How To Catch A Bat Inside Your House

Reprinted with the kind permission of How I Get Rid Of from their article: How to Catch a Bat Inside Your House

Are you wondering how to catch a bat inside your house? Discovering a bat flying around your home can be nerve-wracking, especially considering what most of us know about these beneficial yet sometimes dangerous critters. The truth is, that bat fluttering around your living room or kitchen likely wants to get out of there as much as you want him to see him go. Unfortunately, the bat may be struggling to get out on his own and it may take a more hands-on approach to help him leave. Of course, there are a few things you should know before you work on how to catch a bat inside your house. And that’s where we come in.

>> A Step-By-Step Guide <<
Bats are beneficial animals and it is often illegal to get rid of bats roosting in homes. Before we talk about how to catch a bat inside your house, it’s important you take a few safety precautions. While bats are beneficial animals and are even protected throughout the United States, they are also known to carry rabies and can transmit other harmful diseases or bacteria through their bites. Generally docile, bats will bite if they feel threatened, and if you capture a bat it is likely the bat will try and defend itself. For this reason, you should never attempt to catch a bat inside your house with bare hands.

1. Understand Bat Behavior — Bats have a unique flying pattern. When trapped inside a house bats will fly erratically in U-shaped patterns. In the center of the home, they will tend to fly low, but near walls or corners bats will fly higher. Bats will also often search for somewhere they can land and hang, and they will often seek out curtains or other areas of fabrics where they can hold on securely. This is important to note when looking into how to catch a bat inside your house. Before working on how to catch a bat inside your house, get children and pets safely in another room. Close all interior doors and stay near a wall where the bat is less likely to accidentally fly into you. Remember, bats do not see clearly in light and will likely be disoriented. Still, you should leave the lights on so you can see where the bat is and capture him easily. With all of that noted, let’s now take a look at the steps you should take when working on how to catch a bat inside your house.
2. Attempt To Help The Bat Find Its Way Out — If the bat in your home is trapped somewhere near windows or other exit points that lead outside, you’re in luck. You may be able to forgo figuring out how to catch a bat inside your house and instead let the bat find its own way out without handling it. First, close all interior doors that lead to other rooms and open any windows or front or back doors that can offer the bat access outside. You can help encourage the bat to go outside using a blanket to protect yourself that you hold aloft. You can also use a long broom to gently encourage the bat to fly in the direction you want it to fly. If there are no exit points in the area where the bat is trapped or if the bat will not find its way out, then follow the below steps for how to catch a bat inside your house.
3. Arm Yourself First — Before we talk about how to catch a bat inside your house, we should first cover safety. Bats have sharp teeth and can easily bite through a number of materials. While most bats will not have rabies, it is possible for bats to carry and spread this disease in their bite. Even if bats don’t have rabies, their bite can lead to other nasty infections. To protect yourself from a bat’s bite, it’s important to arm yourself. Wear thick work gloves made of material that bats cannot bite through. Avoid surgical gloves or cotton gloves, as bats can easily bite through this type of material. If you don’t have thick gloves on hand, you can use other materials like a rolled-up t-shirt or blanket to capture the bat. Experts recommend you avoid using towels for how to catch a bat inside your house, as the bat’s claws can get tangled in the loops of the towel, making the release of the bat more complicated and putting both you and the bat at risk.
4. Have Useful Materials Ready — We already mentioned using a thickly rolled t-shirt or blanket to capture the bat, as well as thick work gloves. You can also use a thick plastic cup to capture the bat if the bat is small enough. Tupperware may also work to capture the bat temporarily, as will plastic tubing. If you do use tubing, Tupperware, bowls, or cups for how to catch a bat inside your house, we still recommend you protect yourself by wearing long-sleeved clothing like a heavy jean jacket or leather jacket and thick gloves. You should also have a piece of cardboard or something similar ready to gently slide beneath the bat once you have placed the cup or Tupperware over it to help keep it in place before you release it outside.
5. Approach the Bat — Before you capture the bat, make sure you have easy access to the outdoors. This should include an open window or door that leads outside. Once you are ready to catch the bat, it’s important to stay calm. Stay near a wall and wait for the bat to find a place to land. Once the bat has landed, approach it carefully. If you are wearing thick gloves, cup the bat gently in your hands and ensure it cannot get free. Otherwise, grab the bat with a thickly rolled t-shirt or blanket as gently as possible. You may also capture the bat using the cup, tube, or Tupperware methods we mentioned above.
6. Release the Bat — Once you have figured out how to catch a bat inside your house, your next step is to gently release the animal back outside. Unfortunately, you cannot always tell a bat is infected by disease just by looking at it. Remember, some bats may carry rabies and not show any symptoms at all. If you are bitten or scratched by a bat when working on how to catch a bat inside your house, seek medical attention immediately. Some telltale signs may show that bat has rabies, which might exhibit one or all of the below symptoms:
   • An unnatural fearlessness of people or pets
   • Aggressive sounds like hissing
   • Unusual daytime activity
   • An inability to fly
   • Frantic flapping or thrashing on the ground

>> Best Products To Catch A Bat Inside Your House <<
When you are catching a bat in your house, it’s important to wear protective gear. If you’re worried you might end up with a bat inside your home again, there are some products you can purchase to you figure out how to catch a bat inside your house more easily.

1. 1. Defences Animal Handling Gloves — The best type of gloves to wear when looking into how to catch a bat inside your house are going to be gloves specifically designed for handling wild animals. The above gloves by Defences are made with bite-proof material to prevent bites and scratches from not only bats but a variety of other types of animals that could potentially cause harm. They are made with Kevlar stitching and even include safety cuffs on the fingers. The gloves are also made with thick leather and are often used by professionals when handling animals which have the potential to bite or spread disease.
   2. RestCloud Animal Net — Netting is not the most commonly recommended material for novice people working on how to catch a bat inside your house, although it can make the process easier if you know what you are doing. We only suggest using a net when figuring out how to catch a bat inside your house if you also have a pair of professional-grade gloves like those listed above. This is because a bat’s claws can get tangled in the mesh netting and you may need to handle the bat gently in order to get it free of the net and release it. With that being said, the above net can be helpful for how to catch a bat inside your house as it comes with a telescopic handle that can extend to up to 73 inches.

Bats are Beneficial!
Though bats can be dangerous to people and pets, they are generally only dangerous if handled or provoked. Otherwise, bats are incredibly beneficial animals that are essential to a healthy ecosystem. They help control a variety of dangerous pests, including mosquitoes. In fact, bats are so beneficial that they are even protected under federal law. This means that it is illegal to kill bats. In many states, it’s even illegal to remove roosting bats from your home. This is something to keep in mind when considering how to catch a bat inside your house.

>> After You Have Removed The Bat – What To Do Next <<
Removing the bat from your house is only one step of the process to keep bats from getting back inside. Now that you’ve figured out how to catch a bat inside your house and once you’ve successfully removed the bat, the next step you should take is to find out how the bat got into your home in the first place.

Discourage Bats From Roosting in Your House

It’s quite common for bats to roost in our homes, and they can often squeeze into vulnerabilities in our siding or roof in search of a safe place to roost. Bats can make their way into openings as small as a dime, so finding the possible entry points around your home could be tricky. While it is possible that a bat accidentally found its way into your home through an open door, window, or another entry point, it’s also possible that a single bat flying around the living space of your home could be a sign you have bats roosting elsewhere in your house. When bats roost in homes, they often roost inside walls or in attics. Some common signs of bats roosting in your home include bat droppings in corners or attics or other areas bats may be dwelling in. You may also notice strange sounds in your home coming from attics or walls around dusk and dawn. Other signs of bats in the home could include the strong smell of ammonia, or seeing bats flying from your home in groups during dawn or dusk. If you discover that you do indeed have bats roosting in your home, it’s best to contact your local pest control professionals. They will know the local laws in your area and be able to advise you on how to move forward when it comes to bat removal. Unfortunately, it is often illegal to remove roosting bats. Instead, you may have to wait them out or take steps to repel them from your home.

>> Why Bats Might Be Attracted To Your House <<
Bats are often attracted to attics and areas that are safe, dark, and quiet. Bats are generally not considered pests. Instead, they are beneficial animals that help control dangerous pests like mosquitos, flies, moths, and more. However, if bats get into your home, they are not only a nuisance but also a danger to your family and pets. If you’re here looking for how to catch a bat inside your house, you’ll likely be wondering how the bat got into your house in the first place. Like most living creatures, bats are attracted to three basic things when looking for a safe place to rest or roost. These things include food, water, and shelter.

1. Food And Water –Bats are nocturnal and are generally most active after dark. They feed on a variety of insects including moths, mosquitoes, beetles, and more. However, bats also enjoy plants and fruits, especially sugary fruits like dates, mangoes, and bananas. If you do have bats attracted to your home, you may have fruit trees or gardens that could be enticing to them. Or, you may have an abundance of insects around your home that could be attracting bats as well. Bats also seek out water, but they can get water through both the food they consume as well as from ponds, lakes, and rivers. If you have leaks in your attic or crawlspace, bats may also get their water from these sources.
2. Shelter — Bats are naturally cave-dwelling animals. However, caves are becoming increasingly less accessible to bats, and as more and more humans build their homes near where bats live, these animals are often forced to find alternatives to their roosting sites. This could include your home, where an attic, chimney, or hollow wall could make the perfect roosting site. For the most part, bats will be attracted to areas like the eves of your home, children’s playhouses or swing sets, attics, sheds or barns, hollow trees, tree branches, and other areas that provide dark, sheltered spaces that can protect bats from predators while also allowing them areas to congregate in large numbers.

>> Keeping Bats At Bay for the Long Term – Expert Recommendations <<

Bats are not necessarily bad to have around your property. In fact, they can be quite beneficial. However, there are several reasons you’ll want to keep them at a distance. Remember, bats can carry serious diseases and parasites that can be transmissible to people and pets. Furthermore, bat droppings can be hazardous to people and pets if handled or ingested. Protect your home and fix vulnerabilities around your home to keep bats out. There are a few tactics you can use to encourage bats to stick around certain areas while keeping them out of other spaces near your home.

1. Use A Year-Round Pest Control Product — First and foremost, the best way to keep bats at bay is to get rid of their food sources. Bats are attracted to insects like mosquitoes, moths, beetles, and more. Use a year-round pest control product to help control these pests. This, in turn, can help to keep bats from being attracted to your property and may even help keep you from having to learn how to catch a bat inside your house.
2. Keep Up With Routine Home Maintenance — Routine home maintenance can also help prevent you from having to look up how to catch a bat inside your house in the future. Remember, bats can get into openings as small as a dime. Be sure to use sealants to keep bats from getting into your home and routinely check areas around your home that could be vulnerable to bats and pests like roof shingles, windows, doorways, vents, and more.
3. Consider Placing Bat-Boxes Around Your Property — While you certainly don’t want bats in your home, you may want them on or near your property. If you want to keep bats from roosting inside your home or in garden sheds, play spaces, or eaves, we suggest placing bat boxes on the outskirts of your property. Bat boxes provide bats with a safe place to live and roost. They will generally prefer these boxes to your home as they are safe and quiet, which in turn helps prevent you from having to figure out how to catch a bat inside your house in the future. Best of all, you can have the benefit of bats around your home when it comes to pest control without the potential risk!

>> Thanks for Reading! <<

We hope this has been a helpful guide on how to catch a bat inside your house. Remember, stay safe and use precautions, and contact a professional pest control expert if you recognize strange behaviors or symptoms in a bat.