When do bats return to roost

Pests you may find in your crawl space range from furry mammals like chipmunks, rats and mice, to destructive insects and bugs like termites. Seeing more birds than business lately? If you're noticing an influx of flocks, you're likely in an area where birds are migrating to nest or wait out colder weather elsewhere. It's not the business or tourism increase you'd hoped for, and there are three bird pest species in particular you need to watch out for.

Your home may be your castle, but it can also be a welcome shelter for insects, rodents and other kinds of pests. To keep unwanted visitors away, take the following steps for pest-proofing your home.

During the colder months of the year, rats, mice, squirrels and other rodents seek out places to stay warm and safe from predators. One of their favorite places to hide out is the engine of your car. Have you ever tried to start your car after tucking it away for a few days to find that there's something wrong under the hood?

When your mechanics take a look, they find damaged, frayed or broken wires that are indicative of one thing — rodents calling your car home. There are several different subspecies of gopher snakes found in the United States. Keep reading to learn more about five of those species of gopher snakes, and how you might be able to identify them.

As the weather warms up and winter turns into spring, you may start to notice an increase in gopher activity. Besides the holes that gophers can burrow in your yard, they can also be a nuisance by chowing down on some of your plants.

You may be wondering, what plants do gophers eat? Keep reading to find out. So, early autumn is the best time to evict bats. If you find hibernating bats during the winter, wait until spring when the bats will be able to fend for themselves.

Stephen Frantz of the New York Department of Health and others developed the concept of the bat check valve more than 30 years ago.

Elegantly simple, the check valve is merely a length of fiberglass window screen, which you can easily obtain at any hardware store, which is cut and draped over the opening bats use to enter and exit the building. Upon exiting, the bats drop down to the open end of the check valve at its bottom.

When they return, they don't go to that opening but rather attempt to enter at the original entry point. The check valve prevents that reentry. Again, check with your state wildlife agency to determine when it is safe to begin exclusion, with the check valves left up for at least a week to ensure all bats have been evicted.

Many homeowners who recognize the value of having bats at work for insect control will opt to put up a bat house at the time of eviction, hoping the bats will find and use it or occupy it on return the next spring. Bats will sometimes use carports or gazebos for night roosts, which are temporary stops they make after feeding to rest and digest insects they have caught. With this often comes elimination before taking flight again, and this is a cause of conflict with people.

This can be deterred by either repelling or excluding the bats. Mylar or flash tape may repel bats from such structures, and plastic sheets attached with staples so that the bat cannot grasp onto the favored part of the structure will work as well. Pipistrelle Habits. Pipistrelle Habits Pipistrelle bats gather together in colonies throughout the year.

Read More: Protecting the Pipistrelle. Bat Common Long-Eared Factsheet. Bats British Factsheet. Bat Natterer's Factsheet. Yippittee - Issue 08 - Nocturnal Animals Download.