Bat Removal Hasbrouck Heights NJ — Licensed Bat Exclusion for Attics and Walls

Bat exclusion Hasbrouck Heights NJ: why bats find these houses

Hasbrouck Heights sits on high ground between Route 17, Interstate 80 and Route 46, with Teterboro Airport on one side and Lodi and Wood-Ridge on the others. Most of the borough is tree-lined blocks of single-family homes — many of them older wood-frame Colonials, Capes and Tudors with full attics, wood soffits and decorative trim. That is close to ideal bat housing.

Bats don't chew their way in. They use gaps that already exist, and a big brown bat can fit through an opening about the width of your thumb. On Hasbrouck Heights houses the openings we find most often are:

• Where the soffit meets the brick or siding on the gable ends, especially on homes where aluminum or vinyl was installed over the original wood.
• Ridge vents and gable vents with torn or missing screens.
• Chimney chases and flashing, and chimneys without caps.
• Dormers and roof-to-wall joints on Capes, where two roof planes meet.
• Gaps behind gutters and loose fascia boards.

Once a colony finds a warm attic, it tends to come back every year.

A bat is loose in your Hasbrouck Heights home: what to do right now

One bat in the living room is usually a young or lost bat that slipped in from the attic or through an open door. Stay calm and follow these steps:

1. Get people and pets out of the room and close the door. Put a towel along the bottom gap.
2. Ask one question: was anyone asleep in that room, or was a small child or pet alone with the bat? If yes, or if anyone might have touched it, do not release the bat. Keep it contained and call the local health department about rabies testing — the bat may need to be tested.
3. If nobody was exposed, open a window in that room, turn off the lights, and give the bat time to leave on its own after dark.
4. Never grab a bat with bare hands. Bites can be tiny and hard to see.
5. Call or text us. One bat inside often means a colony in the attic or walls. We'll check how it got in.

More on this in bat in the house and rabies in NJ. We don't run a 24/7 line, but same-day visits are often available.

Guano cleanup and repairs after bats

In older Hasbrouck Heights homes, the gaps bats used are often rotted or loose wood, and the attic may hold years of droppings. After exclusion our crew can clean guano with HEPA equipment, treat odor, replace insulation, repair soffit, fascia and trim, and install a chimney cap.

Don't sweep or shop-vac dry guano yourself. And if you hear running or chewing in the daytime, that's more likely squirrels — see squirrel and raccoon proofing in Hasbrouck Heights.