Beer and Bats in Attic in Belmar, NJ

Challenge

Recently, I had a client in Belmar, NJ who had an issue with bats. Once I inspected the interior and exterior of the property, I determined that the bats were gaining access into the attic via multiple gaps in the soffit. I reported my findings to the customer and we discussed solutions. The customer ultimately decided to move forward with another business. A short time later the same customer reached out to me again. Apparently, he was still having an issue with bats and wanted me to do another inspection.

Once again I thoroughly inspected the interior of the customers home. The homeowner recently had the attic insulated with blown-in cellulose. Blown-in insulation is a great alternative to other types of insulation. Unfortunately it had already been soiled by new bat droppings. Bats droppings carry Histoplasma capsulatum fungus that leads to the Histoplasmosis disease.

After reinspecting the exterior of the property I noticed that many of the access points were still left unsecured. I even came across a beer can in the main entry point! After showing all of my findings to the client, he wasn’t very happy. I offered a permanent solution to his bat problem. 

Solution

The main entry point ended up being where the soffit meets the roof. I removed the beer can and set-up a bat cone. A bat cone is a device designed to let bats out and prevent them from re-entering. It's mounted over the entry point the bats use. Due to the design bats cannot re-enter. There is no way for them to land and scoot up through the tube. 

Next, I repaired all other access points in the soffit. This will make sure that the only way out of the attic is through the bat cone. I showed the customer what I had done to solve his bat issue. I scheduled a follow-up appointment to make sure the customers home is bat free. This is why it pays to stick with professionals when having wildlife work done to your house!