Did you know that eating up to 600 mosquitoes each in an hour, bats are the best insect control there is? There is little in nature more invigorating than watching bats flutter about at dusk, occasionally “dive-bombing” the insects that annoy us so much. Even so, very few of us are willing to let bats make their homes in our homes, apartments, or other buildings.
Unlike mice, bats do not chew holes in buildings. They really don’t have to! It takes a space less than an inch wide for a bat to easily come in or out of a building. So holes to the roof or walls are not damage caused by bats. Rather, there are more insidious risks of bats inhabiting our spaces like: the spread of disease, the bat mites and the structural damage (because of their urine and dung).
Ignoring the bat control (humane, live, professional) problem, it will not go away. Bats will not go away. Instead, they will proliferate and cause more damage over the years. Also, it is highly recommend that you avoid handling the bats yourself. If you must, please keep in mind that bats are legally protected! Killing them can result in large fines. Second, two percent of bats carry rabies. Bats mouths and teeth are very small, and a bite mark may not be detected. Any contact with bats should be treated as a possible exposure to rabies. If you exclude them effectively, they will try to find their way back in over the next several nights (be aware of windows that are not properly screened). Bats are persistent, driven by instinct.
Even a professional bat removal (exclusion, extermination, performed by a technician with years of experience, can result in bats ending up inside the building or house. Also, remember some bats do migrate - other species hibernate in their nest. Sealing up your house in late fall after you think they've migrated should only be done if the species has been confidently identified. Otherwise, you and the bats will have a surprise next spring.
The most logical route to go is calling a professional pest control bats company. A professional in this area will know just how to find the holes bats use. He will then get bats out (house, building, school, warehouse, attic) by inserting specially designed “doors” in the holes that allow the bats to leave, but not re-enter. After a few days, when he is sure the bats are all excluded from the building, he will close up all the holes so that the bats (and any other creatures looking for a cozy home) will not be able to enter. At that point, the bat guano clean up (histoplasmosis, danger, toxic, safe, disease) and urine and the control of the bat mites can be completed, making the area available and safe for removal and repair of any damaged property.
It is possible that your local pest control company does some bat work 'on the side'. Bat exclusion is a very specialized niche - much different from regular pest issues. To safely and properly handle bat work, a company must work from ladders and/or manlifts. Knowledge of construction standards and codes is important to prevent sealing up areas incorrectly that allow a building to vent properly.
By calling in a commercial bat control (removal, exclusion) professional, the owner has saved himself the hassle and expense of hiring exterminators, the risk of exposure of his employees to disease, and additional expense of further property devaluation.
In the end, bats are wild, persistent animals. There is no substitute for experience!