Are bats protected, and is it illegal to kill them?

Nobody wants bats in the attic, and the first instinct of many homeowners is to get rid of them by any means. In most of the United States that instinct runs straight into the law. Bats are among the most protected wild animals you are likely to find in a house, and the reasons are good ones.

Why bats are protected

Bats eat enormous numbers of night-flying insects, including crop pests and mosquitoes. They also breed slowly: most species found in houses have one pup a year. That makes populations slow to recover from losses.

Since 2006, a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has spread across hibernating bats in North America. The US Fish and Wildlife Service reports that counts of northern long-eared bats at winter sites have fallen by 97 to 100% across much of the species’ range, and white-nose syndrome is by far the main cause. Little brown bats and tricolored bats have also been hit hard.

Federal protection

The northern long-eared bat was reclassified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in a final rule published in November 2022. It occasionally roosts in buildings such as barns and sheds, though it prefers trees. Other federally listed species include the Indiana bat and the gray bat, which mostly use caves and forests rather than houses.

The species most often found in homes, the big brown bat and the little brown bat, are not federally listed. That does not mean anything goes, because state law usually covers them.

State protection

Most states protect native bats as nongame wildlife, and several go further:

• Wisconsin lists the little brown bat, big brown bat, northern long-eared bat and eastern pipistrelle (tricolored bat) as threatened, and bans exclusion from June 1 to August 15.
• Vermont lists the little brown bat as endangered, and work outside its guidance may need a state permit.
• New Jersey protects all native nongame wildlife and says plainly that no lethal means should be used on any bats, and that no glue boards or fly paper should be used where bats might meet them.
• Florida makes it illegal to exclude bats during the maternity season, from April 15 to August 15, and lists poison, relocation and fumigants as illegal on bats.
• Ohio prohibits glue traps, chemicals, toxicants and foggers, bans sealing all exits while bats are inside, and requires anyone paid to do the work to be a licensed nuisance wild animal control operator.

Rules elsewhere vary. Your state wildlife agency is the authority, and a reputable specialist will know the local rules.

What is usually not allowed

Across the states that publish guidance, the same things come up again and again:

• Killing bats, including with poison, sprays or foggers.
• Glue boards and sticky traps.
• Trapping and moving bats.
• Sealing a roost while bats are inside.
• Excluding bats during the maternity season, when flightless pups are present.
• Smoking bats out of a chimney.

Apart from the law, most of these simply do not work. A poisoned bat may fall into a living space rather than leave, which raises the chance of someone touching it. Sealed-in bats die in walls and smell. Relocated bats find their way home.

What is allowed: exclusion

The accepted method everywhere is exclusion. Every gap the bats could use is sealed except the active exits, one-way devices go over those exits, and the bats leave to feed and cannot return. After several good-weather nights, the devices come off and the exits are sealed. Our bat exclusion page explains each step, and our guide on when you can remove bats covers the timing.

What about a bat that may have bitten someone?

Protection laws make room for public health. If a bat may have exposed a person to rabies, for example by being found in a room where someone was sleeping, health departments want it captured safely and tested. Ohio’s guidelines, for instance, allow a bat to be killed after a bite or possible rabies exposure. Do not do this yourself: crushing a bat can destroy the brain tissue needed for the test. Contain it in a box with thick gloves and call your local health department. Our page on a bat in the house walks through it.

The practical upshot

For most homeowners, the law and good practice point the same way: let the bats leave on their own, at the right time of year, and then close the house up properly so they cannot come back. It costs more than a can of spray, but it is legal, it works, and it is what a professional bat removal contractor will do. If you would like a specialist near you to look at your house, get a quote.