Finding a bat in your house is never not startling, and you’ll always let out a kind of involuntary *yelp*, like when you see an innocent snake in the garden, but just like a snake, seeing a single bat doesn’t always mean you have a major problem on your hands.
Most bats want very little to do with people. They prefer quiet, dark spaces like attics, and we like to think that they enjoy a goth nightclub now and again. You had a welcoming attic, and they came to party.
Funnies aside, if you think bats have moved in, resist the urge to start opening vents, blocking holes, or poking around the attic. You could make the situation worse or accidentally them inside. Instead, determine if you have an animal infestation: look for signs of activity, focus on how to keep them out of your everyday living spaces, and call a professional for safe removal.
How to Tell If Bats Are Living in Your House
Seeing a bat outside at dusk doesn’t necessarily mean it’s living in your house. At dusk, they’re chasing bugs, not looking for a place to crash. Seeing bats regularly leave your home, especially around that time of night, is a different story, but there are other warning signs, too.
Start by watching and listening for several signs: "If you notice bats regularly flying around your home in the evenings, it may be a sign that they are living in your house,” shared Jason Burkhart, Managing Director at Critter Control. “Listen for high-pitched squeaking noises or the sounds of scratching coming from your attic. If you smell a strong pungent odor coming from above, that is likely a buildup of bat guano, meaning there are bats living in your attic. You may even notice stains on your ceilings and walls, resulting from bat urine and guano.” The combination of clues can be most telling. Guano, in particular, builds up beneath roosting areas and may be noticeable before you ever see or hear a bat.
Why You Shouldn’t Try to Remove Bats Yourself
There’s a good reason to slow down before reaching for a broom or trying to seal every opening you can find. In many places, bats are protected by law, and the timing of removal matters.
"Most states have bat protection laws in place to help combat their decreasing population caused by rapid habitat loss,” shared Burkhart. “Because it’s so important for them to safely reproduce each year, they cannot be removed from your home until late August or September, once their newborn pups are old and strong enough to fly on their own, that way they have a better chance of survival in the wild.”
That timing is important because sealing bats inside can leave young bats trapped in the attic while their mothers are excluded. A professional can determine whether bats are present, identify where they’re getting in and out, and plan exclusion around local laws and the bats’ life cycle.
There’s also a practical reason to leave the work to someone who deals with wildlife regularly. Bats can move quickly, and a problem that seems small from the outside may involve more animals than you expected. (Don’t panic, we know that’s not the news you want to be thinking about as you lie awake at 3am.)
"Because of the protected status of many bat species, the job of their removal or exclusion should always be left to a professional,” adds Burkhart. “But also, on a practical level, DIY removals seldom go as seamlessly as you might expect; the situation can get out of hand quickly, which may lead to bats coming into contact with you, your family, your pets or areas of the house you don’t want them to be in. It may also turn out that you have far more bats in your house than you expected and you end up overwhelmed by the situation.”
A professional is best suited to help, so call/email/WhatsApp your local exterminator in the morning. “[They’ll] execute a bespoke exclusion or removal plan, often by utilizing a one-way exclusion device that lets bats out but stops them from getting back in,” he explained. “The professional can also seal off any entry points the bats used, preventing more from coming inside in the future.”
What to Do If You’re Worried About Bats Getting Into the House
Bats usually prefer to stay in secluded parts of a home, such as an attic, rather than wander through your living room. Still, you can take steps to keep your everyday spaces separate from their roosting area while you wait for professional exclusion.
“Bats typically prefer to avoid human contact, thus they most often will confine themselves to secluded areas like the attic, where they will not come into regular contact with people,” reminded Burkhart. “However, if you want to be sure that they remain in a place like the attic, until they can be excluded from the home at the summer’s end, you can enlist the help of a professional who can set up netting around the area they are residing in, so that they are prevented from potentially accessing other areas of the house.”
If a bat does get into a room where people or pets spend time, don’t try to grab it. Close interior doors to contain the bat to one area, keep people and pets away, and contact a wildlife professional or local animal control service for advice. If a person or pet may have been bitten or had direct contact with a bat, contact a medical or veterinary professional ASAP. (CDC link worked upon publishing in August 2026)
What Happens During Bat Exclusion?
Bat exclusion isn’t simply a matter of finding the biggest hole in your home and closing it. A professional will look at how bats are using the home and identify the openings they use to enter and leave.
The goal is to let bats leave safely while preventing them from getting back inside. One-way exclusion devices can be used for this purpose. Once the bats are out, the pro can seal the openings so another group doesn’t move into the same space later.
That approach also helps homeowners address the reason bats found the house attractive in the first place. Instead of reacting to a bat that has already made its way inside, you’re dealing with the access points that allowed it to get there.
Will bats come back after they’re removed?
They can if the openings they used to enter the house aren’t sealed. That’s why exclusion should include both getting the bats out and addressing the entry points. This is merely another reason to hire a pro who can identify those openings and close them after the bats have safely left, making it much harder for them to return. We love a good DIY project, but this isn’t necessarily the one for you.
