What To Do If You Find A Bat In Your House
Nobody wants to find a bat in their house, even if its small and probably harmless. However, the uncertainty of not knowing whether or not it has rabies can understandably scare anyone. That’s why you may want to know what to do if you find a bat in your house.
Quickly evacuate your pets and children from the area if you find a bat in your house. Next, either close the door or tape bed sheets to the walls and ceiling to contain the bat. Keep the bat in an isolated area and call an animal control service to safely remove and release the bat from your home.
Never attack a bat in your house, as that is inhumane and unnecessary. Follow along as we explore what to do if you find a bat in your house.
How To Deal With A Bat In Your House
There is no golden rule of what to do if you find a bat in your house. It can be scary, but you must remember that you aren’t in immediate danger unless the bat has a disease. All it takes is a few simple steps to contain and remove a bat from your house.
1. Stay Calm
Staying calm is essential when you find a bat in your house. It will be much harder to contain and remove if you’re loud, as that will scare the bat. Once scared, the bat may fly erratically and bounce back and forth between the rooms in your house.
Walk slowly, avoid waving your arms around, and talk quietly when you find a bat in your house. This makes it easier to get the bat to stop flying around. Otherwise, you’ll never contain or catch the bat.
2. Make Your Children And Pets Leave
Are your children and pets in the room with the bat? If so, you must make them leave so you can address the situation and deal with the bat. Move your children and pets away from the areas and ask them to stay quiet, if possible.
Your pets may startle and even harm the bat if you don’t get them out of the way. Bats can transmit some diseases, like rabies, to humans, so you must evacuate your family and pets. Send them to another room and close the door to stop the bat from flying into the room.
3. Isolate The Bat
Now, you must isolate the bat to ensure it’s easier to contain and catch. In some cases, all you must do is close the door to the room the bat is in. However, that may not be an option in an open-concept space, such as a living room, kitchen, or family room.
In that case, you must construct a makeshift wall or barrier and stop the bat from flying around. For example, you can tape bed sheets to the wall and ceiling. You can even see the bat through the sheet if it is white and the lights are on.
This can tell you whether or not the bat is flying around in the room. It’s still important to stay quiet, or else the bat may fly against the sheet and leave droppings all over the floor.
4. Trap The Bat
At this point, you can attempt to trap the bat, but you must do it at your own risk. This is dangerous, as they can bite you and you may accidentally injure the bat. That’s why it is recommended that you call an animal control service and let them handle the situation instead.
However, you can attempt to contain the bat with a shoe box or similar container. Never use a container with openings, as bats can fit through even the smallest space. Slowly approach the bat and put the container over them.
Pull it away from the wall just far enough that you can slip the lid on it. Next, slowly walk with the container to the nearest door, open the door, and let the bat out of the container. However, it’s best to let professionals handle the situation to avoid getting bitten.
5. Call For Professional Help
Animal control professionals are well-equipped to humanely capture and release bats. They have protective equipment, humane traps, and containers that won’t stress or injure the bat. Ideally, you should follow the first 3 steps listed above before calling an animal control service.
That way, the bat will already be contained and isolated in a safe space by the time the professional gets there. Otherwise, you must deal with a scared bat flying around your house until the help arrives. The bat may damage your belongings as it aimlessly flies around, so it’s worth containing it.
In many cases, you can even get professional help if the bat gets into your house late at night. Some animal control services have emergency lines you can call at any hour of the day. It costs an average of $200 to hire a professional to remove a bat from your house.
Should I Be Worried if I Find A Bat In My House?
You shouldn’t worry if you find a bat in your house, but you should be cautious. If anything, the bat should be worried as it didn’t intentionally go into your house. Bats sometimes get stuck in someone’s house, and they typically get quite stressed.
Bats have limited vision, but they aren’t blind like many people believe. Even still, they struggle to make out their surroundings in some cases, so they feel stressed when they get into someone’s house. You must still keep your distance as some bats carry diseases.
The last thing you should do is panic and create a lot of noise. This will further scare the bat and make it fly around your house erratically. Simply follow the steps we previously highlighted and the bat will be gone in no time.
Summing It Up
Remain calm and have your family and pets leave the area where the bat is when you find one in your house. Close the door or hang bed sheets to isolate the bat, so you or an animal control professional can more easily catch it. Call an animal control service, as they have the experience, skills, and equipment to safely catch and release a bat.
Related Guides:
Nick Durante is a professional writer with a primary focus on home improvement. When he is not writing about home improvement or taking on projects around the house, he likes to read and create art. He is always looking towards the newest trends in home improvement.
More by Nick Durante
