Florida bat maternity season

Aug 11, 2019 | Wildlife Removal

 Start of Florida’s bat maternity season – April 15

In Brevard County, bats are one of the most common pest animals, especially in cities like Melbourne, Palm Bay, Rockledge, and Cocoa. Unfortunately, there are only certain times of the year that bat removal can be professionally dealt with.
Bats love to roost in areas 15 to 20 feet or higher especially in gaps on tile roofs and soffits and vents on any roof system.
When a bat colony has invaded your home you’re going to notice a lot of squeaky noises coming from the animals roosting area and accumulations of guano that can cause a stench outside of your home and even inside of your home in extreme cases. When the bat guano starts to cause an odor inside the home the only solution is by removing the guana which could include removing interior drywall, insulation, etc.

The First Step

The first steps in bat removal is doing a bat pre-seal up around all the areas bats aren’t using and then applying a bat exclusion device which would be a net or a bat valve. once the bats exit the building from the net or valve they will not be able to re-enter and we would simply fix the area to block them out. After this process, we would continue with the cleanup if necessary.
If you think you have bats in your attic or home call professional exclusions can be very high up and tricky and dangerous plus bats do carry diseases in their guano and can spread rabies if they bite.

“If you have bats roosting in your attic, eaves or chimney spaces, now is the time to give them an eviction notice. Bat maternity season begins April 15 and runs through August 15. Exclusions of bat colonies must be completed before the season starts.

“During bat maternity season, bats gather to give birth and raise their young,” said Terry Doonan, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologist and mammal conservation coordinator. “The season lasts until the young bats can fly and feed themselves. In Florida, this occurs from mid-April through mid-August for most bat species.”

Bat exclusions are illegal during this maternity season to prevent young bats that cannot yet fly from being trapped inside structures and dying.

Florida is home to 13 resident bat species, including threatened species such as the Florida bonneted bat. Some bat species roost in artificial structures, including buildings and houses. Although it is illegal to harm or kill bats in Florida, guidelines have been developed allowing for the legal exclusion of bats outside of the maternity season.”

Source: https://myfwc.com/news/all-news/bat-maternity/