout the year. When warm temperatures occur in the winter, big brown bats often move. This can lead to a bat appearing in your house in January when you thought they were hibernating.

Amazing Bat Facts

• Bats are unique animals because they are the only true flying mammal. Bats are very useful to our environment because they feed on both “good” and “bad” insects helping to keep things in balance.
• In Indiana there are 12 types of bats. However, the bats which most commonly invade homes are the big brown bat and the little brown myostis bat.
• Bats outside are harmless and useful. Once they enter a building, they can become annoying due to their squeaking noises and droppings. Though there is a slight chance of someone coming into contact with a rabid bat, most house-infesting bats are NOT rabid.
• During the early days of spring, the brown bats begin leaving their overwintering sites looking for a summer roosting site. The bats give birth in the summer roost during the months of June and July. The babies are breast-fed until they are old enough to feed on their own (ranging from 3-7 weeks). In September and October, the bats mate. As fall temperatures begin to get colder, the bats leave their summer roosts and travel to their overwintering sites to hibernate during the winter months.

There is no need to panic if a bat is seen flying around inside the house. It is often a lost and confused youngster looking to get out safely. Simply open the outside windows and doors and close those doors going into the rest of the house. Oftentimes bats will just fly out on their own. However, do not swing at the bat or handle it with bare hands. As with any animal who feels threatened, it may bite when handled.

Additional help may be obtained by calling your pest control professional.

How do I Bat Proof my home?

You should only Bat Proof your home once you are sure you have no bats inside. Otherwise you will be trapping them in and when the bats wake up from hibernation they won’t be able to exit your home.

The best time to Bat Proof your home is between November and April. Bat Proofing can be done either by the do-it-yourselfer or the pest control professional.

To Bat Proof your home you need to seal all openings. A bat can enter through a 1/2 inch hole. Check for things such as loose screens and loose flashing. Check for a loose chimney cap or missing screening over attic vents.

All openings should be sealed with steel wool, caulking, weather-stripping or screening. Caulk should be applied early in the day so it has time to dry.

What is Bat Exclusion?

Bat Exclusion consists of several techniques used to remove colonies of bats from a building.It is best performed by a professional, and should never be done between May and August when the pups are still being nursed by their mothers.

What about Bat Removal?

There is no need to panic if a bat is seen flying around inside the house. It is often a lost and confused youngster looking to get out safely. Simply open the outside windows and doors and close those doors going into the rest of the house. Oftentimes bats will just fly out on their own. However, do not swing at the bat or handle it with bare hands. As with any animal who feels threatened, it may bite when handled.

If the bat won’t leave, give Pest Detective, L.L.C. a call. Try not to loose track of the bat. Contain it in one room by closing all doors. We’ll be happy to come out and remove the bat from inside your home. Once caught, we’ll release it at a safe site. Even if you’ve lost track of the bat, we’ll conduct a thorough inspection for the bat and report to you possible openings that should be sealed up to help prevent future bat encounters.

How do Bats Choose their Roosts?

Bats seem to have certain preferences in choosing their roosts. As any animal, for summer roosts they look for near and adequate food and water sources. They also seem to prefer buildings with high temperatures (such as an attic) to rear their young. Additionally the structure must be easily accessible for the bat. For that very reason, the easiest thing to do to prevent a bat encounter is to Bat Proof your home. Give us a call!

Spiders are very prolific. And the more food they get, the more spiders you’ll have!

Most spiders are pretty harmless to humans. But, the widow spiders, the recluse spiders, the hobo spiders and some of the sac spiders can give you a nasty bite. They have a well-deserved bad reputation. So it’s not surprising that most of us have a real fear of them. The best thing to prevent a spider breakout is keep them out of our homes.

For the average homeowner the best way to prevent a spider breakout is to remove webs and egg sacs by sweeping them up. Use an extension wand to reach the ones at ceiling height. If any new webs appear you’ll know some got away from you the first time!

If you’ve got boxes for storage in your closets or garage, tape them up. This keeps the roamers out of the boxes. Also, it’s better if you can keep the boxes off the floor. You can put sticky traps or glue boards in the back corner of the closets and all corners of the garage and basement. This will let you know if you have any roamers because they will get stuck on the glue boards as they search for food. Also, put some glue boards under the bottom shelf of bookcases or shelving. Putting them in those places often works well for roamers because they like to stay out of sight if possible. These are some simple things you can do to prevent a spider breakout from happening inside your home.

Now is the perfect time to check and repair all of those windows and door screens and seal the gaps around them with either silicone or paintable latex sealant.  Make sure you use a product with sealant in the name for best protection.  Also, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on the minimum temperature for using the product.  While you have the caulk gun out go around the house and seal up all the cracks and holes.  Make sure you check all the phone, cable, and utility lines as well as the water pipes that enter your home.  Pests use them as highways to enter your home.  The caulk sealant will do a fine job of sealing them out.  You’ve checked around the outside of your house.  Now, be sure to open kitchen and bathroom cabinets and check those lines.  Check that nothing can crawl up from your crawlspace or basement.  Remember, a ½ inch hole is big enough for a mouse and insects need even less space!  Also, check that no water is leaking from your lines.  Water problems will need to be fixed as soon as possible.

If the ice storm has not done it already, trim your trees and shrubs to keep them away from the house.  This helps keep raccoons and squirrels off the roof and out of the attics which can make for a better night’s sleep. 

Some insects are drawn to rotted or deteriorating wood so when the weather breaks fix or replace fascia boards and soffits.  Make sure to replace any rotted wood.  And, remember to keep firewood away from the side of your house.  All kinds of insects and animals like to live in stacks of wood.

Now is also a good time to check if any water is pooling next to the house so this spring and summer you can work on diverting the water and improving the drainage.  This can help cut down on insects that are drawn to moisture such as carpenter ants and mosquitoes. 

If your house has a crawlspace you also need to check your crawlspace vents.  These need to have some type of mesh screening to keep out rodents.  You can use hardware cloth or ¼ inch welded wire to seal them up, but still allow appropriate ventilation.

Once you’ve sealed around your windows and doors, check for drafts inside the home.  These indicate possible entrances for insects.  Seal them up accordingly. 

Doing these few simple projects throughout the following months, can save you from Pest Aggravation.

This information is provided to you as a public service by Pest Detective, L.L.C.  We can be reached at 765-676-5600.

Fleas are a nuisance but they can also carry disease. Dog and cat fleas carry tapeworms that are capable of infecting humans if you accidentally eat a flea. This has happened to small children on a flea-infested floor. Flea saliva can also produce a disease called flea allergy dermatitis. Animals with this condition will lick themselves continuously ending up with hairless patches. This is found throughout the world on both cats and dogs. The best way to eliminate all these health problems is to completely remove the fleas from both you and your pet’s home.

The most common flea in Indiana is the cat flea. It infects both dogs and cats. Fleas usually come from wildlife like opossums and raccoons. About 50-60% of urban wildlife carries fleas. Flea control products are available to put on your dog or cat. You can buy these at a store or at your veterinarian’s office. These products can usually be applied on a monthly basis (read and follow the label) and prevent severe flea problems.

Once you have fleas in the house, the best thing to do is to begin sealing up your house from the wildlife that often carry fleas. Be sure not to leave pet food outside which can draw animals to your house, and also seal up your crawl space and attic. Then call your pest control professional and schedule a treatment for the inside of your house. The day of your treatment be sure to vacuum your carpets BEFORE the technician arrives. Also, wash your pet’s bedding and treat your pet for fleas (consult with a veterinarian). Once the pest control professional has treated your carpeting and other surfaces it will take three to five weeks for complete control. This happens because the carpet fibers can prevent the insecticide from reaching the flea cocoons so the fleas have to hatch to come into contact with it. Once hatched, it can take several hours before the insecticide kills the flea.

As with most pests, prevention is the key to elimination of flea problems.

This information is provided to you as a public service by Pest Detective, L.L.C.

We can be reached at 765-676-5600.

We get calls like this frequently at Pest Detective L.L.C. The noise could be any number of animals that have decided that your house is just the place to spend the summer, overwinter or bear their young. Squirrel, Opossum, Raccoon, and Bats are just a few of the animals that find their way into our homes and make our lives more then just a little crazy.

One of the best ways to keep this chaos from happening to your family is to look around your house about once a month. Look for defects like holes in the soffit (The soffit is the part of the roof under and behind the gutters.). A leaky gutter can soften the wood and make it very easy for any climbers or flyers to enter. Also look for faulty screens on roof vents. Trees close or overhanging the house make great ladders for the climbers and will lead them to the roof. Once there they will find any hole and proceed to enlarge it so they can get in and build a nest. Other times it is just fun for the animals to run around and play tag — the animal version of course. Once in the attic, Squirrels and Raccoons love to play on and within the heating duct work. They can eat the insulation off the wiring and build nests in the insulation. These are just a few of their more common habits.

Bats like the attic for raising young and sleeping during the day. They sometimes end up flying into our living quarters and scare the daylights out of us. Pest Detective L.L.C. has been helping clients work though these and other animal home invasion problems, and we would be happy to help your family solve yours. Give us a call or email us and know that help is on the way. Soon to come are descriptions and habits of some of the animals you may have encounters with at home in order help you identify them.

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.