Bat Removal & Exclusion in Canton, GA

Bats in your Canton home

Bats are quiet. Most Canton homeowners never hear them. What they notice is droppings collecting on the ground, a windowsill or the porch floor right under where the bats get in, small dark pellets that crumble when you press them. Sometimes there is also a dark stain around a gap in the trim, or a few bats seen leaving at dusk. In north Georgia the bats in attics are usually big brown bats and little brown bats.

Canton suits them. On summer nights the Etowah River and the creeks feeding it put up a lot of insects, and bats eat them by the thousands. During the day the colony needs a warm, dark place to sleep, and the older homes around downtown have plenty: unused chimneys, gable vents with loose screens, and gaps behind trim boards that have shifted over the years. Bats are protected, so they can't be killed, and when they are removed matters as much as how.

The April-to-July rule

From April 1 through July 31, female bats are raising pups that can't fly. If the exits are sealed during that time, the adults get shut out and the pups starve inside the walls. So bat exclusion is normally done before April or after July, and most often in late summer and fall once the young are flying. If there is a genuine health risk, Georgia DNR allows exclusion inside that window when a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator does it, but pros generally recommend waiting unless they can confirm no flightless young are present. A pro can inspect at any time of year so the work is ready to go when the window opens.

Where bats get into Canton homes

Bats don't make holes. They use gaps that are already there, and a gap about as wide as your finger is enough. On older homes near downtown, the usual spots are gable vents, a chimney that is no longer used, the space behind fascia that has pulled away, and the joints where an addition was tied into the original roof. Newer homes have construction gaps along the roofline. The pro has to find all of them, because the colony will simply move to any gap left open.

The bat valve and the follow-up

The method is simple: let the bats leave and stop them from coming back. A bat valve or one-way tube goes over each active exit. The bats fly out at night to feed and can't get back in. Other gaps are sealed at the same time. A typical job takes two or three visits: one to install, time for the colony to leave, then a visual check to confirm the bats are gone before the valves come down and the last openings are closed. Small jobs can sometimes be done in one day.

Guano and histoplasmosis

Dried bat droppings can carry the spores of a fungus that causes histoplasmosis, a lung infection people get by breathing in dust from disturbed guano. That is why cleanup is done with protective gear and containment, not with a shop vacuum. If the droppings can be removed, they should be. Full insulation replacement, however, is often recommended when it isn't needed. Ask the pro to show you how much of the attic is actually affected.

Mistakes that make it worse

The most common mistake is spotting the gap and sealing it with caulk or foam right away. If any bats are still inside, they die in the walls, and if it is between April and July, the pups certainly do. That turns a bat problem into an odor problem, and since bats are protected, it can be a legal problem as well. Mothballs, sprays and ultrasonic devices don't drive out a colony. And if a bat ever turns up in a bedroom or living area, don't handle it: bats can carry rabies, so call a pro and, if someone may have been bitten, your local health department.