How to Quickly and Safely Remove a Bat From Your Home
Look, we know how many pictures of cute bats fly around on the Internet. But if you weren’t woken up by the flutter of their bony but fluffy wings hovering right above your face, you may not quite understand what it would be like to have one in your home. (I was also struck by bats flying around rooms, hanging from doorframes and just hanging out in the bathroom, and I can attest that none of these methods are the perfect way to meet a dastardly bat roommate.)
So, if you find yourself in one of these situations, how exactly should you get the bat out of your house? The New York Times has published an article on this very topic. Here’s what you need to know.
How to remove a bat from home?
As tempting as it is to scream and then run and / or leave the house, this is not the best way to make sure the bat is actually leaving the room. Steph Stronsik, president of the Pennsylvania Bat Rescue Organization in Cutztown, PA , who was interviewed for the Times article , says the following should be done instead:
Dim but do not turn off all interior lighting. “If you can, isolate the bat in one room,” she said. Open the windows and doors leading to the street. Do not turn off street lights, as insects will be attracted to them, and this, in turn, will lure the bat outside.
If it doesn’t go away on its own, try using a box, container, or net to catch it. But if you do, don’t be surprised if he chirps – this is a sign of his displeasure.
“Bats are like humans: they panic and can’t calm down,” said Ms Stronsik.
In my case, this meant that there were two beings who were in a panic and could not calm down (sometimes even more if my human neighbors were nearby).
Bats need a drop of five to ten feet to spread their wings and take off. This means that if one of them ends up on the ground, you may have to trap him. But Stronsik does not recommend letting bats go outside before dusk, next to a tree they can sit on – this could make them an easy target for predators.
And yes, you can have multiple bats in your home at the same time – perhaps even a whole colony , so just because you were able to get rid of one doesn’t mean your bat problems are over. The good news is that there are ways to prevent bats from entering your home , but that’s a topic for another day.
Originally published September 2020 and updated on March 15, 2021 to reflect current style guidelines.