So … you DO have a bat in your house … what should you do?
Determining positively that you definitely DO have a bat in your house is simple, enough, and you’ll want to confirm this prior to attempting any of the various possible methods of getting rid of bats. You’ll want to be sure that the problem that you’re having really is with bats, and not with other rodents, like mice or rats, or other sometimes pesky mammals, like squirrels, possums, cats, dogs, or even birds.
Most of the techniques for getting rid of bats are quite specific to getting rid of bats, and will not necessarily work with other types of pests.
If you have determined that you definitely do have bats in your home or house, probably because you have seen them fly in and out of your building, and / or you have noted their presence by seeing and smelling bat feces and urine, you’ll no doubt want to get rid of the bats.
Below is a review of the most-frequently-used techniques for getting rid of bats, including a review of their potential effectiveness … or not.
Note: If you know that you have a serious problem with getting rid of bats, you might want to skip directly to the section about One-Way Bat Removal Devices.
If you only have a minor problem with getting rid of bats, you might want to read through some of the suggested and reviewed techniques below, first, to see if you can get rid of your bat by yourself.
Give the Bats a Chance to Leave on Their Own
Expose the Bats’ Resting Places to Increased Sunlight
Strings of Empty Pop Cans, Balloons, Strips of Aluminum Foil
Capturing a Bat and Releasing it Out of Doors
Build and Erect a Bat House
Other Techniques Reviewed on the Pages about How to Get Bats Out of Your Attic
Get Rid of Bats by Giving Them a Chance to Leave on Their Own
If you find a bat in your house, stay calm, don’t create a fuss, and don’t scare the bat, yourself or other people in the house. Remember that bats are timid, nocturnal creatures that will reliably go well out of their way to avoid confrontations with situations and creatures that might harm them, like humans. Even if they are being chased, and even if they have rabies, they are rarely aggressive towards humans.
Also remember, if a bat is flying around inside a room, it will appear to dart in and out, up and down, quickly, to avoid hitting walls or objects in the room. It is important to understand that these quick flying maneuvers are much more likely to be from avoiding flying into objects than from trying to “attack” a human.
It is possible that if you attempt to handle a bat, it might try to bite you, either out of fear or self-defense. Do not handle bats without wearing gloves. However, in allowing a bat to simply leave your house on their own, there will be no need to directly handle the bat.
First, you’ll want to seal up other parts of your house, doors, windows, fireplaces, etc, in the room where the bat is located. This will prevent the bat from flying into other areas of your house. Be sure to leave OPEN the door or window that the bat flew into in the first place.
If you can leave the door or window open and the bat unattended, especially until after dusk, the bat may simply fly back out of the door or window that they flew into in the first place.
If you cannot leave the bat and room unattended, you might want to gently push the bat with a broom or long stick from the ceiling or wall into flying, and wait for it to fly out of the room. Chasing the bat, swatting at the bat and yelling at the bat will likely just further confuse the bat, making it more difficult for it to find its own way out of your house. It is better to simply allow the bat to leave your house, then to try to force or scare or threaten the bat into leaving.
Get Rid of Bats by Exposing Their Resting Places to Sunlight and Weather
Sometimes, there are some quick, easy and “low-tech” methods of getting rid of bats that you might want to consider, before trying to chase bats around, capture bats yourself, or shoulder the expense of a commercial exterminator. A basic understanding of the behavior of bats and a bit of “common sense” about why bats do what they do, may help you to figure out and implement a simple and “obvious” solution to get rid of your bats.
For example, sometimes a bat takes up residence in a place that can easily be made into an environment that a bat would not like.
The bat in this picture started living underneath this chair on the back porch. Getting rid of this bat was a simple matter of removing the protective cover that had been over the chair and turning the chair over, right-side up.
It might also be helpful to move the chair to another location on the porch, that got more exposure to sunlight in the day time, and more people, and the family dog, walking back and forth near the chair, especially during the day, and dawn and dusk. In this way, the bat’s “resting” place would not have been so “restful,” and the bat would likely just find another more suitable place to roost.
Bats, not unlike humans and other mammals, much prefer not to be disturbed while they are sleeping.
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How to Capture and Release a Bat Out of Doors
If you decide that you want or need to capture a bat, you might be able to physically capture the bat, and release it outside.
Remember, bats should not be handled or touched with bare hands, always wear gloves. Bats have extremely sharp teeth. Although only perhaps one-half of one percent of bats have rabies, anyone who thinks they may have been bitten by a bat should immediately seek medical attention.
To actually capture a bat, you might try this technique.
Wait until the bat lands on the ceiling, or the wall, or in the corner, where you might be able to gain access to it. This will be much easier and more effective than trying to catch the bat in a net, or throw a towel or sheet over the bat. Cover the bat with a small open container, like a box.
While holding the box over the bat, gently slip a single, thin, flat sheet of cardboard between the wall and the box, trapping the bat inside the box, and, at the same time, creating something of a “lid” to the box when you move the box from the wall. Keep the temporary box “lid” securely covering the top of the box as you bring the box down from the wall, preventing the bat from escaping.
The best time to release the bat is after nightfall. At that time, take the box and your bat outside to prepare to release it. Most bats cannot begin flying directly from the ground. You might have to hold the box above the ground, perhaps head-height, before releasing your bat. Gently tip the box sideways, and remove the lid to the box, allowing the bat to fly from the box, which it will likely do.
Alternatively, you might prefer to hold the box against high, rough wall, or trunk of a tree, and slowly remove the cardboard cover. The bat will likely cling to the surface of the wall or tree, rather than staying in the box. At this time, you can remove the box, and allow the bat to cling to the tree until it is ready to fly away.
Click Here for Instructions to capture a bat by Bat Conservation International
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Get Rid of Bats with One-Way Bat Removal Valves
(Also called Bat Exclusion Devices, Bat Eviction Valves, One-Way Mail Boxes, Bat Control Eviction Devices, One-Way Bat Removal Devices, and One-Way Bat Removal Valves)
If you have a more serious problem with getting rid of bats, and / or have tried some of the other bat removal ideas and techniques and have not been successful, you will want to learn about one-way bat removal valves. In general, these devices can be designed and installed yourself, or can be purchased commercially.
If you find yourself needing to call a professional bat removal service, they will very likely install one-way bat removal valves as part of their service. These valves are one of the most successful methods of getting rid of bats. Additionally, if the valves are correctly installed, you won’t even have to see, or handle the bats that leave your house.
Note: keep in mind that if you DO have to handle bats for any reason, be sure and wear protective gloves and take precautions against being bitten.
How Does a One-Way Bat Removal Valve Generally Work?
The idea of a one-way bat removal valve is to allow the entire colony of bats and easy avenue to get OUT of your house at dusk, but prevent them from returning back INTO your house again at dawn. If one-way bat removal valves are installed correctly and completely, and depending on the size of the colony that you’re trying to get rid of, the bats should be completely out of your house in five to seven days.
A one-way bat removal valve could be as simple as a short length of PVC pipe, an empty tube of caulk, a piece of mesh netting or wire screen that partially seals the outside of the bats’ access areas, or a commercial device that might look something like a long, rectangular, country road mailbox with one-way openings on both ends.
You Must Find Out How and Where the Bats Enter Your House
The first step in installing one-way bat removal valves is observe your bats leaving your house at dusk, so that you know the exact locations they use to come and go from your house. It will be at these locations where you will instal the one-way bat removal valves.
You MUST Seal Up ALL other Cracks, Holes, Etc. Into Your House
After determining how and where the bats enter and exit your house, you’ll have to find ALL other cracks, holes, rotten or deteriorated wood, etc, in your house through which bats could potentially come and go. ALL of these other cracks, holes, etc. into your house must be COMPLETELY sealed up to prevent bats from returning, again.
These holes and cracks can be sealed with caulk, plaster, steel wool, fiberglass insulation, wood, concrete, expandable foam, drywall patching, wire screen, brick, or other suitable patching and sealing materials.
After you know definitely how and where the bats are regularly entering and exiting your house, and you have sealed ALL other cracks, holes, etc, in your house, you are ready to instal the one-way bat removal valves over the regular bat entrances into your house.
How to Make and Install One-Way Bat Removal Valves
One of the simplest forms of a one-way bat removal valve could be a piece of screen or netting loosely covering the outside area of the location where the bats enter and exit your house. Or more complex one-way bat removal valves can be constructed from lengths of PVC pipe.
For detailed descriptions and diagrams to make and instal one-way bat removal valves, download the free “A Guide to Safe and Humane Exclusions,” by Bat Conservation International.
Here is a slight modification of the technique of installing one-way bat removal valves. Before dawn in the morning, TEMPORARILY seal the the bats’ entrance holes in your house, so that the bats cannot get INTO your house. And before dusk in the evening, OPEN the bats’ exit holes so that the bats can get OUT of your house for the evening. Then, before dawn the next morning, temporarily seal the bats out of your house, again.
You’ll have to do this for several consecutive days, as bats don’t always leave their roosts every evening. But they do get hungry, typically feeding at least once every twenty-four to forty-eight hours. As such, your bats will reliably leave your house sometime within the next one or two or three days. If you allow the bats to LEAVE your house, but prevent them from RETURNING to your house, they will have no choice but to find another, more suitable place to live.
After sealing and unsealing the bats’ entrances to your house for perhaps five to seven days, check to see if they have all moved out of your house. The most reliable way of doing this is to watch the bat entrances in the evenings to see if bats are still leaving from your building, or to view the bats’ resting places directly, in the daytime when they are roosting, and see if there are still bats in your house.
Remove the One-Way Bat Removal Valves, and Make CERTAIN that ALL Cracks, Holes, etc, in Your House Are Completely Sealed
You’ve already done this step, once, prior to installing the one-way bat removal valves to get rid of your bats. However, it is is absolutely imperative that this step be completed correctly. Bats are quite territorial. When the find a place to live, the will reliably return to the same place over and again to roost. If you want to get rid of the bats that have taken up residence in your house, you MUST completely prevent them from being able to get back into your house, again, because they will most certainly make every effort to do so.
Clean Up Bat Excrement
The last step in getting rid of your bats is to clean up the bat excrement. If your bat excrement problem is small, you might be able to clean it up by yourself. If your excrement problem is large, you may very well choose to, or be required to contact a professional bat removal service, or commercial cleaning service.