1. Don’t panic – a bat trapped in your house wants nothing to do with you and doesn’t naturally attack humans.
2. Don’t let the bat out of your house unless you are 100% sure you saw it fly in and nobody came in contact with it. Once a bat is released it cannot be tested for rabies and therefore you will likely be advised to get treatment for rabies (NOT FUN).
3. Seize the opportunity and try to isolate the bat in room, close the door and put a towel at the base of the door. Tuck the towel into the gap under the door nice and tight. A contained bat will increase the likelihood of finding it and having it tested. If the bat is downstairs, be sure someone can go upstairs and close off all the doors to any rooms. Put towels down at the base of those doors. Knowing where a bit isn’t is also helpful in finding it should it go into hiding.
4. Find a small plastic container with a lid and a heavy pair of gloves to capture the resting or immobile bat. Don’t be afraid to look into a room that has a bat in it.
5. Cover the bat with the container and slide the lid between the surface or pinch the bat below its head on the neck and move it into the container.
6. Submit captured bat to your local Animal Control unit or Health Department for testing. Results are usually within just a couple days and can save you from premature rabies treatment.

Time is of the essence and taking matters into your own hands is the best opportunity to successfully find and capture the bat. Very often by the time a 24/7 wildlife operator gets back to you and gets to the house the bat has gone into hiding and the chance of finding it has diminished greatly. Sometimes the bat will never be found despite how long and hard one looks. You will then need to consider your risk factors in the house and determine if treatment is right for you. Peace of mind treatment when a bat is never found is a very good consideration despite the very low risk of rabies and exposure.

A bat in the house can be a complete fluke situation, especially late July through the beginning of September, as bats are seeking comfort from the heat. Cool air seeps from our house and bats can sense that and explore the source and find themselves getting stuck inside.

We can do a thorough inspection/consultation to figure out how this happened and what’s going on, provide you with a detailed proposal to do bat exclusion if necessary or offer a competing quote so you can see how we might do better for you on price and guarantee.