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BATS (Chiroptera)

Bats are the only mammal that can fly. Contrary to their name, Flying squirrels don't fly, they glide. Germans refer to bats as flying mice, but bats are not winged rodents. On Long Island, bats are one of the most feared and most misunderstood animals. Although these nocturnal creatures are a rabies vector animal, they do play a very important role in pest control. The nine species of bats native to New York are insectivorous, Nassau County exterminators, some consuming as much as fifty percent of their body weight in flying insects each night. Contrary to the saying, "Blind as a bat", bats have eyes and can see. However, bats are able to perceive their surroundings and locate their prey in total darkness using echolocation. Bats emit ultrasonic pulses at a rate of two hundred pulses per second and hear these pulses echo back enabling them to identify the shape, size and location of the object. As temperatures drop in the Fall and insect numbers decline, bats respond by either migrating or hibernating. Bats have a remarkable longevity for such a small animal. One of the most common bats in New York, the Little Brown Bat can reach twenty four years of age. The Big Brown Bat, is the most frequently encountered bat on Long Island and is reported to be one of the fastest bats, reaching speeds of up to 40 mph. The Big Brown Bat is very hardy and can withstand conditions that other bats can not. Bats are considered to be one of the slowest reproducing mammals in the World. A female bat will give birth to one pup in June, or early July, so a bat removal exclusion from an attic should not be done during the Summer months. Bats often form nursery roosts in the attics of Long Island homes, with many female bats giving birth in the same area. The low reproductive rates of bats, combined with their longevity and their flying insect prey base, means that the use of pesticides can have a drastic impact on their population. The use of pesticides to control flying insects, may be responsible for the sharp decline in the Long Island bat population. White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease found in hibernating bats in North America, which has resulted in as many as seven million bat deaths.  There is no treatment, or means of preventing the transmission of this fatal disease. Devouring one thousand mosquitoes an hour, bats are now a welcome exterminator in Nassau County.  In an effort to fight the growing mosquito population, the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, NY has installed bat houses throughout its parks, for bats to roost in. A bat house is just an empty rectangular wooden box with an opening at the bottom. Bat houses are mounted on a tree, or a pole fifteen feet above the ground and should be facing South. Bat houses are sold at Long Island nurseries and the smallest boxes, measuring 16 inches long, 11.5 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep will accommodate a dozen bats.  Officials from the Town of North Hempstead want to curb the use of pesticides and use bats to control mosquitoes. Bats are a much cheaper and healthier alternative to spraying pesticides. Mosquitoes carry and transmit both the West Nile Virus and the Zika Virus. Since the arrival of the West Nile Virus in the United States in 1999, there have been 1,100 deaths. The West Nile Virus was first discovered in Queens, New York in 1999. Almost 500 New York residents have been infected with the virus since 2000, resulting in 37 deaths in New York. The Zika Virus can cause birth defects such as, Microcephaly and is linked to Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

​BAT REMOVAL • BAT CONTROL • INSPECTION • LONG ISLAND, NY

Inspection is the initial step in the wildlife control process. Our animal control wildlife trappers look for evidence of bats on your property.
Inspection ​- This is the first step in the bat removal process. Bats may enter a Long Island residence at night through an open door, or window. A bat could also enter through a window air conditioner, or come down the chimney and end up inside of your home. Bats in the attic, may fall down a wall void and end up in your living space. It isn't difficult for bats to find their way into your home, or business. In fact, even an opening as small as 1/4 inch could serve as a bat entrance way into your premises. If you have bats roosting in your attic, bat droppings, also called bat guano can usually be found around the entry points. If our Long Island wildlife removal experts believe that there is an infestation of bats in your attic, we will do an inspection at dusk and actually watch the bats exiting.  An inspection at dusk, will allow us to identify all of the bats points of entry into your Long Island home, or business.  
Bat Droppings (Bat Guano) ​- Bat feces has a bad odor and is very corrosive.  If there is a large colony of bats in the attic, the droppings can pile up quickly and the weight of them can collapse the ceiling below the attic. The bat guano attracts cockroaches and a Long Island cockroach exterminator is needed to prevent your premises from becoming infested with roaches.  The fungus that grows on the bat droppings can cause the lung disease, Histoplasmosis in humans.​ Long Island Animal Control Wildlife Removal Services offers attic cleanup services.  
Bat Repellents ​-​ There are numerous bat repellents on the market, but I haven't found one that has proven to be effective in getting bats out of an attic. "Bat Magic" sold online for $9.59 claims to repel bats. This sounds like a cheap quick fix way of resolving a bat problem. The active ingredients in this product are peppermint and spearmint oils. Products containing the same ingredients are also marketed as ant repellents. Where is the magic?  The only thing that will disappear, will be your money. These oils don't get rid of bats or ants.  Ammonia, mothballs and bat repellent products containing naphthalene don't get bats, squirrels, or raccoons out of an attic and only serve to complicate the removal of nuisance wildlife from an attic. Ultrasonic sound emitting devices have not proven to get bats out of an attic either. Claims made by manufacturers of these ultrasonic devices has been disputed by testing labs and the US Federal Trade Commission. FTC Warns Manufacturers & Retailers of Ultrasonic Pest Control Devices.  
Bat Exclusion ​- This is a proven and effective way of getting bats out of an attic. Long Island Animal Control wildlife control operators specialize in the humane removal of bats from attics. An attic bat removal is done in the Fall, when there are no young flightless baby bats in the attic. Getting bats out of an attic requires exclusion devices to be installed over the bat's primary exit points. The bat exclusion devices will allow bats to exit your Long Island home, or business, but not re-enter it. The bat removal attic exclusion process normally takes three days. At the completion of the bat removal, the exclusion devices will be removed and the holes will be repaired, making your residence bat-proof. Bat removal cost is dependent upon what would be involved in removing the bat, or bats from your property.  
Bats in the Belfry ​​- Bats roost in the top of the bell tower of a church, known as the belfry and they fly around wildly when disturbed by the ringing of the bells. Bats in the Belfry can also be used synonymously with Batty, ​when referring to a crazy person, who acts as though they have bats careering around their head.  
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