Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Find the bat and protect yourself
• Method 2 of 3: Catching the bat using a bucket or your hands
• Method 3 of 3: Help the bat escape
• Tips
• Warnings

Discovering that you have a bat in the house is annoying and can even be scary at times. Moreover, a bat is quite difficult to remove when it is in a panic and flying around wildly. No matter how scared you are, try to stay calm and focus on catching the bat without hurting it. With a little patience and a few simple tricks, you can catch the bat and release it outside in a safe, animal-friendly way.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Find the bat and protect yourself

1. Try to find the bat if it is hiding somewhere first. If you don't know where the bat is, start your search during the day, when the bat is asleep and you will be able to find and catch it more easily. First, look in places with little light, such as in the attic or in an enclosed room. Look for places with things the bat could use to hang or crawl into, such as:
   • In the curtains
   • Behind furniture
   • In indoor plants
   • On hanged clothes
   • Between the cushions of sofas or armchairs
   • Under or behind cupboards or behind a television, stereo or computer
2. Keep people and other roommates away. The more people around the bat, the more the animal will panic and the more difficult it will be to catch it. Therefore send pets and children out of the room and ask any other persons to leave the room as well.
3. Wear heavy protective clothing. Before attempting to catch the bat, put on a thick T-shirt or long-sleeved sweater, long pants, and sturdy shoes or boots. Bats can bite and carry diseases such as rabies, or rabies. That's why it's important to cover your skin when you're near a bat, especially if you're not sure where it is.
   • Do not wear thin materials such as cotton. The bat could bite through thin types of fabric.
4. Wear thick work gloves to protect your hands. Your hands will be most exposed to the bat, so put on leather gloves or wear work gloves made of a material that is about as strong as leather.

   Don't have gloves? then use a thick, rolled-up heavyweight T-shirt. Avoid using a towel, as the bat's claws can get caught in the loops.

   
   

Method 2 of 3: Catching the bat using a bucket or your hands

1. Close the doors and wait for the bat to land somewhere. The bat will eventually tire of flying around, so close all doors to make sure it stays in one room and wait for it to land somewhere. Make sure you don't lose sight of him. The bat will likely try to land where it can hang, such as behind curtains or upholstered furniture, on clothes hung somewhere, or in a houseplant.
   • Be calm and try not to move while you wait for the bat to land. This way you help ensure that he calms down faster.
   • Don't try to catch the bat in mid-air. Catching a bat in mid-air is nearly impossible, and it will only panic the bat more.
   • The bat won't want to touch you, so stay calm if it accidentally bumps into you. He will run away from you as soon as he can.
2. Cover the bat with a bowl or bucket. Once the bat has landed somewhere, carefully and very quietly place a plastic bowl, bucket, or similar over the animal. That way, you'll prevent the bat from flying away while you're trying to do everything you can to get rid of it.
   • Make sure the bowl or bucket is large enough to fit over the bat so you don't accidentally injure it when caught.
   • For best results, use a clear tub or bucket so you can see the bat as you catch and move it.
   • You can also put a towel over the bat to catch it. Gently pick up the bat with the towel; wrap the towel around the bat.
3. Slide a piece of cardboard over the top of the bucket to keep the bat trapped. Slide a piece of cardboard or thick paper under the bucket and cover the entire opening that way. Hold the bucket or tub as close to a wall or surface as possible, and be careful not to hit the bat with the cardboard while trapping it in the bucket.
   • If the bucket or basin has a lid, you can use that too.
4. Pick up the bat if you don't have a bucket with your hands up. Slowly and calmly approach the bat. Then extend your arms and pick up the bat in a smooth motion with both hands, holding the bat firmly but gently.
   • Try to hold the bat so that its head protrudes, close to your fingertips, so that you can exert the most pressure on the body.
   • If the bat bites you, or if you get bat saliva in your eyes or mouth, go to the doctor or the emergency room as soon as possible, as bats can transmit rabies.
5. Take the bat outside and release it into a tree. Carefully but quickly take the bucket outside to a nearby tree. Tilt the bucket against the tree trunk and, with the bucket an arm's length away, carefully remove the cardboard to allow the bat to jump out.
   • If you caught the bat with your hands, hold the bat against the tree trunk with an outstretched arm. Gently loosen your grip on the bat and let it hop out of the bucket onto the tree.
   • Bats usually cannot take off from the ground, so releasing the animal on a tree trunk will make it easier for it to escape. This is especially important for a bat that is under a lot of stress or exhausted from flying around your house.
6. Once the bat has left, close all possible entrances to the house. Check places in and around the house where a bat could easily enter, such as chimneys, or openings that lead to attics or basements. Close the openings as much as possible, or hire a contractor to do this to prevent new bats from entering.
   • Bats can enter through any opening or hide in any hole large enough for two of your fingers.

Method 3 of 3: Help the bat escape

1. Keep all doors in the house closed and turn off the lights. If the bat doesn't stay somewhere long enough to catch it, try encouraging it to escape instead. Once you have caught the bat, close all doors leading to other rooms and turn off the lights in the room where the bat is. That way you create a closed space where the bat will feel more comfortable, so that it will relax earlier and find an exit more easily.
2. Open a window to allow the bat to escape. After closing the room from the rest of the house, give the bat an exit outside. Open a large window (or a few windows), or open the door to the outside. The more windows you open, the more likely the bat will escape

   If possible, open windows near where you saw the bat flyso that he is more likely to find the outdoors.

   
   
3. Get out of the room for a moment and keep still. Ask everyone, ie all children, adults and pets, to leave the room. Close the door behind you and keep still to make sure the bat calms down even more.
4. After half an hour, see if the bat has disappeared. After about half an hour, take a look at the room to see if the bat is still there. Use a flashlight to find the bat. If it's still there, wait another hour and then check again.
   • If the bat still hasn't escaped, but is calm enough to land somewhere, try to catch it using a bucket. If the bat is still flying wildly, call the animal rescue or bat workgroup near you and ask if they can help you.

Tips

• If you are unable to get rid of the bat, or if you often have bats in the house, call the animal ambulance or a bat workgroup near you. It may be that the bats live permanently on you without or in the basement, or that they enter through an entrance that you have not yet discovered.
• Stay calm. Remember, the bat is just as scared as you, or maybe even more scared! Try to catch and release him in an animal-friendly way, without hurting him.

Warnings

• Bats can bite and transmit diseases such as rabies. That is why you should always wear gloves when you come into contact with a bat or are close to a bat.
• If you have been bitten by a bat, or if the saliva from a bat has gotten into your eyes, nose, or mouth, go to the doctor or the emergency room as soon as possible. You can get rabies when you come into contact with the feces (also called guano), blood, urine, or fur of a bat.