Just because it's winter doesn't mean bats couldn't be in your walls.Often at Little Rascals Nuisance Wildlife Removal Services we are dispatched because of strange sounds lurking behind someone's walls.  The homeowner knows an animal is there. We know an animal is there. But everything else is a mystery like what is behind Door #2 on Let's Make a Deal.  What particular animal and how many are there is the big question.  Sometimes nuisance wildlife removal is like being invited to a party with a big grab bag.   You stick your hand inside, not sure what is waiting for you at the other end.  The only thing with wildlife removal is that you never expect a treat --- the only surprise waiting for the wildlife technician is how bad is the trick!  

Just recently, we were called to a residence for a strange scratching inside the wall. No audible noises, just persistent scratching day and night. This time of year we have our usual suspects -- mice at the top of the list followed by squirrels or flying squirrels. The client was not too interested in what it was.  He just wanted whatever was in there taken outside of his house ASAP.  During our inspection, we didn't find any evidence of mice or squirrel droppings. We asked the customer if we could open up the wall where the noise was coming from. With the homeowner's permission, we opened the wall and reached in. Holy heart failure, Batman! We reached in and found a bat!  

Although unusual, it wasn't a first. Sometimes bats hibernate near a heat source like your duct work and the warmth of the heat duct will confuse the bats sometimes into thinking Spring has arrived. But there were no heat ducts nearby and the bat should have been in deep hibernation. We believe that this little bat was active because of our mild winter we a currently having and perhaps being a little confused and restless.

Our techs removed the bat and patched the hole so the wall was as good as new without the scratching!  The bat-free customer was happy with the result. In the early Spring, we will return to perform a proper bat exclusion and allow any other bats to exit before sealing the house up tight.  You never want to permanently restrict an exit for the animal until you are 100% sure that all of the animals are removed.  Otherwise you are looking at a lot of internal damage and dead carcasses.  Of course, if there are other bats that become active before Spring, we'll be there to remove them.

For more information on bats and our Nuisance Wildlife Removal Services visit our website or call 866-9-COWLey.