Bat droppings or guano are gross and mostly found around areas with bat populations. These flying mammals cause all sorts of problems wherever they find themselves.
These small dark elongated pellets can pose significant health risks in areas with large bat populations.
Bat Droppings In Attic And On Front Porch
If your home is situated around such locations, it’s necessary to seek help.
Sometimes, bats could get into homes. That’s quite scary for a lot of homeowners as many find their presence unsettling. Homeowners have reported cases of bats in attics, ceilings, walls, and roofs.
Whatever the case is, one of the signs of identifying these creatures is from their droppings.
If you find one bat, does this mean there are more?
Health Risks of Bat Droppings
Wherever large bat populations appear, they pose several health challenges.
Histoplasmosis is one of such infections. It’s caused by Histoplasma, a fungus that’s most common in areas having significant bat droppings and bird poop.
Persons infected with histoplasmosis show several symptoms ranging from mild to severe. These symptoms begin to show from day 3 to 17 of the time of exposure.
For mild symptoms, affected persons may experience fever, fatigue, chills, chest discomfort, dry cough, headache, and muscle aches.
Severe or chronic symptoms of histoplasmosis include bloody cough, weight loss, among several others. Severe symptoms of histoplasmosis usually look similar to those of tuberculosis.
It’s brought about by inhaling Histoplasma spores found in bat droppings.
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At-Risk Individuals
We’ve pointed out the risks involved with significant bat guano presence. If you love to explore your surroundings by visiting areas such as caves, you may be exposed to increased Histoplasma spore presence.
Cave explorers, construction workers, roofers, and gardeners are among those most exposed.
Other exposed individuals include landscapers, farmers, and pest control workers. The nature of jobs performed by these professionals exposes them to bat droppings.
Limiting Exposure to Bat Droppings
Without a doubt, exposure to bat droppings creates all sorts of health problems. Now, your best bet of keeping safe is by limiting exposure to such droppings as much as you can.
You might want to avoid cave exploration as much as you can.
Caves serve as favorite hiding spots for bats. As such, it’s normal to find lots of bat guano there. The abundance of Histoplasma spores is never in short supply here.
The more you inhale these spores the worse it gets.
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Get a Respirator Mask
If you’ve seen or noticed bat activity within an area such as places around your home or in your attic, you’ll need to take precautionary steps when investigating.
Here, we’re talking about wearing protective gear such as a respiratory mask. This helps limit the intake of Histoplasma spores.
However, not every respirator mask will serve this purpose. There are those which are specially designed to trap these fungal spores. The minimum mask requirement will be the N95 disposable respirator.
This is National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommendation.
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Spray Contaminated Areas
Ordinarily, you’ll want to keep off contaminated areas as much as you can. However, there are times when avoiding such areas isn’t an option. You might want to grow certain crops or carry out construction work.
Here, you won’t need to wear a mask all the time.
So, your best bet will be to sprinkle or drench such areas with water. Of what benefit is soaking the area with water? As stated earlier, bat droppings contain Histoplasma spores.
When drenched with water such sports hardly float in the air and are unlikely to be inhaled by you or anyone.
Dealing With Bat Droppings Problem
Bat droppings are considered a problem. Knowing how to deal with such a situation can be difficult for some people. However, there are basic ways to go about resolving the problem.
These steps have proven to be quite effective.
First off, you might want to put on your lights at night. Consider building bat houses in more agreeable locations far removed from your home. Locate their main roosting spot.
We’ll need to further provide explanations to help you get a better grasp of what these points are about.
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Put on your Lights
One thing that’s common with all bats is that they prefer dark, quiet, and cool areas.
That’s the reason they’re nocturnal. By putting on your porch lights, these flying mammals find your home surroundings unwelcoming.
Turning on your lights doesn’t give a 100% assurance
e that bats will be gone. You may want to increase your home’s lighting. Consider extending the lighting further out to make your home’s surroundings shine brighter.
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Building Bat Houses in More Agreeable Locations
Ordinarily, making your home less attractive to bats causes them to seek more favorable locations. However, you might want to go out of your way to provide bat houses. This will be more ideal if you live on a large property.
By building bat dwellings further out, you make them less likely to come around your home.
If these bats had gained entry into your home, you’ll need to have all entry points sealed up. Of course, this course of action will need to be taken after having them excluded.
With all entry points closed, bats have no options but to relocate to the bat house provided.
Bat houses can easily be found online. Get one you think best serves your needs. You might need the help of a professional to find what works.
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Find the Main Roosting Spot
The aim of finding roosting spots used by bats is simply to have them excluded.
Whenever bats get into your attic or indoors, there’s always an entry point. You’ll need to take the time to identify all such entry points.
Have them all sealed up. With that, you have nothing to worry about.
Have a Cleaning Service Perform Cleanup of Bat Droppings
Dealing with bat problems isn’t for the faint of heart.
Luckily, some services help you deal with the problem. To have bat guano properly cleaned up, you’ll need the service of a pest management company.
Cleaning has to be done after successfully keeping these flying mammals at bay.
Bat droppings are clear signs that bats are within or around your property. Such droppings aren’t pretty at all. Whatever the case is, you want to have them cleared up the best way possible.
Utmost caution needs to be exercised to avoid inhaling Histoplasma fungal spores found in such droppings.