It’s the stuff of nightmares: you’re relaxing in your living room with your family, and suddenly, a bat comes flying around your heads. This can no doubt cause panic.

Stay calm. Here’s what you need to do.

What to Do if It’s Only One Bat

If you left a window or door open and there’s a bat in the house, then that sole bat probably flew into your home through it. If this is the case, all you have to do is help it find its way back outdoors. Bats that come through windows are typically lost youngsters or migrating bats.

Ensure that no other doors to your home are open. Only open one door or window that leads outside. Then, turn off all of the lights in the room and shine a flashlight out of the open door or window. The bat should make its way back out.

What to Do If There’s a Colony

If a bat has found its way into your living room and you haven’t opened a door or window, then there’s a real possibility that there’s a full colony roosting elsewhere in your home—likely in your attic. You might be surprised to find out that you have dozens—if not hundreds—of bats hanging in your attic.

You might think that you would have surely noticed such a colony in your home, right? Well, bats are actually very quiet, and most homeowners and cottage owners don’t realize that they have bats in their attic for several seasons, if not years. Colonies typically start off small and go undetected. If left alone, the colony’s population will grow in size over time. 

If you know or suspect that a colony of bats is in your home, call a humane wildlife removal company that offers bat removal services right away. Its technicians will assess the situation and safely and humanely remove the bats from you home. It’s critically important to the health and safety of the bats, and yourself, that they are removed by professionals.

The technicians will also take care to seal all entry points to protect your home from re-entry in the future. 

What NOT to Do If There’s a Bat in the House

There are also certain things that you absolutely should not do if there’s a bat in the house—or a full colony.

First, never try to catch a bat with your bare hands. You could get bitten or scratched. Bats can carry rabies and live a fully productive life while infected—and it could be transmitted to you. They can also carry other diseases, parasites, and human-infecting viruses that can be transmitted to you.

Plus, it’s near impossible to try to catch a flying bat anyway.

Second, do not remove bats during the middle of summer. Bat removal can only be safely done at certain times of the year. Baby bat season falls in the middle of summer, which limits the eviction season to before and after this time.

Third, do not disturb or try to clean up bat droppings. Bat guano carries the fungus Histoplasmacapsulatum. If disturbed, this fungus’ spores can go airborne. If you breathe in the spores, you could get a respiratory infection called histoplasmosis, which can spread all over your body, lead to blindness, lung disease, and even death.  Histoplasmosis is especially dangerous to children and the elderly. It’s best to let professionals handle the de-contamination and cleanup of bat guano.

Fourth, do not use poisons or try to kill a bat. Bats are protected species in Canada, and in many other parts of the world. They’re an important part of our ecosystem because they consume three times their body weight in insects each night. In addition, their populations are currently down because of white nose syndrome—a fungus that grows over their faces during temporary hibernation and suffocates them. If you kill a bat, the fine can reach $10,000.

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