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When Baby bat’s infestation Requires Pest Control Measures
Bats are mammals that constitute around 20% of all the mammal species. Due to their mammalian nature, they have a slow reproduction cycle, with most bats having a single birth on an annual basis. Although they are capable of surviving in most of the climatic conditions, the cultural perceptions across the world differs and determines the intensity of the management measures taken. Most bats are insectivorous, depending on small insects such as mosquitoes for survival. However, such manifestations occur after the bat babies complete the weaning period, whereby they rely on the mother’s milk for survival. Commonly, baby bats are referred to as pups, with the size and age differentiating between an adult and bat pup. Baby bat’s infestation has been recorded during certain periods of the year, due to the alignment to the mating seasons of the bats.
The Reproduction of Baby Bats
Despite the varying mating habits across the bats species, the reproduction cycle is usually a slow one. For most species, the mating season is usually during the winter seasons, which creates a lot of activity during the spring and summer seasons. During the early weeks into spring, female bats usually move in search of maternal habitats, which in most cases are found in the attics of homes.
The pups are usually born during the summer months or the weeks that exhibit hot temperatures. These pups breastfeed until they are strong enough to fly and search for food. This means that the baby bat’s infestation at this stage has minimal damage to the environment. During this period, the baby bats undergo various growth stages that vary depending with the species, even though some common stages include physical growth. Since the baby bats do not feed on any other food on the early days of their life, most time is spent in the nests, despite the occasional movements of the mother bats.
When a baby bat is born, it is usually blind and furless all over its body, which is among the factors that it has to depend on the mother for survival. Within a span of eight days, most bats grow fast and their eyes can open. However, the environment must be hot enough to enable the development of the baby bats, which makes them to exhibit varying levels of development. During the summer periods, baby bats take a period of around two to three months to begin their independent lives. In the instances where the bats exist as a colony, the movement large groups of baby bats signify the transition into adulthood. For this reason, the baby bat’s infestation in a domestic set up depends with the number of maternal bats, given that the birth rate is a single pup for each bat. While regarding the pups as pests, their intensity of creating damage is a factor of the number of the adult bats in the colony.
When Baby Bats are considered as pests
In definition, pests refer to organisms that have detrimental impact on other living things, especially humans and animals. Another definition brings in the aspects of creating disturbance and nuisance that emanates from the disruptions that these organisms cause. These adverse effects vary in intensity, area of impact and therefore have different management criteria.
Baby bat’s infestations, in general, are considered a menace. This is especially if they occupy areas such as the attics or create scary escapades to the animals and/or humans. In addition, their contribution as pests is significant, based on the deterioration that they cause to the other living things. As stated earlier, in the first days of life, the pups are blind and furless, meaning that they record reduced activity. However, the impact before they reach adulthood is substantial, especially for the colonies that share habitation with animals and humans.
*Noise Nuisance
Just like humans, bats have a means of communication between the mother and the pups. The baby talks are observable a few weeks after birth, according to a 2006 research. The chatting and babbling enable the baby bats to communicate to the mothers, although they are believed to be useful for the future needs of the bats.
Pups produce high-pitched squeaks, which intensifies with the perceived ignorance from the mother or the targets. For this reason, they create a lot of noise, especially in the case when there is a large baby bat’s infestation. The pest effects are coupled by the fact that bats are nocturnal, with most of their activities being during the night hours. Unlike the mature bats, the pups tend to have a sharper voice, which is irritating, given that they squeak until their grievances are addressed. The noise pollution also affects the stability of other animals or pets that could be available in the infested homestead.
*Food and Drinks Contamination
Baby bats have characteristics of mammals, including the choice of food and drinks. Despite their insectivorous nature, some species have developed tastes for food. Additionally, the pups lack the designated modes of life, a factor that affects their behaviors. Despite the fact that they operate at night, they are attracted to light, since most of their prey operate around the lighted places.
Therefore, any contact with food materials is possible and could result to contamination. Just like other pests, baby bat’s infestation is capable of increasing contaminants. The impact is both on human and animal food, with a possibility of transferring the contaminants to the animals. Although at very low levels, baby bats carry the bacteria and/or germs that increase the chances of diseases such as rabies or stomach disorders. Due to the high chances of the baby bats to get scared, they pose a high risk of falling into water storages or food. Their small size reduces the tendency to notice their presence in such storages, which increases their intensity and scope of contamination.
*Baby Vampire Bats
These represent a species of bats that feed on blood and therefore rely on live hosts for survival. This species account for 3% of all the bats species, even though their impact is very detrimental and is common in Latin America. Baby bat’s infestation of the vampire bats is likely to cause havoc to human and animal existence, despite the size of the school.
Since the pups are at their growing stages, they have an increased appetite for blood, which tends to increase their consumption of blood. Contrary to the operations of other pests, bats operate in darkness and may leave no trace. This makes the vampire pups act as silent pests, especially to home pets such as dogs and cats. Even though the level of consumption is low, continued preying may affect the health stability of the hosts. In addition, it is likely to increase the transmission of communicable diseases from different hosts.
*Detrimental to Ecosystem
To some extent, baby bat’s infestation help reduce harmful insects such as mosquitoes. However, the impact of baby bat’s infestations in a natural ecosystem is very high, especially in conservancies that rear insects. Species such as the brown bats have an increased appetite for insects, with a pup estimated to consume at a rate of 500 insects per hour.
With the availability of such insects in any ecosystem, the likelihood is that these insects could be at risk of extinction, despite the considerations that the baby bats have a lower consumption rate. For this reason, conservancies have embarked on bat management programs, especially targeting the baby bats, since they pose a current and future risk to the natural systems.
*Behavioral Issues
As noted in the definition of pests, organisms in this class usually have an adverse effect on the existence of other organisms. One of the ways of identifying a baby bat that has just come from the roost is through its behaviors. In most cases, bats know how to trace their habitats and therefore enter the house and move directly to their nests.
For the baby bats, they are mostly mobile in search of new habitation, especially immediately after leaving the mother’s roosts. In that case, it is possible to find them resting in unusual places, which could create scary situations to those with bats phobia. Another behavioral issue comes in the presence of guano all over the place. Even though the guano could be small in volume, the contamination effect is significant from baby bat’s infestation. Evidently, the guano is communicable through air, posing a risk to the human and animals in the vicinity.
Controlling baby Bats infestation.
Baby bats do not attack humans, with most of their issues arising from having large colonies, behaviors as well as the physical appearance. For the regions that have a high existence of bats, the pups can have as much of the devastation as the adult bats. This is due to the high volumes, especially in the case when the baby bats exhibit the vampire characteristics. Depending with the actual age of the pups, their existence and activities differ, which in turn affects their measures of control. When compared to the adult bats, baby bat’s infestation is easier to control, due to their small sizes and smaller populations. In most instances, one can find the pups falling off from the roost, helping in the location of the bats’ habitat. For the cases where the population of the bats is high, the measures for dealing with the pups are in accordance to the laws. In fact, countries such as Australia have homes for the pups, due to the benefits in the control of insects that act as pests.
In other instances such as those of vampire baby bats, the control could require the use of pesticides. The concept of using pesticides on the pups is to repel their stay in the restricted areas, especially in a long terms basis. This is because the adult bats tend to pose a high risks when it comes to control, maybe due to their advanced cognitive ability. For the people who consider the benefits of the baby bats, building of nests or roosts for the pups is a control measure. Since the bats are still in their development stages, creating conducive environment for them reduces their menace, especially in terms of behavioral experiences. In any baby bat’s infestation, the population of the baby bats is usually low. However, they enjoy the protection from the others, a factor that affects their regulation. In some instances, they may require the advice or inputs of the professionals to handle.
Food and shelter are among the basis needs for the baby bats, especially since they are not very stable. The presence of pups in any habitation is an indication that either one or both of these needs are fulfilled. The shelter characteristics should favor a warm, dry and dark conditions, due to the mammalian and hibernation characteristics. On the other hand, the presence of insects increases their presence. Therefore, by using insecticides to control most of the insects and reducing the habitations, it is possible to regulate the baby bat’s infestation. These proactive measures have been useful in the regions where the authorities disregard the killing of the pups due to the possibility of extinction. This is because of their low reproductive rate.
The impact of baby bats on the environment is significant, which makes them to be included in the class of pests. Before they can start the reproductive cycle, they pose the threats of noise, contamination, scary experiences and issues with the human and animals present. Even though they are small, they create a nuisance and expose the other organisms to communicable diseases, making them have a substantial contribution to transmission of bats’ diseases. Except for the vampire pups, the rest of the baby bat’s infestations feed on insects. However, they are easier to control than the adult bats, although some of the authorities disregard the killing of the pups, as a measure for reducing their pest effects. Regulating the presence of food and shelter for the pups would be a good home remedy.