When the weather starts to warm up, most Tampa residents see bats flying around at night. These scary-looking creatures usually hunt for mosquitoes and other flying insects to eat. While bats are more active during the summer, they can be a major problem for Tampa homeowners year-round.
At EcoTech Pest Control Services, we have been helping homeowners remove bats from their property for over a decade. Our Tampa pest control team can help you keep your home and property bat-free all year.
Bat Anatomy: Fascinating Features That Make Bats Unique
Bats have been the star of many horror stories over the years, which is why most people are terrified of these creatures. However, bats are not as scary as you may think. In fact, they are fascinating creatures that help pollinate plants and have even helped with the advancement of modern medicine.
Thanks to their impressive wingspan, bats are excellent flyers. They are the only mammal on earth that is able to fly, and they use their impressive flying abilities to catch mosquitoes and other flying insects around your home. In addition to bugs, bats also like to eat a variety of fruits and plant nectar and are responsible for pollinating many plants.
Bats in Tampa don't have great eyesight. To help them see where they are going, they use echolocation by emitting a high-frequency sound out of their nose and listening for the echo and the distinct characteristics of the echo. The echoing sound can let bats know how big an object is and other important insights about their surroundings. Many scientists have studied bats' use of echolocation to come to develop their own navigation system for blind people.
Bat-Borne Diseases: Understanding The Risks To Human Health
While bats certainly have benefits, they are not the type of animals you want to find inside your home. Several types of bats like to live in large groups or colonies. When bats are looking for a large enough area to roost in, they will often cause damage to your home or other structures in order to get inside.
You can usually find bats in the attics of homes. When they live in large groups, they tend to leave pounds of droppings in their roosting areas. Over time, the piles of bat droppings can cause damage to your home. The weight of the droppings has been known to make some ceilings collapse. If you come into contact with the droppings, you could catch a dangerous disease called histoplasmosis.
Also, bats are known to carry and spread rabies. However, it is extremely rare for humans to get rabies from a bat.
Professional Bat Control Services: Safely Eliminate A Bat Infestation
Many bats in Florida are on the endangered list, meaning you are not allowed to kill these creatures, and only people with a permit and special license are allowed to catch them. If you are seeing bats around your home, you will need to call a professional wildlife control specialist to have them safely and legally removed.
Long-Term Bat Prevention: Maintaining A Bat-Free Home
Bats can be exceptionally problematic if they decide to roost on your property. Some of the things that you can do to prevent a bat infestation include:
- Place a screen over exterior vents and chimneys
- Make sure that your door and window screens don't have any holes in them
- Seal any gaps that you might have around your home or on your roof
If you suspect you might have bats in or around your Tampa home, don't hesitate to call us as soon as possible. At EcoTech Pest Control Services, we can safely remove bats from your home and prevent them from ever coming back.