Bats in the House

I have bats in the house: What should I do?

If you have bats in the house, it is best to contact a trained wildlife professional. You can provide some assistance by being the “eyes” and “ears” when the professional is not there. You can take steps to remove a bat that has wandered into the living area. After dark, turn out interior lights, turn on a porch light, and open the door for the bat to leave. This is usually very successful. Do not touch the bat as you can cause injury to the bat. Also, in some areas, bats are protected by law.

If possible, determine if the bats in the house are strays, meaning they accidentally reached the living area. These can be from local colonies in the structure or they have entered from the outside.

Commonly, if bats are living in walls or in attics of a house, one or two may periodically find their way into the living space. If the bats found are from colonies within the structure, such as an attic or in walls, an inspection of the attic and exterior areas should provide information as to whether the structure has a bat colony present. In the attic during the day, bat colonies might be found near the attic vents. Even if the colony is in the eaves of the house, a few might be in the attic. Visual confirmation is a good way to determine the degree of the bat problem. It will also save the professional time when they arrive.

As dusk approaches, look for signs of emerging bats on the exterior of the structure. This would apply to social bats, but these are most common in and around structures.

If there is no evidence of bats anywhere, but the one or two which have reached the living area, an inspection by a professional wildlife technician might be valuable.