Bats In a Barrel Tile Roof

04.29.2003 - Here we see part of the process of the exclusion of a colony of bats living in a barrel tile roof. This is part of a shopping plaza in SW Florida (a town called North Port). I was called because thousands of bats had been going in and out of the roof, causing many problems. First of all, the bats were driving away customers - not only at dusk, when active, but also during the day, due to the noise and especially, the odor. Bats have a very strong odor - both from their droppings and urine, and from their own bodies. A large colony can give off quite a strong odor.

In this case, the bats were not just living under the tile. They were entering the attic via gaps in the roof plywood. I found the colony roosting in the attic, and they left piles of droppings, some about a foot deep. This is unsanitary, offensive to smell, and a biohazard, unfit for any dwelling, let alone a public space.

The first step in the process is the removal of all of the bats. It must be done in a careful and humane manner. It is illegal to kill a colony of bats, but more importantly than that, it's just plain wrong. Bats are valuable animals. They also live for a long time. I've read varying accounts, citing ages up to 18 years, with an average of a ten year life span per bat. In a group like this, of a thousand bats, killing the colony could feasibly mean killing ten thousand years' worth of insect-munching and fascinating animals. Why would anyone kill bats? It's just not necessary.

After all of the bats are properly removed, the building must be completely, 100% sealed. You can see in the photo above some sort of orange gunk around some of the tiles. That is not my work. That was some amateur who tried to seal some areas shut using a can of Great-Stuff foam. It's a good thing this person did a crummy job and didn't seal any bats in. After all the bats were removed and the building sealed, that's when the cleanup began. I vacuumed out all of the bat droppings and fully decontaminated and deodorized the attic. Problem solved!

Why did the bats choose to live in this building? The answer is that it met their needs - it was tall enough to allow free entrance and exit, obstruction-free, and featured small gaps - bats instinctively enter small gaps, usually of about a half-inch in width, because they know that they will be safe from larger predators within. Furthermore, the roost met the bats' requirements for proper temperature and humidity. Free-tailed bats, like the ones living in this roof and featured in the above photo, like very warm temperatures, sometimes up to 150 degrees. It gets very hot under those tiles of course. Well, I forced them to find a new home. They'll be fine, as will the customers and tenants of the now bat-free shopping plaza.

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Naturally, bats are nocturnal. At dusk, they fly out of their hiding points and go about their activities. During the day, they hide in dark and small places with high altitudes. If you happen to notice bats in your barrel tile roof, there is a high probability that you might have a bat infestation in your roof in no time.

Apart from the dangers associated with the possible infestation of bats in your roof, having just a few bats staying in your barrel tile roof is equally dangerous to your health. The guano of just a few bats finding its way into your attic can create a high level of fungus that can contaminate your home. This clearly shows how important it is for you to eradicate the bats in your barrel tile roof.

Have you been looking for a way to remove bats in your barrel tile roof? Right here, we will be sharing a quick and safe process on how to get them out of your roof. But first, you need to know for sure if you have bats in your barrel tile roof.

How to recognize a bat infestation

To be sure you have bats in your roof, the first thing you need to do is to stay outside your house at dusk and look for bats flying around. When you see them, take further steps to see the part of your house they frequent the most.

After that, take a look at those areas for the presence of any bat guano. Bat guano shares a striking resemblance to mouse feces, but they are quite bigger. If you happen to find bat guano around any of those parts of your home, the bats are most likely to be residing in the roof directly above where the feces is found.

Removing the bats

The best time to get bats out of a barrel tile roof is in the evening when they must fly out. Once you find their hiding spot, what you need to do is to place a fine mesh netting above the roof. This prevents the bats from getting back into the tiles again. Although this mesh netting might be unattractive, it will help keep them away until you can seal the tiles permanently.

If you find this quite difficult to do, other bat exclusion devices can help you remove the bats in your barrel tile roof. For instance, there is s bat exclusion device designed in such a way that when installed in your barrel tile roof, it allows the bat to fly out, but prevent it from gaining entrance back in.

Also, you need to understand the fact that bats do migrate from time to time and will probably be leaving your roof very soon. So you can very well wait and allow them to leave. When they do, you can then go ahead to seal up the openings in your barrel tile roof.

Sealing the roof

The best way to seal up the openings and cracks in your roof is to hire a professional. But if you want to do it by yourself, you can install small pieces of steel around the openings and use roof sealant to seal up the cracks.