To answer the above question in a single word, yes! It is dangerous to have bats roosting on your Yakima County property. Bats can pose a threat to your health in several different ways. The most infamous threat is rabies, but a bat infestation can pose more of a danger than this. That's why bat control needs to be part of your overall Yakima County pest control plan.
How To Tell If Bats Are Roosting On Your Property
It might be difficult to determine if bats are roosting on your property. It's not at all out of the ordinary to see these flying mammals zipping around above your yard at night. Bats can fly far distances while feeding on insects, so seeing them flying around in no way indicates you have a bat problem.
However, if you see bats emerging from somewhere on your property – like an attic or chimney – they're definitely living there. Another significant sign of a bat infestation is hearing them. You can't hear bat sonar when they're flying around, but you absolutely can hear bats calling to each other and communicating while they're roosting during the day. If you hear a bunch of high-pitched chirping sounds, you could have bats.
Seeing or smelling guano is another big sign. Bat guano has a distinct musty odor, and it turns to powder when it dries. So it looks very different from bird or rodent droppings. If you think you might have bats, bat control specialists can help you know for sure.
Bats On Your Property Can Be A Health Hazard
Probably the most well-known threat posed by bats is rabies. Indeed, bats are one of the main vectors for this extremely deadly virus. A bite from a bat can necessitate a round of rabies shots that may cost thousands of dollars. Of course, once you start exhibiting symptoms of rabies, your chances of survival are low.
However, rabies is not the only threat that bats pose to your health. Bats guano can also infect you with a fungal respiratory disease known as histoplasmosis, which can seriously damage your lungs. By proxy, bats can also expose you to tick and flea-borne illnesses, as they carry these external parasites. Bats are a pest control nightmare because of all the fungi and parasites they carry.
Factors That Attract Bats To Your Property
Though we do have vampire bats and fruit bats in the Americas, most of the bats in the United States eat insects. This means a flying insect problem is a big factor that can draw bats onto your property. If you have mosquitoes breeding on your property, for instance, this could attract bats.
- Other factors that could draw bats in include:
- Easy access to high and dry shelter.
- Consistent freshwater sources.
- Night-blooming or high-nectar flowers attract insects.
- Exterior lights attract moths.
If you have any of these factors on your property, eliminating them can reduce its attractiveness to bats.
The Best Way To Remove Bats From Your Property
If you wind up with bats on your property, that's not a situation where you can do your own wildlife removal. Not only are bat control products generally ineffective. A bite from a bat could cost you big money. Contact the wildlife and pest control experts at Prosite to keep yourself safe! We can safely remove the bats on your property so that you don't have to risk costly and dangerous bat bites. Give us a call or visit our contact page to get started.