Should I ever poison a bat?

The Problem with Bats

Once bats enter your home, they're going to cause a lot of problems. These animals carry plenty of diseases like rabies and histoplasmosis, both of which have devastating consequences and can even lead to death.

Bats are also known for their droppings, which are often called guano. They leave it all over the place, which spreads their musky scent throughout your home and causes hard-to-remove stains on your walls and floors. That's not even mentioning the structural damage the guano does, thanks to its corrosive nature.

For all these reasons, you'll want to remove a bat infestation as soon as possible. But how do you do that?

Poison

Poison appeals to a lot of people. It's the technique we see used for insects and other pests, so we think it would work just as well on bats. Poison is also easy to use. You either spray the infested room with poison or leave poison pellets around, then the problem takes care of itself with no extra effort on your part. It seems perfect!

The Problem with Poison

Yet this method isn't all it's cracked up to be, and it isn't as good as you might expect.

In terms of effectiveness, poison isn't actually that good when used on bats. These animals are much bigger than insects, so you'd need a lot of poison to kill them. Even then, poison usually leaves a lot of the bats alive, so you went through all that trouble for nothing.

Poison can actually add more work than it reduces. Once it kills the bats, you'll have to clean the area and handle all the corpses. This is dangerous because you can contract diseases by touching the animals, and it's incredibly difficult if the bats entered your walls or other secluded areas before dying.

Finally, the worst part of poison is that it's illegal. In most US states, trapping or hurting bats in any way is forbidden. By using poison, you're hurting already endangered animals, so you'd be charged with a massive fine.

It may seem odd that bats are protected by law, but it makes sense if you think about all the good bats do for us. These animals are insectivores and can eat thousands of insects a night. That's how they help us kill agricultural pests and vectors of disease. This is why the government is trying to prevent their extinction.

Alternative Solutions

Since poison is ineffective, dangerous, and illegal, you'll need to use another approach to remove the bat infestation.

Exclusion

Perhaps the best way of removing a bat infestation is with exclusion. This technique lets the bats leave on their own as you block the paths leading to your house, preventing the animals from coming back in.

• Find all entries: The first step of exclusion involves finding all entries used by bats. This is tricky at times since the entries can be very small, but it's important you find them all in order to get rid of the bats.
  
  

• Seal most holes: After finding all the holes, it's time to seal them. Use whatever material you prefer, be it a wooden board or some caulk and steel wool. The important part is to leave exactly one entry still open, as it's needed for the next step.
  
  

• Install exclusion device: It's now time to install the exclusion funnel, net, or any other contraption you bought. But first, make sure there aren't any baby bats in your home, or doing this would leave the children stranded, resulting in their death.
  
  

• Repair and cleanup: After the device is installed and you waited for the bats to leave on their own, you should remove the exclusion device and seal the hole. Then put on a mask and gloves in order to safely clean and disinfect the area.
  
  

Professional Help

If exclusion sounds appealing but you don't have the time or skills for it, you should call a professional. Most experts use exclusion themselves as it's the most effective bat removal technique out there.

These professionals also often provide additional services like cleanup, repair, and advice to prevent future bat infestations.