(ITHACA, NY, August 2, 2024) – Tompkins County Whole Health (TCWH) is sharing with the community an important reminder about what to do when you find bats in your home. It is common at this time of the year for bats to enter our homes, a time when attics may become too warm to shelter in. Additionally in late summer months, inexperienced young bats may fall down a chimney, fly down an attic stairway, fly through an open window, or land on the ground.
Bats can enter buildings through holes or crevices as small as half an inch. Keep doors and windows properly screened, chimneys capped, and keep exterior basement and attic doors or windows closed and in good repair. Close interior openings such as those around plumbing or gas pipes, electrical wiring, or heating and air conditioning units found in utility closets, cabinets, behind appliances, and under sinks.
If more than one bat has found its way into your home within a year’s time, it may mean that your home needs remediation. Bat Conservation International has excellent tips for remediation, as does The Wild Things Sanctuary. You can also contact a nuisance wildlife control company that specializes in bat remediation. Remediation inside your home can happen year-round, but make sure that outside remediation happens only in spring or fall. Remediating in the winter and summer can trap bats inside buildings.
A small number of rabid bats are confirmed in Tompkins County every year. If a bat is found in your home and it is possible that contact has occurred with any human or pet, it is important to avoid the serious, potentially fatal, risk of rabies by safely capturing the bat and submitting for laboratory testing. If the bat is found in a public area, if it is found near a pet, a child, a sleeping person, or someone with a sensory impairment, or you are not sure if contact occurred, capture the bat and contact TCWH’s Environmental Health Division, 24/7, at 607-274-6688. If a bat is found in your home and you are certain that no one and no pets have had contact with the bat, it is not necessary to capture the bat for testing.
How to catch a bat
- Watch this informational video for a demonstration on how to properly capture a bat: tompkinscountyny.gov/health/rabies#catchabatvideo
- Find a small container with a lid. If you found the bat clinging to a wall, door, or other object, cover it with the container, and slide a piece of cardboard or other thick paper underneath to trap it in the container. Place the container right side up on a table or counter, place the lid over the cardboard and slide the cardboard out from under the lid.
- If the bat is flying, turn on all the lights and sit quietly and watch the bat until it lands. You can use a butterfly net to catch the bat but be careful not to get bitten. Do not use tennis rackets, baseball bats, or other hard objects. Bats have very thin heads/skulls, so it is important to be careful when capturing the bat to avoid causing damage. If the bat needs to be tested, injury to the skull may cause damage to the brain that will prevent testing. Or, if EH determines that there was no exposure and testing is not needed, the bat will not be able to be released due to injuries.
- If you have found an injured bat and there has been no risk of anyone being bitten by the bat, you can contact the Wild Things Sanctuary, a local New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) licensed wildlife rehabilitator who may be able to help. Licensed wildlife rehabilitators observe the animals for signs of illness and nurse back to health in order to release back into the wild. Please note: Placement at local rehabilitators is subject to space availability.
- The Wild Things Sanctuary has a website with additional tips about what to do if you find a bat in your home: http://www.bats911.org
Owners of vaccinated pets that encounter bats in the home have the option of releasing a bat found with a vaccinated pet if no human exposure has occurred and the owner agrees to get their pet a booster vaccination. TCWH holds regular rabies vaccination clinics for pets throughout the county. TCWH will host its next Rabies Vaccination Clinic on Saturday, September 14th, in downtown Ithaca. Registration for this event is not currently open, please check our website for an update.
Tompkins County Whole Health reminds everyone to:
- Avoid contact with any unfamiliar cats or dogs and any wild animals.
- All cats, dogs and ferrets must have their first rabies vaccinations administered no later than four months of age. Keep vaccinations current.
- Report the following incidents to Environmental Health, 24/7, at 607-274-6688:
- All animal bites or scratches.
- Any human or pet contact with saliva or other potentially infectious material (brain tissue, spinal tissue, or cerebro-spinal fluid) of wild animals or any animal suspected of having rabies.
- All bat bites, scratches, or skin contact with a bat, or a bat in a room with a child, or sleeping or impaired person.
For a complete list of wildlife rehabilitators, visit the NYS DEC’s website.
Further information can be found at: tompkinscountyny.gov/health/eh/rabies.
Tompkins County Whole Health envisions a future where every person in Tompkins County can achieve wellness. Find us online at TompkinsCountyNY.gov/health, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/TompkinsWholeHealth and on Twitter at @TCWholeHealth. Get Whole Health updates or other county announcements via email or text, sign up here.
Media contact: Shannon Alvord, salvord@tompkins-co.org
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