Winter Bat Activity in Your Ohio Home
Snowflakes floating through the wintry Ohio air is a sight that warms the heart, but a bat flapping around a bedroom in the middle of a January night delivers a chill like nothing you’ll see on any thermometer. Bats enter seasonal hibernation (or more accurately, torpor), but there are times when these warm-blooded mammals will make an unexpected winter appearance in your home. Having a bat in the house in the winter, provides you a lot of information that you can not deny (watch video). Learn what to do if there is a bat flying in your house right now.
How do know there’s more than one bat sharing your living space? Bat behavior! The bat species that typically hibernates in Ohio homes is the Big Brown bat, a species that lives and hibernates in colonies. Where there is one, many more will follow!
During hibernation, Big Brown bats commonly awaken every two weeks or so and move around, even potentially flying short distances. In a period of activity, the bat may inadvertently exit the attic space through a recessed light fixture, a cold air return, open attic hatch or other opening. Emerging in basements, bedrooms, family rooms and more, these bats face a real risk of starvation, as there are few flying insects upon which they can feed.
There are things that you can do in the winter to start the bat eviction project.
We can help you humanely protect the interest of the Big Brown bats living in your home by beginning the bat exclusion process during the winter. Occasional thaws enable our specialists to complete much of that exclusion work when snow melts from your roof. Once the cold weather breaks, the colony will leave your home naturally at the first opportune time through our one-way door devices. Please understand that Ohio’s weather is unpredictable. We strongly recommend that you schedule a bat exclusion before spring arrives because our backlog of jobs grows as summer approaches.