How Much Should You Expect To Spend Removing Bats From Your Home

Discovering bats in your attic can be alarming. You may have noticed a scuffling noise at sundown or sunrise, which is the time when they are the most active. They can start to build large colonies in parts of your home that feel safe and secluded, such as attics and chimneys, and the droppings they leave behind can be harmful. Not only can their droppings spread disease, but they are also corrosive to wood and metal, and they may even cause structural damage when they become too concentrated and heavy. If you've discovered a bat in your rafters, how much will it cost to remove it? Expelling a single bat can cost around $275, but removing larger colonies, especially in areas that are difficult to reach, could cost over $8,000. 

Bats are a protected population, so in most U.S. states it's illegal to trap and kill them. Instead, wildlife specialists practice "exclusion," which means sealing off entry points to the home after the bats have left the property. The process begins with an initial inspection that usually costs around $75. The price of the exclusion and sealing of the openings will depend on the number of bats and entry points. This method of excluding a small colony from the attic, walls, or chimney usually costs an average of $150 to $300.

It may require specialists to return to your home at dusk repeatedly to discover and seal each exit that the bats are using. It could cost up to $100 per opening to prevent reentry. Once the bats are excluded from the home, you should also prepare for the cost of the cleanup that needs to take place. Because bat droppings — called guano — can carry diseases such as rabies and ebola, it's imperative to remove it from the area where the bats took up residence.

Specialists strongly recommend that an expert wearing biohazard protection conduct this removal process so that homeowners don't accidentally spread any disease into the rest of the home. The cost of removing bat guano depends on the extent of the droppings and how much structural repair is necessary, such as replacing sheetrock or insulation. The price can range from $500 to as much as $8,400. Finally, one cost to consider is the purchase of a bat box, which serves as an alternate roosting spot and can be installed outside the home. These boxes lure bats away from your chimney and attic, and they allow the bats to relocate easily and continue to rid your yard of mosquitos. A bat box on Amazon is around $40.