Bats in a tile roof: risks and removal process

A barrel tile roof might look good, but it sure does come with its fair share of negative side effects, the first of which is the fact that it attracts wild and nuisance animals to your home. The tiles provide safety, warmth and shelter, three things that all wild animals need. Below the tiles, there is usually just a simple liner of tarpaper, and with some working, most wild critters can easily chew or tear through it. From there, they are in your attic and you have a full on invasion on your hands.



With bats, you do need to be a little careful when it comes to getting rid of them. They are protected in many states, and you are not allowed to move them during the maternity seasons. Sadly, this is when the bats invade your attics and other human spaces more, because they need a very safe, warm and protected space to keep their youngsters safe from passing predators. A number of other wild critters prey on bats, and keeping up high (such as, in your attic) is what helps to keep them safe.

When you think you have bats or other wild animals living in the spaces beneath the barrel tiles on your roof, urgent attention is required. The easiest option would be to call in the professionals — a nuisance wildlife control operator. They will identify the entrance points, remove the creatures using only the most human safe methods, repair any damage left behind, clean up after them, and then make sure that all entry points are then sealed up to prevent the problem from ever coming back.

Of course, if you didn't want to pay out for a professional to come and give you a hand, you could do the job yourself. You're working on your roof, however, so it's not a job that you can do entirely on your own for safety reasons. If you don't have a friend or partner to hold the bottom of the ladder for you, you shouldn't climb the ladder in the first place. It should be safety first, at every step of the journey.

If bats have already made their way into your attic, tearing holes in the tarpaper beneath the barrel tile roof, you have a much bigger problem on your hands than you originally thought. If you take a closer look, you'll see there are babies. That's your first issue. You will need to get rid of the entire colony pf bats, mothers and babies included, in one foul swoop. A trap won't help with this, but one-way exclusion devices will. These ensure the bats can get out, but not give them access back into the building again. Essentially, you're evicting them and forcing them to find a new home somewhere that won't cause a problem for you hopefully.

Only once you are sure that all bats have been safely and humanely removed from the property that you can then seal up the holes they had used beneath the barrel tiles to get in. If you don't do this in the right way, removing and then sealing, you will sealing the bats fate INSIDE your property, where they will then more than likely die.

Learn more about Bats in the attic