We love our bats. They’re a benefit to our ecology, a great pest control system, and a pollenator of flowers and other plants.  When they decide to make their home in our homes, however, it becomes a problem.  Since many of our bat species in Pennsylvania are either threatened or endangered, it’s illegal to harm, kill, or inhumanely remove bats.  

Removing bats from your home or structures can only be conducted in March through the first week in May, and then the last week in August through the first week of October.  Female bats give birth in the summer and separating mothers from pups often proves fatal.  Since female bats only give birth to one pup per year, excluding bats in the summer months is not an option.  After the fall, when bats go into hibernation, sealing the building will often drive bats into the living areas.  Make sure you seek professional help if you have a problem with a bat infestation.  

We maintain a list of Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators, licensed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to humanely exclude or remove bats from residences and other buildings.   It’s important to ensure that anyone you contract with to help remove bats is licensed and qualified to remove the bat colony from the home and keep them from coming back.  One of the best ways to keep bats around without them getting into your home or other building is to provide a good quality bat house for them to relocate to before you conduct an exclusion.