Bat FAQs
Seventy percent of the world’s bats eat insects. One bat can devour up to 3,000 insects in a night! Most insectivorous bats eat their body weight in insects each night. It has been estimated that the 22 million Mexican free-tailed bats roosting in Bracken Cave, Texas during the summer eat 250 tons of insects each night, a large portion of which are agricultural pests. It is little wonder that bats are considered the most important natural controller of night-flying insects.
What are some myths about bats?
There are many myths and misconceptions regarding bats. Bats are not blind. They have the same five senses we do – smelling, hearing, tasting, seeing and feeling. Some bats, however, have highly developed sonar capabilities, called “echolocation.” Bats do not attack people and they won’t get tangled in your hair. Bats are actually quite timid and basically ignore humans. Bats are not flying rodents. They are in their own scientific order called Chiroptera. There are no Vampire bats in the United States. They are only found in southern Mexico, Central and South America. Vampire bats do not suck blood, they lap it up from a small scrape they make with their very sharp incisor teeth. The most common misconception that people have is that all bats are rabid. This is not true. Studies have shown that less than one percent of bats contract rabies and when they do they usually die within three or four days. Although they do not become aggressive, they can end up on the ground or someplace they do not belong and if handled may bite in self defense and transmit the disease. So never handle a wild bat with your bare hands and make sure your pet’s vaccinations are current.
What should I know about bats?
Although some mammals can glide, bats are the only mammal that can truly fly. Bats literally fly with their hands! Their wings are much like our hands, but with longer fingers and a thin, but tough, membrane (skin) between the fingers. World-wide there are over 1,000 species of bats. From the fossil records we have learned that bats existed over 65 million years ago. Today, they inhabit all areas of the globe except Antarctica and the extreme desert regions, but most bat species live in the tropics.
Bats eat a variety of things, including insects, fruit, nectar, fish and small vertebrates, but only three species feed on blood. The bats commonly found in Florida eat insects. Bats are not blind, but in addition to sight, many species have highly developed ultrasonic bio-sonar capabilities, referred to as “echolocation,” which they use to navigate and catch insects in total darkness.
Bats are disappearing at alarming rates. Disturbance or destruction of roost sites due to development and vandalism is the greatest threat to the world’s bats. Most bats living in Florida prefer to roost in mature or dead trees or in caves. However, many bats are squeezed out of urban areas due to loss of habitat or take up residence in buildings and become the targets for abuse. Public education and preservation of roost sites are the keys to maintaining Florida’s native bat populations.
You can help bats by learning more about them and sharing bat information with others. Fear and misunderstanding are one of the worst enemies of bats. Every person can get involved by placing a Bat-House in their back yard. A Bat-House will provide bats with a much needed safe place to live. In return, the bats do not pay rent, but they will return favor by eating insects around the area.
What should I do if a bat flies indoors?
The bats that are found in people’s houses are usually younger bats that have lost their way. They may also be adult bats that accidentally fly through an open window or door. The first step in removing a bat from your home is to stay calm. If the bat is flying around, it is not trying to attack you, it is only attempting to find a way out. Turn on the lights in the house so that you can easily see the bat and they can also see you (bats are not blind, nor afraid of the light). Next, close the doors to adjoining rooms to confine it to one room. Open any exterior doors and windows within the room in which the bat is flying (more bats will not fly in). More than likely, the bat will just fly out the open door or window within a few minutes. Do not “chase” the bat out. It will think you are attempting to harm it and will take longer to find a way out.
If the bat does not fly out on its own, you can wait for it to land. Then gently capture it with heavy leather work gloves or a thick towel. You can also take a large can or plastic bowl and slowly walk up to the bat. (It may fly away, but it won’t try to attack you.) Put the container over the bat, slip a piece of cardboard or magazine behind it. Take it outside and let it go. Never try to handle a bat with bare hands because, like other animals, it may bite to protect itself.
If anyone was bitten by the bat, or possibly transferred saliva from the bat to an open wound, their eyes, mouth, or nose, they need to seek medical attention immediately. In such cases, the bat will need to be saved so it can be tested to see if it has rabies. For more information on bats and rabies please visit the Centers for Disease Control website.
What should I do if I have bats living in my home?
A single bat in a room may only mean that a bat has lost its way and ended up accidentally in your house. If you have more than one or two bats entering your home within a season, you may have bats living in your roof, eaves, or attic. If the bats become a nuisance, the only long-term solution is to hire someone to perform a bat exclusion. A bat exclusion is a non-lethal way of evicting bats from a building without harming them.
The time of year is an import factor in deciding whether to perform an exclusion or not. Exclusions should not be conducted from mid-April through mid-August. This is when mother bats are birthing and rearing their young. Performing exclusions during this time of year will create major problems for both the bats and the homeowner. Young bats that are trapped inside will desperately try to get out and often find their way into the living areas of the home. Eventually, they will starve to death and may cause an odor or other possible health problem. Furthermore, purposely causing animals to die of starvation or dehydration is a form of animal cruelty. For these reasons it is illegal to conduct bat exclusions in Florida from April 16 through August 14.
What should I NOT do when trying to get rid of bats?
Do not attempt to poison or exterminate bats. Bats are protected under Florida wildlife laws and it is illegal to willfully kill bats in Florida.
Don’t just plug the holes. A lot of people think they can cover the holes the bats are using at midnight to keep the bats from getting back in. All of the bats in a roost do not necessarily exit each night, and in Florida, bats have often been observed returning to their roost early in the evening, long before midnight.
Do not conduct a bat exclusion during the maternity season. It is also illegal to conduct a bat exclusion during the maternity season, which in Florida is defined as April 16 through August 14. The maternity season is the period of time that mothers give birth to their young and nurture them to adulthood.
Conducting a Bat Exclusion. Exclusion techniques have been developed over the years and, when properly applied, are almost always successful on the first attempt. If it is later discovered an entrance point was missed, an exclusion can be re-conducted for that area.
What are the hidden dangers of bat droppings?
Bat droppings, also known as guano, can build up in attics and eaves that have been used by bats. Even if the human occupants of the building are not aware of the guano, they can be harmed by it. After guano has laid around for a couple of years, a fungus can grow in it, releasing spores into the air that cause histoplasmosis in humans.
