New Hampshire Bat Removal Project June 2008
The "bad luck" bat family
In June of 2008 we traveled to Southern NH to evict a colony of bats for one of our previous customers. Last year we bat proofed a home for this family in Metro West Boston. Shortly thereafter they relocated to Southern NH and bought a house in a nice subdivision. Two weeks after they moved in they woke up to find 3 bats flying around the first floor of their new house. They called me and a few days later I drove up to perform an inspection of the house. Understandably they were a bit upset about the bats in their new home as they had moved in only two weeks prior and the house had just passed the real estate home inspection.
Bat Inspection
I inspected the attic of the house and could not find any evidence of bats. After scouring the roof and roofline of the house for 30 minutes I finally found the problem. Bats were entering a soffit in the rear corner of the house. They were entering through a very small gap behind a trim board and residing in the soffit void. While I was on the ladder I could hear a group of bats moving inside the void and squeaking loudly. When I pulled the board off the side of the house I could see a group of bats roosting up in a corner and I could also see about a dozen bats scurrying back into cathedral ceiling of the living room. I also found a substantial amount of bat guano in this area that proved that the bats had been here for quite a while.
I relayed my findings to the customer and they were not very happy. Not only did their old house have bats but the new house that they just bought had them also. They asked me "How could this have possibly been missed in the real estate inspection?"
Most inspection companies will only inspect attics for signs of pest problems during a real estate inspection. These bats were not actually inside the attic. Even when I inspected the attic I did not find any signs of bats. The void behind the area where the bats were residing lead into a cathedral ceiling, an area that is impossible to inspect without dismantling the ceiling. Unless the home inspection company was inspecting the exterior roofline of the house and actually looking for bats (as I was) they would have no way of finding this colony of bats.
Bat Removal Process
As I mentioned this family had been through the bat removal process with us before so they already knew exactly what needed to be done. The good news what that their new house was much easier to bat proof than their old house and the cost of the job was not as much. I installed a single bat-valve, fabricated some screen covers for their vents, sealed a few miscellaneous areas, did some work on the chimney and the job was complete.
Unexpected Surprise
As I was loading my tools and getting ready to leave one of their children came out to my truck with a large paper shopping bag. Inside the shopping bag was a homemade Italian calzone and a small dish of pasta. This family was of Italian descent and were very serious about their food. They were so grateful that I drove up to get rid of their bats that they made me a delicious Italian dinner for the ride home. I was also very grateful because I had worked on their roof all day without eating and was so hungry that I think I would have stopped at Mcdonalds.
New Hampshire Bat Removal Facts
- New Hampshire is home to 8 species of bats. However 99% of calls for bat removal services are either little brown or big brown bats.
- Big brown bats spend the winter hibernating in attics throughout Southern NH.
- New Hampshire's Little brown bats migrate to caves in Vt and upstate NY to spend the winter.
- Both little browns and big brown bats in NH give birth in June. Bat removal services should not be performed in structures housing maternal colonies of bats during the month of July.
- The vast majority of bat colonies that we see in NH are big brown bats.
- Bats enter the living space of houses daily in the month of August throughout Southern New Hampshire. It is not uncommon for us to receive 12-15 calls per day for bats in houses during the month of August from this region.
- If you're located in Southern New Hampshire and have a bat problem you can read our bat removal page for more information or contact us using the information on our contact page.
This case-study was created to give our visitors a look into how our bat removal services are structured. If you have any questions about anything on this page or would like to speak with a wildlife removal expert about a problem you're having, please feel free to contact BatGuys.
