Bat Droppings

Bat Guano Overview

Bats live in colonies that can have from a few dozen bats up to thousands. In most cases, when an infestation happens within someone’s attic, they are going to be dealing with a smaller colony. Regardless of the size, a colony of bats in an attic are going to create large quantities of guano. Bats have a fast metabolism and they can excrete more than 20 times a day. There have been many times when bat guano is used as a fertilizer, but this is by people who know how to use it safely. When it comes to bat guano in a person’s attic, it can be a dangerous substance that can cause illness and a lot of structural damage.

Guano Damage

Bat guano is going to cause a lot of structural damage within the attic of a person’s home. It is going to seep into the walls of the structure and destroy the drywall to the point that it will need to be removed. It will also soil insulation to the point where it cannot be cleaned, and it will have to be replaced as well. It is a corrosive substance that will also damage wood beams as well to the point where they can not be safely cleaned. This structural damage can result in costly repairs that need to be made. This is one of the reasons why when a bat infestation is realized, it needs to be dealt with immediately. Once the bats are removed, the bat droppings must be cleaned up to prevent further damages or disease.

Guano Diseases

Bat guano is also the type of substance that is going to harbor a fungus that can make the people and pets who live in the homesick. This fungus is called Histoplasma capsulatum and the spores that this fungus creates for reproduction can make people sick with a disease called histoplasmosis. This happens when people or pets inhale these spores after they have become airborne. They can spread throughout a home through the ventilation system and can affect every room in the house.

This infection affects the lungs of the person or animal who becomes infected. In some cases, it can be mild, and it will feel like a severe flu and the immune system will fight it off on its own. In severe cases and in people who have compromised immune systems, this infection can resemble tuberculosis. In these severe cases, if medical attention is not sought out it can lead to death. This is not the only disease that rats can harbor but it is the most common one that they cause.

Bat Prevention

Prevention after professional bat removal is the best way to avoid ever having to deal with any situation that will bring in close proximity to bats. Our professionally trained technicians will assist homeowners with bat exclusion plans to make sure that the bats can not get back in once they have been removed. There are also other steps that a person can take to deter them from the attic like; keeping the attic area well illuminated at night, building bat boxes on the property so that they have other roosting options, and keeping the attic cooler in temperature because bats require a warm place to roost.