In Saint-Jude, a rural municipality in the Montérégie region of Saint-Hyacinthe, a family called on our team after discovering bats in their attic. The single-family home, surrounded by the farmland that characterizes this territory, showed several telltale signs: small blackish droppings along the ledges, oily stains around a crack near the soffit, and scratching noises at dusk. Since bats are protected species in Quebec, any intervention must be carried out using a human exclusion method, without ever injuring or killing the animals. This is precisely the approach that Nova Extermination favours in each of its interventions.
Complete Property Inspection
Our technician started with a rigorous inspection of the entire building envelope. In Saint-Jude, older homes often have poorly sealed soffit joints and gaps between wooden planks that provide easy access for bats of the Little Brown Myotis (Myotis lucifugus) species, the most common species in Quebec residential areas. The inspection identified three main entry points: an opening of nearly two centimetres under the aluminum soffit, a loose gable ventilation joint, and a crack in the chimney mortar. The interior of the attic was also inspected to assess the extent of colonization and the amount of guano accumulated on the joists and loose insulation.
Interior inspection revealed a colony of about twenty individuals, including several females during the calving period. This finding was important: according to best practices and provincial guidelines, active exclusion should not be practiced between early June and mid-August, when young people do not yet know how to fly. The family was therefore informed of the recommended response schedule and was able to plan the rest of the work with confidence, knowing that the bats would not be injured in the process.
Establishment of human exclusion
At the right time, our bat capture team installed one-way exclusion devices at the identified entry points. These devices, made from flexible nets or conical tubes, allow bats to come out freely at night to hunt insects, but prevent them from returning inside. This principle fully respects the natural behavior of the animal while definitively solving the problem for the owners. The devices are left in place for several consecutive days to ensure that the entire colony has left the premises before any final closure.
At the same time, all other cracks and secondary openings were temporarily sealed with steel wool and expanding foam, to prevent bats from looking for new access routes during the exclusion phase. This preventive step is essential to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the intervention. You can learn more about our port of entry closure techniques, which form the core of all good pest management for wildlife in residential settings.
Final sealing and decontamination of the attic
Once the colony was evicted and the exclusion devices removed, our technician proceeded to permanently seal all the openings. Durable materials were used: exterior grade silicone caulk, galvanized metal plates, and fine mesh mesh to protect the ventilation holes. This meticulous work ensures that new bats will not be able to establish themselves in the attic in the following seasons. See also our achievement on the exclusion of bats in a residence in the region for another concrete example of this type of intervention.
The attic had a buildup of guano that needed to be treated before the family could use that space again. Bat guano may contain fungal spores that are potentially harmful to human health. Our team performed a complete cleaning using adapted personal protective equipment, followed by disinfection with products approved safe for residences. The decontamination of the attic is an essential step to restore the sanitation of the building after the departure of a colony and to protect the health of the whole family in the long term. A follow-up inspection was scheduled a few weeks after the intervention to confirm the absence of reinfestation and ensure complete peace of mind for the owners of this Saint-Jude residence.