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Pest control

What Do Bat Bites Look Like

By June 13, 2022August 17th, 2022No Comments
Bat bites

Bats are interesting animals and they do a lot of good for farmers. They are known to eat up to 2,000 insects in one night! Many of these insects that they eat destroy the farmers crops. Additionally, they are neat to look at as they fly around in the evenings. However, you don’t want to handle a bat or get too close as you can be bitten. What do bat bites look like? They are a small bite and difficult to recognize, but are less than 1mm in diameter and look like a pin prick.

Let’s take a look at what bat bites look like and how to know if you have been bitten.

Do Bats Bite People Often

Sometimes bats will bite or scratch humans, but they only do this if they feel they have been threatened or provoked. Bats are typically shy and don’t like humans. However, they do bite in self-defense. Due to this, you should not try to capture a bat or handle one.

Bat flying in a room.

What Does The Bat Bite Look Like

People often don’t know what bat bites look like. The bite and scratches are very small as bats’ teeth are small but sharp. According to the United States Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a bat bite looks like a pin prick. Due to no obvious marks, you may not know if you have been bitten. However, here are some examples of when you might be bitten by a bat and need to seek medical advice.

  1. You wake up and find there is a bat in your room. It is possible you were bitten while you were sleeping and may have a bite mark.
  2. A young child and a bat are in the same room together
  3. Spotting a bat near someone who has a physical handicap or is incapacitated may indicate they had bat contact.

Wash the area immediately with soap and water while you wait for medical attention.

Here is a video about what to do if you encounter a bat:

Dangers and Treatment of Bat Bites

Bats carry a lot of diseases and many have rabies. It is possible to contract rabies so you want to see medical advice right away. Rabies can be fatal and a vaccination is needed within 24 hours if you have been bitten. Unfortunately, it requires multiple doses of the vaccine for post exposure rabies. Fortunately, the shots now are in the arm or thigh, instead of the abdomen. Other diseases that bats can carry are:

  • Yersiniosis
  • Hendra virus
  • Salmonellosis
  • Histoplasmosis
  • Ebola virus
  • SARS coronavirus
  • Nipah virus

The good news is that less than 1/2 of 1% of bat population carry rabies so the chances of rabies is low.

Bats in the Home

If you find a bat in your home, try to get it out the door or window. You can do this by:

  1. Closing the doors in a room and trap it inside.
  2. Turn off the lights and open a window.
  3. Closing a door behind you to the room the bat is in.
  4. Waiting for the bat to leave on its own.
Bat on a wall

Capturing the Bat May Be Necessary

If the bat won’t leave, capturing it may be necessary. You can try this on your own with the steps below or call a professional.

  1. Thick, protective gloves are necessary to start the process
  2. Grab a sturdy container, such as a Tupperware box or storage container to trap the bat
  3. If necessary, poke air holes into it.
  4. Put the container in a place that is quiet and dark. Remember, this is why bats fly at night, they like the dark.
  5. Once you trap it, call the local wildlife protection service for advice on your next step.

Humanely Ways to Get of Bats

Believe it or not, there are other ways to get rid of bats that you can try. You can do this by sealing up cracks, using a natural bat repeller, installing a bat net and building a decoy bat house to name a few. Other ways are removing food from the garden, installing bright lights or even using moth balls.

Bat hanging in a tree

Cost to Get Rid of Bats

If you can’t get the bat or bats out of your home, you will need to call a professional. It can cost from $500 to $10,000 to get rid of colonies of bats. In addition, it may cost $800-$10,000 to clean up excrement from the bats, depending on how much there is and damage. If you can get rid of a bat before its friends move in, it will save you a lot of money.

Recommended Maintenance

Now that you have learning about bat bites, paying attention to some areas in your home is important. One of those is listening for bat noises. If you hear squeaky noises coming from the attic or basement, then it is time to jump into action. This can indicate that you have bats and they are dangerous because of the germs that they spread.

Another area to think about is mosquitos. Summer is the time of the year mosquitos like to be out in full force. This is because of the summer rains and water that pools up. It is also because of food and water sources so limiting these can keep the mosquitos away. There are a few animals that like to eat mosquitos, and one of those are bats.

Lastly, pest control services are a great addition to the upkeep of your home and can be done monthly or bimonthly. The good thing is once you have a service established, if you have any issues or pests that show up, you can call them to take care of them.

When to Contact a Professional

Getting rid of bats is dangerous. You can contact a wildlife professional, or some pest control companies offer this as a service. A professional company can exclude or get rid of the bats for you and also figure out where the point of entry is. Doing this on your own can be harmful and also very difficult so contact a professional for advice. Also, a professional is needed for a bat bite so they can make sure you are okay.

Conclusion

Bats in your home are dangerous and you want to keep your family safe and healthy. If you or a family member are bitten by a bat, get medical attention immediately. Also, if the bats make a mess in your home, it will cost a lot for cleanup so finding them sooner than later in the home is important. All South Pest Control will be able to determine your bat removal needs and offer the best preventative maintenance for future pest issues in McDonough, GA, and the surrounding areas.

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