This article addresses a stray bat inside a house - how to catch it and remove it. I ask that after you catch it, you safely bring it outside. Bats are good animals, and they can live up to 15 years. They can only have one baby per year. I don't feel
bad about killing rats or mice, which have up to 80 young per year, but I do not want to ever kill a bat.
Here are a few bats flying around in a circle inside a living room. |
If you do ever handle a bat, do so VERY GENTLY. They are fragile animals. |
GOOD REMOVAL METHODS
1. Watch the bat, wait for it to land, then put a clear Tupperware container over it. Slide a paper underneath, and you have the bat trapped in a closed container. Bring this outside and let the bat go.
2. Watch the bat land, then smother it - GENTLY - in a towel and wrap it up and bring it outside. This method is risky, becaue you could break the delicate bones in a bat's wings.
3. Put on heavy leather gloves that a bat can't bite through. When it lands, gently pick it up and bring it outside.
4. Catch it on the wing with a butterfly or fishing net, and bring outside. This is not easy. Better to wait for it to land.
BAD REMOVAL METHODS
1. Hit it on the wing with a tennis racket. This is fun, if you're an asshole redneck. Cops love to do this when they get called out for a bat in the house.
2. Shoot it with bird shot. Not easy. An even bigger redneck move than the tennis racket.
3. Let it land, then smash it with cowboy boot or can of PBR. Yeehaw! Kill the weak and innocent!
So basically, I recommend the Tupperware method, or the thick gloves, if you are not squeamish about handling one of these gentle creatures. But beware - why was the bat inside your house in the first place?
Did you leave a window open? The doggy door? Maybe it came in with the groceries? No. 99% of the time a bat is found flying around inside a house, guess what: it was part of a colony of bats already living
somewhere in the attic or walls or chimney of your house. It crawled around and accidentally flew out a small gap into the house, instead of outside, where it meant to go. Now it's stuck inside, and can't
find the gap it originally crawled through, and it's scared and tired. After you catch the bat and let it go outside, you now ought to watch your house at dusk, and see if there are bats flying out from somewhere,
most likely somewhere along the edge of your roof. If you do have bats, and you probably do, you should have them professionally removed.
If you need help, click my
Nationwide Directory of Wildlife Professionals serving almost every
USA town, in all 50 states.
 |
PHOTOS: For great pictures of bat trapping and removal, click on my: Bat Photographs gallery. |
Here is a complete list of my bat pages:
Florida Bat Control
Bat Control in Orlando FL
How to Get Rid of Bats in the Attic or Roof
Pest Control for Bats
Bat Photograph Gallery 1
Bat Photograph Gallery 2
How to Kill Bats
Bat Repellent
SARS Transmission from Bats
How to Get Bats Out of the Attic
How to Trap Bats
Ultrasonic Sound Emitters for Bats
Florida Bat Control
Florida Bats
How to Get Rid of Bats
Orlando Bat Removal
Prices for Bat Removal
Tampa Bat Removal
How to Catch Bats
How to Keep Bats Away From Your House
