If you walked into your barn one day and discovered that bats were hanging from the top area of the barn, then you were likely more than a little surprised. While bats aren’t necessarily dangerous, they’re a little bit scary in certain ways.
Many people find bats to be a bit intimidating, and this makes figuring out how to deal with them a problem for some. Bats really aren’t that difficult to take care of, though, and you should be able to get your barn back to normal in a timely fashion.
You want to be able to use your barn as intended, and this means that you have to evict the bats. If you have no idea how to get the right results, then you should keep reading.
Below, you’ll get important information about how to get rid of bats in a barn. Once you’ve read everything, you should be much more confident that you can solve the problem.
Why You Need to Get Rid of the Bats
If you’re not scared of the bats, then you might be thinking that it won’t be that big of a deal to ignore. While it is true that having bats around will be beneficial in certain ways, it’s also true that they are going to turn your barn into a mess.
You see, bats eat many insects each day and they also defecate a lot. If you allow them to remain in the barn, you’re going to have a significant bat poop problem.
This can create severe sanitation issues in your barn. Being that you’re likely storing food in the barn and you might have other animals living in the barn, it’s not wise to allow the bats to stay.
The benefits of having the bats eat unwelcome insects won’t balance out the bat poop problems that you’ll have. Thankfully, you can get rid of bats in your barn using several different methods.
You Aren’t Allowed to Kill the Bats
Remember that you aren’t allowed to kill the bats because they’re a protected species. This means that you can’t simply shoot them or find other ways to kill them.
You won’t be able to poison the bats or do anything like that. The only way to get them to leave your barn will be to drive them out by making it less convenient for them.
Ideally, you should take steps to protect your barn ahead of time so that bats won’t become a problem. Since you know that bats will be an issue in your area now, you’ll be able to mitigate the situation in the future.
1 – Place a Bat House Outside
One of the more interesting ideas involves giving the bats another place to stay. Some people choose to place bat houses on their properties so that they can enjoy the benefits of having them around.
Bats can be good to have around because they will eat insects. You won’t have to worry so much about mosquitoes and various other types of bugs if you have bats frequenting the area.
Place a bat house somewhere that is far enough away from your barn and your house. These houses are convenient places for them to live and they’ll like being able to hide inside.
You could build your own bat house if you’d like to, but you can also buy bat houses and simply place them where you think they would be useful. Either way, you’re going to be able to get good results if you use bat houses effectively.
2 – Spray Chemical Bat Repellents in the Barn
It’s pretty common for people to use chemical bat repellents to try to get rid of bats. These repellents are designed to make bats want to stay away from specific areas.
If you’re looking for a simple solution that will make the barn less appealing to the bats, then this might be your best bet. It should be easy enough to have the top of the barn sprayed with bat repellent spray so that you can rest easy.
Most people will choose to call professionals to apply bat repellent during the winter months. You can contact a local pest control service to get help with this if you’d like to.
It’s also possible to simply buy bat repellent and spray it in the barn yourself. Just go with whatever option you think is the best for your situation.
3 – Use Ultrasonic Bat Repellent Devices
Did you know that there are ultrasonic repellent devices that can help you to get rid of bats? Bats aren’t going to want to stick around when you make the environment too annoying for them to enjoy it peacefully.
The best ultrasonic bat repellents on the market make things very noisy and uncomfortable for the bats. You can use a device to make the environment chaotic so that they will want to find another spot to stay.
Placing an ultrasonic repellent device will be very simple overall. You could put one at the top of the barn or you could place it on a lower level and it’d still work well to repel the bats.
Perhaps best of all is the fact that devices such as this are relatively inexpensive. You won’t have to spend an exorbitant sum of money to get a device such as this, and it’s something that anyone can use.
4 – Bright Lights
Bright lights can also discourage bats from coming near your barn at night. You might be able to place spotlights in your barn that point up toward the rafters so that they won’t want to go there.
There could be many different ways to use lights that will prove to be effective bat deterrents. Bats really prefer darker areas and they won’t be as interested in spots that have a lot of light.
Just understand that using lights by themselves might not be the most effective deterrent. It’s possible that the bats could reach some sort of dark corner so that they will be able to avoid the light.
That doesn’t mean that lights can’t be part of your strategy for keeping bats away from your barn. You just might want to combine the idea of using lights with something such as chemical repellent sprays or ultrasonic repellent devices.
5 – Place Nets Near the Entry Points at the Top of the Barn
Have you thought about trying to keep the bats from being able to use the barn? It might be a good idea to install netting near the top of the barn and at the entry points so they won’t be able to get in.
Barns need to have openings at the top so that they can have the proper amount of air circulation. Normally, this leaves things open so that bats can fly in when they’re the most active during the summer months.
You can keep this from happening in many instances by using netting. The nets make it so that bats can’t even get inside the barn.
The air circulation shouldn’t be impacted by the nets, but you won’t have to worry so much about bats. Overall, this is an idea that is well worth looking into if you want to keep them at bay.
6 – You Can Always Call Experts for Help
Of course, if you don’t want to deal with this bat problem on your own, it’s going to be possible to call for help. As mentioned earlier, many people choose to call pest control companies to spray their barns in the winter when bats are hibernating.
Doing this can keep the barn from becoming a safe haven for bats when they’re active during the summer. The treatments last for a long time and you might want to start getting your barn treated annually.
You can also call pest control services to help with bat removal. While pest control experts aren’t allowed to kill the bats, they can help to get them out of your barn using certain methods.
Just remember that what can and cannot be done to bats will differ depending on where you live. In America, the laws will differ from state to state, but you can go over the options with the pest control company once you make contact.
These experts understand how to remove bats safely and efficiently. If you want to get them out of your barn quickly, then this is the route that you need to take.
In the future, you can use deterrent methods to try to keep the bats from coming inside in the first place. For now, it’s just important to get them out so that you can protect your barn.
Final Thoughts
Knowing more about bats and what can be done to keep them away will help you out a lot. Bats love barns because they’re able to feel safe at the top of them.
It just so happens that the top of your barn is almost a perfect home for local bats. You have to make things less perfect so they won’t want to stay there.
Many people will use ultrasonic repellent devices to make the environment more chaotic for the bats. You could also try to use lights to make them uncomfortable.
Repellent sprays do a good job of keeping bats from wanting to go near certain spots. It might be worth it to have your barn sprayed with a chemical bat repellent.
Installing netting will be a great choice when you want to prevent bats from getting into your barn easily. You can do this without harming the air circulation of the barn, too.
If you want to enjoy the benefits of having bats on your property, then you could try building a bat house. Keeping bat houses at certain spots away from the barn will give the bats a place to live where they won’t bother anything.
Bats are often the only real predator of nocturnal insects in certain areas. They can be good to keep around, but you just can’t have them hanging out in your barn.
To take care of bat problems fast, you might need to call a pest control company. They’ll charge you to remove bats from your barn, but they can get things done swiftly and will treat your barn to keep them from coming back.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
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