Bats in your belfry, basement or attic? Here's how to get them out

Your loose siding or your pet might notice it before you do: There's a bat in your house.

And, yes, it can happen on Long Island.

"We have nine species of bats in New York State, and on Long Island, we are able to get all nine of those," said Rose Lynch, an animal care staffer at the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays. Lynch is RVS (rabies vector species) certified, which means she is licensed to handle animals that are more likely to contract rabies.

There are plenty of bats on Long Island's East End, "because there's a lot more space" there, Lynch said — but she's also heard bats vocalizing around her own neighborhood in Nassau County.

"I think they're truly everywhere," she said.

So if a bat decides your abode is safe to stay a while, or if it's on a flight around your house, here's what experts recommend.

So, you've got company

Bats can easily — and accidentally — slip into a home under some loose siding, Lynch said. Microbats are native to New York State, she said. As the name suggests, they are quite small (between about 1 and 5 inches, according to National Geographic) and can slip into tight spaces.

"It could be they were trying to huddle up under someone's siding to sleep for the night, and they found a nice opening," she said.

The Suffolk County Health Services website lays out some ways bats can enter a home, and how to prevent it, such as making sure windows have screens, chimneys are capped and electrical and plumbing openings are closed.

Making sure to close off those kinds of openings will prevent bats from getting inside, Lynch said. But if they do, it's unlikely that they'll do any damage to your home: "Bats don't really chew things," she said. "They're not as destructive in the way that a raccoon or a squirrel is."

Helping a bat find its way out by opening windows and turning off lights is a good place to start, said Dr. Carly Fox, a senior veterinarian at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center's Emergency and Critical Care Service in Manhattan.

"If you notice a bat in your house, you must try to keep that bat quarantined, in a way," Fox said. "Close the door to the room, get your animals out of there, obviously, and yourself."

Russell Utter is the owner of Long Island Roofing & Siding, which is based in Ronkonkoma and has been in business since 2003. He has never dealt with bat-related repairs himself, but he has heard about situations where bats have gotten into homes through vinyl chimneys.

"They find their way into those, I guess because of the warmth, and through the vinyl siding there are little channels for them to get in," Utter said.

For those looking to invest in a new roof, Utter recommends installing a metal drip edge as part of the system to keep all kinds of pests away. This barrier goes in between the fascia board and roof decking, and "gets rid of that little gap between the two boards," he said.

"It's such a simple part of the job, but the details are what matter," Utter said.

What about pets?

If you or your pet interacts with the bat, the next step is to attempt to trap it and contact the local department of health, so that rabies exposure can be definitively confirmed or ruled out. Rabies testing can only be done by euthanizing the bat and examining its brain stem, Lynch said.

Wearing thick gloves and luring the bat into a Tupperware container with air holes is one method to capture it, Fox said. Evelyn Alexander has a nighttime hotline that can also offer guidance, said Lynch, and she also recommended the Animal Help Now website to find help in your area.

"Making sure your pet is up to date on their rabies vaccinations dictates their care," Fox said. "If there was a potential exposure, it makes it so much easier to deal with."

Many cat owners think that because their feline stays indoors, vaccinations don't matter as much, Fox said, but keeping them up to date on their shots is just as important.

Even if you're not sure whether your pet was scratched or bitten by the bat, it's best to bring them for a veterinary checkup anyway, Fox said.

"Bat bites are so tiny, and they don't always leave an obvious wound, especially on animals that have fur or hair," she said. "You have to sort of assume exposure a lot of the time."

According to the New York State Department of Health website, most bats do not have rabies. However, it's impossible to know for sure just by looking at it.

When to spot them

Credit: Seatuck Environmental Association

The Seatuck Environmental Association in Islip offers an online Bat Map, showing bat sightings across Long Island going back several years. The survey and interactive map were created in 2018 for Long Islanders to fill out whenever they see a bat in their area.

Summer has the "highest bat activity," Lynch said. "It's probably the most likely that you're going to see them at dusk, just because there are so many bugs out," she said.

As it gets colder, migratory bats will head to warmer climates, and those that hibernate will "try to find somewhere safe to go," Lynch said. Ideally, they would cozy up in an old growth tree or cave, but because those spaces are so limited, they wind up in people's homes, she said.

"In the winter, it's why we get 90% of our bats," she said, "because people out in the Hamptons leave their summer houses. They come back Presidents Day and discover that since it's been empty, somebody has moved in, because they want to take a protected nap for the winter."

Removing a hibernating bat is a different, complicated process, because hibernation is an immunosuppressant, Lynch said. She advised that people in this situation should call a wildlife rescue or RVS-certified facility.

Overall, seeing a bat around your property can actually be a good thing, Lynch said: "They're eating all the bugs, they're doing natural pest control and things on your property are functioning correctly."

"On Long Island, people are not really prepared to see a bat," she said. "We really should be seeing so many more, so when you do, it's quite a shock. But they've always been here; they've been here before people were here, and they're very tied to this land."