It’s a warm July evening in Cleveland, Ohio, and as the sun sets, you might notice something fluttering around your home. If you’ve been hearing strange noises from the attic or spotting droppings on your porch or windowsills, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with bats.
While bats are beneficial for controlling mosquito populations, you definitely don’t want them living in your home—especially not in your attic.
Here’s why bats love your attic in July and what you can do to safely and legally keep them out.
Why Bats Invade Attics in the Summer
- Maternity Season in Ohio: July is prime maternity season for bats in Northeast Ohio. Female bats seek safe, warm, and quiet spaces to give birth and raise their pups. Your attic—dark, undisturbed, and well-insulated—is the perfect nursery.
- Warmth & Shelter: Bats are temperature-sensitive. Your attic traps heat during the summer, providing an ideal environment for them to roost.
- Easy Access: Loose soffits, vents, and tiny cracks (as small as 3/8 of an inch!) are all bats need to find their way in. Once inside, they often go undetected until the colony grows or guano (bat droppings) builds up.
Signs You May Have Bats in Your Cleveland Attic
- Chirping or scratching sounds at dusk or dawn
- Staining or droppings around vents, eaves, or windowsills
- Ammonia-like smell from accumulated guano
- Sightings of bats flying near your roofline at sunset
Why Bat Infestations Are a Big Deal
While bats play a critical role in the local ecosystem, their presence inside your home poses several serious issues:
- Health risks: Bat guano can carry histoplasmosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling fungal spores.
- Structural damage: Accumulated droppings can rot wood and ruin insulation.
- Legal protection: Most bat species in Ohio are protected by state and federal law. DIY removal during maternity season is illegal and harmful.
How to Keep Bats Out of Your Attic
- Schedule a Professional Inspection: Only a licensed Cleveland bat removal expert can safely assess the extent of the infestation and recommend a legal and humane solution.
- Time the Removal Properly: Bat exclusion (not extermination!) should be performed after the pups are old enough to fly—usually late summer into early fall in Ohio.
- Seal Entry Points: After the bats have been excluded, sealing all potential entry points is key. This includes vents, fascia gaps, rooflines, chimneys, and any cracks or holes larger than ⅜ inch.
- Install Bat-Friendly Deterrents: Some homeowners opt for bat houses away from the structure to encourage roosting away from the attic while still supporting the ecosystem.
Trust Cleveland’s Bat Removal Experts
At Complete Pest Solutions, we offer safe, humane, and fully legal bat removal services in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. Our technicians are trained to handle maternity season exclusions, clean up guano, and restore your attic to its original condition.
Our Bat Control Services Include:
- Full attic inspection and entry point identification
- Legal exclusion methods using one-way devices
- Cleanup and sanitization of bat droppings
Call today to schedule your bat inspection in Cleveland, OH before the colony grows!