ELIMINATING BATS FROM BUILDINGS 
By James Sitver, regional director, Division of Game Management, Bureau of 
Biological Survey 
ANY SPECIES of bats become extremely obnoxious when, 
because of their colonial habits, they take up their abode in 
buildings occupied by man. Hundreds of requests from all parts 
of the United States are annually addressed to 
Objections to the Department of Agriculture for information on 
Bats how to berid of such roosts and thus abate or remove 
the nuisance they cause, the number of complaints 
from year to year fluctuating with the abundance of the bats. Appeals 
for information on getting rid of bat roosts have come from all parts 
of the country, but particularly from the eastern tier of States from 
New York to North Carolina. California and Wisconsin also have 
been well represented, but relatively few complaints have come from 
the prairie and mountain States of the West. This leaflet has been 
prepared to facilitate answering the many requests for information on 
eliminating bat roosts. 
Bats are the only mammals equipped to fly. They inhabit almost 
all parts of the world, and more than 260 species and subspecies have 
been described from North America alone. The bats 
Description of of the United States are relatively small, the body 
the Animals measuring 3 to 6 inches, and the wing expanse 10 to 
18 inches. The wings consist of a thin, papery mem- 
brane connecting the greatly elongated forearm and fingers with the 
hind limbs, tail, and body. With this specialized equipment bats 
have developed a remarkable power of quick, erratic, and sustained 
flight that enables them to capture with the greatest ease the many 
forms of night-flying insects upon which they feed. Most of the 
common forms are of some shade of brown, although slate, gray, 
yellow, black, or white are conspicuous in some species. Unlike most 
nocturnal animals, bats have very small eyes, but nevertheless even 
on the darkest nights are able to fly with uncanny accuracy and rapid- 
ity through dense tree growth. On the title page of this leaflet is pic- 
tured the brown bat (/’ptesicus fuscus), which is one of the most com- 
mon and widely distributed bats of North America, as well as one of 
the bats that have the obnoxious habit of roosting in colonies in dwell- 
ings and other buildings occupied by man. 
SOME BATS migrate freely and make their seasonal abode in the 
locality of the most attractive food supply. Others apparently 
inhabit the same roost the year round, hibernating 
Habits there during the colder months. They have been 
found hibernating in temperatures of 25° F. below 
zero and have been reported as active during midwinter in many 
northern States as a result of incomplete or arrested hibernation in 
heated houses. While resting or in hibernation they normally hang 
head downward, suspended by the curved rigid claws of the hind feet. 
Bats provide no nest of any kind. The 1 or 2 young (rarely more) 
cling to the side of the mother until old enough to shift for themselves. 
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