Look, Jameson is at the NTA. Who on here can post some pic's.

Vinke???

Bats can and do chew on foam...some foams anyway. I have had the bat cones and extruders chewed on over the past few years. Not enough to allow re-entry, but definately chewed on.

I have pics on my old machine but can't get to them now.

james jackson-
If you don't get the information you are looking for here; a three year ADVANCED SEARCH on the ADC Forum for bats will bring up 200 replys. Other SEARCHES will bring up additional information

Robb Russell at http://www.wildlifepro.net/ has a lot of information available. Even has podcasts on the subject.

In that case I would suggest not listening to anything you read on any wildlife control message boards. Odd that you are looking for info (at no cost, I might add) and when you are provided info that will save you about 10 years on the learning curve you decide to go against a few people with about 100 years of combined experience. They don't chew foam very often... BUT they will if there are young inside or it is at an established primary access point. Maybe this paragraph will "sink in" if you read it about 5 times. Just some constructive criticism.... not a personal attack. Or you can refuse to listen and become one of those companies that many of us will follow-up and actually solve the bat problem for the client.



That is a short question that would require an encyclopedia-sized volume of textbooks to answer. Short version: Bat exclusion = seal EVERY potential entry point on the ENTIRE structure. Install one-way excluders at the main openings. Remove after a week or 2 and seal final holes. Cost varies due to structure size, design, condition, materials/labor, travel, difficulty of access to perform work (boom lifts, etc), and many other factors. Cost??? Range from $300 to $30,000 or more, depending on previous conditions.

Clean-outs: Same deal... size, access, equipment, quantity, travel, time/labor, disposal, safety measures required. Cost??? $250 to $25,000 or more.

There are some good places to learn bat work.... one is the workshop by Eric Arnold:
http://www.batsbirdsandmore.com/training.htm

No substitute for trial and error.... learning by experience is best, but most will give up on bat work before they make it through the learning period. Great persistence is required, and the ability to "learn" from a critter that weighs 1/2 ounce.

RON SCHELLER,LA.TRAPPER,thanks so much for the info,I understand that was a big question,yes I have read some of the info on wildlifepro,havent got to all the podcast yet,thanks again

Ok.............thanks for the info !

""In that case I would suggest not listening to anything you read on any wildlife control message boards. Odd that you are looking for info (at no cost, I might add) and when you are provided info that will save you about 10 years on the learning curve you decide to go against a few people with about 100 years of combined experience. They don't chew foam very often... BUT they will if there are young inside or it is at an established primary access point. Maybe this paragraph will "sink in" if you read it about 5 times. Just some constructive criticism.... [b]not a personal attack. Or you can refuse to listen and become one of those companies that many of us will follow-up and actually solve the bat problem for the client[/b].""

Well for not being a personal attack it was sure sarcastic enough. I was just stating my opinion and asking for more information. And like I said, I would like to see how you know. Thats all, no reason to get any panties in a bunch or start questioning my ability to do exclusions.

On the same note, so do you think they can chew through silicone?

Under the right circumstances, YES.

My calls are up 3 times from last year. I hate doing bats by the end of September, but cant wait for them to start for the calls in June.

They are, in essence the BIG MONEY makers!

I agree... I read my response again.... and TODAY it does sound like I had a bit of attitude going. Probably one of those high-stress days where it only took one more thing to trigger a postal service moment. Unlike today when I'm worn to a frazzle... Two days of bat-proofing up near Peoria on a 2-story log home. Drove up Friday afternoon and stayed in Pekin, and started Saturday morning at 6 AM and finished Saturday night at 11 PM, then drove 2.5 hours home. Bats coming out the excluders as I was installing them. Always neat. These 16 and 18 hour days are killing me. Bat season..... yep.

Regarding the silicone.... I've never seen them even try to chew it, but have no idea if they would be successful. I do know they HATE the smell, as I have them fly out during the day when using it along soffit channels or other areas right near their roost areas. They chatter like crazy as soon as the smell gets to them, and a few will sometimes actually leave in the daylight. Seems like if they hate it that much it would be unlikely that they would chew on it.... unless somehow they were sealed in by it?

Ron, this is my question, how do they chew through the foam? If you run a nice even bead at say a dormer connection how do they get ahold of it to chew? I would guess if you do an extra sloppy job applicating foam they would have a much better chance. We use foam as little as possible, I prefer silicone, mortar,aluminum and cedar but we use foam in certain applications. Im not questioning wether they do or dont just how.

Wow what a busy thread and lots of input here.

Its not only about if bats can chew through foam but its other species as well that will allow future access for bats at a later date.

Foam is too general of a word and that crap from Home Depot, Lowes, called Great Stuff and marketed under other names is in its own category. Todol marketed by WCS is the only foam I will use. But my preferences are using metal, wood, backer rod, and silicone where and when ever possible. When a exclusion is done right our work should match the present building ,transparent and not stand out as that spot the bat guy created up there.

I find foam does not weather well over time and creates a problem down the road, animals and birds love picking away at it. Do bats chew away foam ?? No, maybe, does it even matter; but, squirrels, raccoons, birds do and open up the cavity for bats again. Bob Jameson is right on the money about Foam by itself turning to dust and not one customer wants to pay down the road for a redo that could of been prevented the first time around.

I agree on the other animals thing, any time I see where something has chewed foam it usually was not chewed but pecked by either sparrows or starlings. Dormer connections are the usual suspect and they get thier fair share of squirrel chews but raccoons usually rip things open and foam or no foam it doesnt matter with them. Where I like to use foam (todol) is on brick buildings with the wood trim on top that covers the brick cuts. Most of the time there is a substancial gap and needs something to fill a void after it is set up we cover it up with caulk. I do know if foam is exposed to sunlight for an extended period of time it goes fast, the UV rays I guess. When I first started this I thought foam was the silver bullet for all things and went through several cases a year but now I dont buy it by the case because it usually freezes in the garage over the winter and I do 100 times the work now than when I started. My thing is with foam is it looks bad and unproffessional. I dont know if bats chew it or not but there are several people on here that say yes I would just like to know how to tell if it was bats chewing because I may have seen it before and not known what I was looking at.

Travis without a trail cam photo we will never know honestly whether bats chew foam or not.Hopefully they are not inside to try to chew out or die though.

Yes, and a bat can chew, don't think they can't !

million dollar question.... DO BATS CHEW THROUGH SILICONE? ive thought about this, i always do a follow up on my work to make sure its holding to what i had said, my word is crucial in this line of work. ive been told its mice that chew through it.. ill get a pic of one if i can on my next job... anyone else have a photo of it?

I have seen bats chew through a primary twice that was sealed with pageris foam by two different new trainee's after teaching them to never do that with no backer material, copper or other means of entry deterrent.This was done as a stand alone material and bats did make reentry within 6 weeks of the original seal.

It was not a squirrel chew in or bird pecking hole as the hole was too small for either to make entry.I also witnessed another primary seal job done prematurely after dark kind of thing by a consumer with great stuff that had bats chew out as the chewed off debris was laying inside the dormer area on the floor of the attic.

I have never seen a silicone seal area breached by bats in my 30 some years. Squirrels yes, in the winter, then in the spring the bats found the opening and re entered the old roost site.


This was done many years ago before I began doing any documentation with photo support. Mice can and do chew foam as well if used as a stand alone material.Mice do climb and run roofs more then many probably realize but the points of entry were bat primaries and easily accessed in dormer corners to allow easy chew access.

It would most definately be easy to see great stuff on the attic floor, thats a good point I will have to keep my eyes peeled for that sort of thing. Bob I have to respect your oppinion you have been in buisness 3 times as long as me and have most likely seen lots of bats in your time. I get a few call backs but mostly on jobs that I should have turned down, you know houses that need a match or a wrecking ball and not a bat exclusion. I always call those jobs the day when 2 fools met, them for paying a rediculous ammount of money and me for taking it they always end up being a pain in the rear. But when someone waves 8 or 10k at you its hard to say no lol.

Things can happen on any bat job with respects to an area not appearing as needing attention or is not visible. Then just to find out later that it was a place you suspected but didnt seal. All you can do is go back and fix the problem.

I have had some real good projects over the years where it seems $$$ isnt an object. We all in time run into a few of those.What is that old saying the "Customer is always right?"Gotta make them happy.