(Also called Bat Exclusion Devices, Bat Eviction Valves, One-Way Mail Boxes, Bat Control Eviction Devices, One-Way Bat Removal Devices, and One-Way Bat Removal Valves)
If you have a more serious problem with getting rid of bats, and / or have tried some of the other bat removal ideas and techniques and have not been successful, you will want to learn about one-way bat removal valves. In general, these devices can be designed and installed yourself, or can be purchased commercially.
If you find yourself needing to call a professional bat removal service, they will very likely instal one-way bat removal valves as part of their service. These valves are one of the most successful methods of getting rid of bats. Additionally, if the valves are correctly installed, you won’t even have to see, or handle the bats that leave your house.
Note: keep in mind that if you DO have to handle bats for any reason, be sure and wear protective gloves and take precautions against being bitten.
How Does a One-Way Bat Removal Valve Generally Work?
The idea of a one-way bat removal valve is to allow the entire colony of bats and easy avenue to get OUT of your house at dusk, but prevent them from returning back INTO your house again at dawn. If one-way bat removal valves are installed correctly and completely, and depending on the size of the colony that you’re trying to get rid of, the bats should be completely out of your house in five to seven days.
A one-way bat removal valve could be as simple as a short length of PVC pipe, an empty tube of caulk, a piece of mesh netting or wire screen that partially seals the outside of the bats’ access areas, or a commercial device that might look something like a long, rectangular, country road mailbox with one-way openings on both ends.
You Must Find Out How and Where the Bats Enter Your House
The first step in installing one-way bat removal valves is observe your bats leaving your house at dusk, so that you know the exact locations they use to come and go from your house. It will be at these locations where you will install the one-way bat removal valves.
You MUST Seal Up ALL other Cracks, Holes, Etc. Into Your House
After determining how and where the bats enter and exit your house, you’ll have to find ALL other cracks, holes, rotten or deteriorated wood, etc, in your house through which bats could potentially come and go. ALL of these other cracks, holes, etc. into your house must be COMPLETELY sealed up to prevent bats from returning, again. These holes and cracks can be sealed with caulk, plaster, steel wool, fiberglass insulation, wood, concrete, expandable foam, drywall patching, wire screen, brick, or other suitable patching and sealing materials.
After you know definitely how and where the bats are regularly entering and exiting your house, and you have sealed ALL other cracks, holes, etc, in your house, you are ready to instal the one-way bat removal valves over the regular bat entrances into your house.
How to Make and Instal One-Way Bat Removal Valves
One of the simplest forms of a one-way bat removal valve could be a piece of screen or netting loosely covering the outside area of the location where the bats enter and exit your house. Or more complex one-way bat removal valves can be constructed from lengths of PVC pipe.
For detailed descriptions and diagrams to make and instal one-way bat removal valves, download the free “A Guide to Safe and Humane Exclusions,” by Bat Conservation International.
Here is a slight modification of the technique of installing one-way bat removal valves:
Before dawn in the morning, TEMPORARILY seal the the bats’ entrance holes in your house, so that the bats cannot get INTO your house. And before dusk in the evening, OPEN the bats’ exit holes so that the bats can get OUT of your house for the evening. Then, before dawn the next morning, temporarily seal the bats out of your house, again.
You’ll have to do this for several consecutive days, as bats don’t always leave their roosts every evening. But they do get hungry, typically feeding at least once every twenty-four to forty-eight hours. As such, your bats will reliably leave your house sometime within the next one or two or three days. If you allow the bats to LEAVE your house, but prevent them from RETURNING to your house, they will have no choice but to find another, more suitable place to live.
After sealing and unsealing the bats’ entrances to your house for perhaps five to seven days, check to see if they have all moved out of your house. The most reliable way of doing this is to watch the bat entrances in the evenings to see if bats are still leaving from your building, or to view the bats’ resting places directly, in the daytime when they are roosting, and see if there are still bats in your house.
Remove the One-Way Bat Removal Valves, and Make CERTAIN that ALL Cracks, Holes, etc, in Your House Are Completely Sealed
You’ve already done this step, once, prior to installing the one-way bat removal valves to get rid of your bats. However, it is is absolutely imperative that this step be completed correctly. Bats are quite territorial. When the find a place to live, the will reliably return to the same place over and again to roost. If you want to get rid of the bats that have taken up residence in your house, you MUST completely prevent them from being able to get back into your house, again, because they will most certainly make every effort to do so.
Clean Up Bat Excrement
The last step in getting rid of your bats is to clean up the bat excrement. If your bat excrement problem is small, you might be able to clean it up by yourself. If your excrement problem is large, you may very well choose to, or be required to contact a professional bat removal service, or commercial cleaning service.