Is Bat Guano Dangerous?

Bats can be rabid, can lead to costly repairs and cleanup, are intimidating to people when they share a space with them and one, often overlooked, the danger of bats is the guano they leave behind. 

Histoplasmosis is a disease associated with the droppings of bats known as guano. The disease primarily affects the lungs and can be life-threatening, particularly to those with a weakened immune system. It is transmitted when a person inhales spores from fungus that grow on bird and bat droppings. Clean-up of bat droppings requires proper care and the use of a HEPA filter mask.

Bat droppings and rodent droppings look very similar.  You can tell the difference between the two when they are crushed. Bat droppings will become powdery with a shiny hint to them from the insects the bats ingest. Rodent droppings will not become powdery unless they are extremely old. Note that rodent droppings can be equally dangerous and proper care should be taken when cleaning up any droppings.

Property owners often feel that the danger is gone once a bat infestation has been eliminated. However, bat guano is dangerous, particularly if it is in a home or even outdoors if it is in a place where people might disturb it. When bat guano is disturbed it releases spores that can infect you with diseases.  If bats are a problem around your property, remember that there are three things that must take place in order for a bat removal job to be successful: 

• You must ensure that the bats have left the building
• Exclusion work must take place so that they cannot re-enter the structure
• A proper clean-up of the bat feces and urine, otherwise known as bat guano, must take place by a person with proper protective gear

Bat removal typically requires the use of a ladder, working in close proximity to a bat population, netting to capture bats as they exit the structure, and then exclusion work which is necessary to ensure the bats do not return to the area. Bat work puts you at risk for diseases like rabies and histoplasmosis and we highly recommend you leave work like this to trained professionals.