Arlington's Best Bat Removal

Bats can live in a lot of different places, depending on the climate, the state, the country, the time of year, and even the species of bat. In reality, a bat needs three things in order to call a habitat home — food, shelter, and water. The shelter is there to protect them from predators, but also to protect young bats too. It also helps to keep them protected from the weather and extremes which, at times, could be verging on life-threatening for the small, flying mammals.

Bats live in a home called a roost. These roosts will change from place to place, and also from purpose to purpose too. Roosts that are created for the spring and summer are generally known as maternity roosts, where masses of females get together to help rear young as a collective group. The winter calls for a roost of a different nature, though. Some species of bat will pick a roost that is many miles away, migrating halfway across the world just to get there, only to come back a few months later, when the winter is finally over. Other species will stay where they are if the conditions are favorable enough, but they'll still need a roost that will see them through the cold, harsh winter, and this roost will be where they go into something called a state of torpor. They are hibernating, essentially. It's a similar bodily process.

Roosts are going to be near sources of water, usually, because it provides food as well as refreshment. (And yes, bats do drink. They just do it so quickly, very few people have ever been able to capture the process.) At dawn and dusk, these expanses of water are awash with insects and thus provides the perfect hunting ground for a roost full of expectant or nursing mothers.

It is fairly common to see many bat species roosting in homes, or close to residential/commercial buildings. Busy, well-lit and noisy areas are less affected, but attics provide the perfect, uninterrupted home, especially since heat rises and your home is lovely and warm. (Especially during winter.)

In the wild, caves would provide similar conditions to an attic, as would spaces under bridges, outbuildings, sheds, barns, etc. Tree hollows also make the perfect little roosting spot if you can find one big enough, and even old churches and cathedrals aren't safe. The older, more dilapidated, and not-so-often-visited a building is, the higher the chance that you will find bats in there.