We often get calls from people that they can “hear bat sounds” in their home. Believe it or not, bats are actually very quiet animals. Most people do not know they have a colony of bats living in their attic until they see signs of guano scattered about their home or have one accidentally wind up in their living room.
Bat sounds are indicative of a larger scale problem. Once they get to the point where you can hear them, you most likely have more of a problem than you may realize.
3 Signs You Can Spot Before Hearing Bats
Before hearing the tell tale squeaks and scratching noises bats can make, there are three things you can spot beforehand.
- Bats flying around outside your home – It is perfectly normal and natural to see bats flying around outside at night foraging for food and water. What is not normal is seeing bats constantly hanging around close to your house. Homeowners will sometimes report bats hanging on their fences, the eaves of their house, or on a porch or balcony. If you are uncertain if there are just bats hanging around or if they are actually living inside your home, set up a “twilight watch”. At sunset, take a lawn chair outside, sit down, and look up at your house. Just sit back and watch for bats leaving their roost for the night. If you do have bats in your house that’s one way you may see them.
- Unexplained stains on walls and ceilings – If bats are roosting in your walls or attic, stains from bat urine may be found on the walls or ceiling. Bat urine also has an unpleasant odor… One particular lady I spoke with said, “Oh, so that’s what the wet spot is on my ceiling. I wipe it off every week and every week it comes back.”
- Rub marks on the outside of the building around areas with holes or cracks – Bats carry oil and dirt on their fur. As they are entering or exiting your home over time they will leave this oil and dirt behind. Giving your home a tasteful “dirty” look.
I Think I Hear Bat Sounds in My House
We recently posted a blog about Chimney Swifts. These are noisy little birds that people often mistake for bats in the chimney. We have a great audio file of some Chimney Swifts we found on an inspection last month. Check out our YouTube channel here to listen to that.
Bat sounds are easy to mistake as being something else. Most people think they are mice or even roaches. Listen to one homeowners audio of bats in his walls here. https://youtu.be/q4t704ShqaA
If you aren’t sure if your sounds are bats, birds, or mice we are happy to come investigate for you.
Your local bat removal expert,
Michael Koski
Comments 8
Fawn
March 6, 2020 |
It is 11:30pm and I just found a bat in my house, or more accurately, my dog found it. It is now in a box inside a trash bag, in the freezer. Both frozen bat and dog (vaccinated) will be going to the vet first thing in the morning. My attic has a stairwell instead of a drop down ladder. It's very spacious with nice hard wood floors. Because of this, I frequent my attic. I have frequented it a lot lately because I have been making plans to enclose a portion as a room. I have never seen signs of bats up there. And in the 3.5 years of living here, have only seen one flying outside at night once. (I've seen them swarming at other places in our town, but not near my home.) You seem to be quite knowledgable. Do you think this one bat was a weird fluke or is there likely a nest tucked in a corner in my attic? Also in your opinion, do you think it likely this bat coming into the house is a sign it has rabies? I'm extremely concerned about the welfare of my dog, who had it in her mouth. The dead bat will be getting shipped off for testing regardless, I was just wondering if that was normal. Any knowledge or advice is appreciated.
Tori Bruce
March 7, 2020 |
Good call on getting the bat tested. If it is still cold enough where you live and there is very little bug activity, then the chances of there being a roost somewhere in the structure is nearly 100%. If they are in a warm part of the world, the odds are still pretty high - but at this time of year some bats are migrating back to their homes and this one could have "stopped over". Were there open windows without a screen? Also, if there is history of bats living in the house before, it may be one just successfully found his way back "home". Please feel free to call our customer service number if you have more questions. 877-264-2287
Akash
November 30, 2019 |
We've bats outside our toilet window since few months, how we spotted is when we left window open , we found little bat inside the toilet hole & it was stuck there , it happened twice , after that we always keep our window shut , since then bats doesn't enter inside but I can see it's still there outside, we can always hear their sound too, how harmful it is ? If it's too harmful , how to get rid of it ?
Tori Bruce
December 2, 2019 |
Hello, it is likely that the bats are roosting outside your bathroom window. Bats usually are not dangerous although they can be disease carriers with rabies being the worst case scenario. Since rabies is a fatal disease, you are very wise to not allow contact with people living in the home. Sometimes the mess that they leave outside (guano droppings) or even structural damage from urine can be more of a reason to want them to live somewhere else. We would be happy to talk to you more about what to look for if you give us a call at 877-264-2287.
Amanda
August 26, 2019 |
There are bats in the chimney have been hearing them since April just listen to audio an it’s definitely bats will they come inside the hiuse it sounds like they are about to come inside here ?!
Tori Bruce
August 26, 2019 |
They may not get into the house. Bats want a place to sleep (in this case your chimney) and then they want to leave in the evening to eat insects. When they come into the house, it is usually an accident. However, there are other problems besides coming into the house that can result from a colony nesting in your chimney. Their waste, guano, will start to build up and it can smell very strong and lead to histoplasmosis. I recommend calling our customer service number 877-264-2287 for more information.
Joy
April 25, 2019 |
Every night for many months now we hear a continuous, loud squeak in a large tree outside our house. This goes on for hours and keeps us awake. This creature is very difficult to spot with a torch but I have seen two little red eyes in the torch light occasionally. Is this a bat and how do we discourage it so that we can get some sleep?
GetBatsOut
April 25, 2019 |
Bats don't have red eyes. They are black even when hit with a light. I think possums have red eyes to see in the dark? I could be wrong. Bats are also generally very quiet while outside. They are a small animal that have many birds that will eat them so they stay quiet. If the tree is in your yard, consider calling a trapper. They may be able to at least tell you what they think it might be. It sounds like a larger animal than a bat to me.