If you’ve ever suffered through a bat infestation, you know that one of the tell-tale signs of a bat infestation in your home is the strong smell of ammonia. The smell is a byproduct of bat feces, or bat guano, and the larger the infestation, the longer they are present in your home, the more powerful the smell.
A bat guano attic cleanup is nearly impossible for a typical homeowner to handle themselves. There are specialized tools and techniques that help professionals return a home to normal. Many of these tools and techniques are not readily available to a homeowner – hence the need for professional assistance.
Bat Guano Cleanup: Tips From The Pros
Below are the steps we take when assessing and cleaning up after a bat infestation.
- Ensure we are dealing with a bat infestation. Relying on sounds alone are never enough. A professional inspection and interview with the homeowner in an important first step to confirming the presence of bats.
- Follow our humane bat removal process. It is important to ensure the home is free of bats prior to starting a guano cleanup process. Because bats are a federally protected species, following this process if critical. We also ensure all bats are excluded from the home prior to beginning any bat guano cleanup. This process includes finding ALL access points and additional weakness that are yet to be exploited by bats or other animals and reinforcing.
- Understand the scope of the problem. Unlike most other animals that develop a latrine mindset and focus their waste in specific areas, bats are likely to expel waste throughout an attic. Because of the dispersion of bat guano, and because of the pre-treatment process (see next item) in most cases, we have to replace all of the insulation present in the attic.
- Pre-treat the insulation. Bat guano often contains a fungus that cause histoplasmosis. These fungal spores are very fine and can wreak havoc throughout the home if they go airborne. We first spray the insulation with a very fine mist spray to ensure the fine particulates that are harmful in the bat guano to not become airborne and travel throughout the home.
- Remove the insulation and other materials, if necessary. Once the insulation has been treated to prevent harmful particulates from going airborne, the insulation is carefully removed from the attic using specialized machinery designed to safely remove the hazardous material. At this stage, we assess and replace any damaged substrate materials.
- Break down organic material. Prior to installing new insulation, we treat the area with a material that breaks down all organic matter.
- Replace all materials to make as new. Lastly, we install new insulation, returning your attic (and the rest of the home) to a safe and warm state.
As you can see, this process is hardly something fit for a typical homeowner. Even the most capable DIY oriented homeowner should seek assistance with this type of project, as a misstep can be costly and dangerous, putting you, your family or visitors to your home at risk.
ABC Humane Wildlife Control & Prevention is an animal control and prevention provider based in Arlington Heights, IL. For over 40 years, we have served individual home owners, commercial business owners, property managers, and municipal customers dealing with bat problems. If you require bat control in Illinois and your home or business is located in the greater Chicagoland area, please contact us today at 847-870-7175, and our expert bat removal specialists will be happy to help.
