1. Don’t panic
When an unexpected creature is flying around your living space, you might be tempted to grab a rolled-up newspaper and start swatting. Resist that urge. While a flying bat may call to mind a giant insect or a furious bird, this nocturnal mammal isn’t out to hurt you. Bats won’t attack you unless provoked, they won’t fly toward you and get caught in your hair, and, no, they are not out to drink your blood. If it helps, think of your visitor as a hamster with wings: cute, furry, and ultimately powerless against a big, strong human. A bat is way more afraid of you than you are of it, so keep calm and get to work helping it find its way back outside. After donning your bat-catchin’ suit, wait for your bat to land somewhere. It will likely hang high on your curtains or in another secluded location off the ground. Always wait until a bat is stationary before trying to catch it: grabbing one mid-flight is likely to injure it, and may lead to a retaliatory bite. First, try offering it a perch to hang from by resting the handle of a broom against wherever it’s hanging. The bat may climb aboard and be ready for a ride outdoors. In this case, slowly carry the broom outside or simply stick the bat-laden handle out an open window. If this trick doesn’t work, you’ll have to consider trapping the bat in a more hands-on fashion. Move closer and quickly—but gently—put your plastic container over the animal. Carefully slide the piece of cardboard over the container’s opening to trap the bat inside, then bring it outdoors. If you don’t have a plastic container, a cloth can also work: grab a bedsheet or a large scarf and cover the sedentary bat with it, then gently bundle it up and transport it outside. Try not to use a towel for this, as bats’ tiny claws can get caught in the fabric’s loops. Once outdoors, release the bat onto a tree or another vertical surface where it can hang out upside down until it decides to fly away. Unlike birds, bats cannot take flight from a standing position on the ground. Offer them a high perch instead and watch until they fly away into the night.
5. Call in the experts as a last resort
If your flying guest appears injured or can’t otherwise be captured safely, the time for DIY is over and it’s time to call in the experts. Your local animal control department and wildlife rehabilitators are good places to start, but depending on the time and your location, they may not be able to arrive quickly and assist you. For rapid response, a 24-hour pest control service may be your best bet—but do a little research first to make sure they’re qualified to handle bats. If you or anyone else in your home has suffered a bat bite during the rescue operation, it’s a good idea to secure the bat and have it tested for rabies before releasing it back into the wild. You can do this by contacting your local health department or a veterinarian in your area. While you wait, keep the bat inside a large container. But don’t panic—fewer than 1 percent of bats actually carry rabies. This story has been updated. It was originally published on August 11, 2021.
