Bat Removal Methods

Bat Exclusion: What Works, What Doesn't, and What's Legal

Getting bats out of your home is not as straightforward as dealing with most pests. Bats are protected wildlife in every state, which means the removal methods available to you are limited by law, and the penalties for doing it wrong can include fines and criminal charges. Whether you have a single bat flying through your living room or a colony of 200 roosting in your attic, understanding the right removal method for your situation is the difference between solving the problem and making it worse

It's Illegal To Kill Bats in New York

Before covering what works, you need to understand why most conventional pest control approaches are illegal in this state. All nine bat species found in New York are protected under Environmental Conservation Law Section 11-0535. Several species, including the little brown bat, northern long-eared bat, and tricolored bat, are also listed under the federal Endangered Species Act or are candidates for listing due to catastrophic population declines caused by white-nose syndrome.

White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease first documented in Howes Cave in Schoharie County in 2006, has killed over 90 percent of hibernating bat populations in some New York caves and mines. This is not an abstract conservation issue. It happened here, it was discovered here, and it is the primary reason that New York’s bat protection regulations are among the strictest in the country.

However, bat removal is completely legal and is available locally in both Albany and Troy.

In New York, it is illegal to poison, trap, or intentionally kill bats. Using pesticides, fumigants, or lethal traps on bats violates state wildlife law and can result in fines and criminal charges through the NYSDEC. Poisoned bats die inside your walls and create a secondary problem: decomposition odor, fly infestations, and potential exposure to disease.

New York's Bat Exclusion Blackout Period

This is the single most important regulation homeowners and pest control operators need to know. The NYSDEC prohibits bat exclusion from June 1 through July 31 in New York State. During this period, flightless pups are present in maternity colonies. Excluding the adults would trap the pups inside, where they would starve and die, violating wildlife protection laws and creating a decomposition and disease hazard inside your structure. This means if you discover a bat colony in your attic in mid-June, you legally cannot perform exclusion until August 1 at the earliest. Planning ahead matters. The best exclusion windows in New York are:

Late March through May (after bats emerge from hibernation but before pups are born)
August 1 through October (after pups are flying but before bats enter hibernation)

Winter exclusion is generally not effective in New York because bats may be hibernating inside wall voids, attic insulation, or other protected spaces within the structure and will not exit through exclusion devices during cold weather. In the Capital Region, where temperatures regularly drop below freezing from November through March, hibernating bats are essentially dormant and will not respond to exclusion efforts until spring.

Bat Exclusion Techniques

Method 1: One-Way Exclusion Devices

One-way exclusion is the only bat removal method endorsed by the NYSDEC and is the legal standard for bat removal in New York State. It is humane, effective, and permanent when combined with proper structural sealing.

How it works: A one-way exclusion device is installed over the primary entry point that bats use to enter and exit the roost. The device allows bats to leave through a tapered tube, cone, or netting arrangement but prevents them from re-entering. Bats leave at dusk to feed, pass through the device, and when they return, they cannot get back in.

Types of exclusion devices used in New York:

Exclusion tubes. Smooth PVC or polycarbonate tubes, typically two inches in diameter, mounted over the entry point at a slight downward angle. The bat crawls out through the tube and drops into flight. When it returns, the smooth interior and angled design prevent it from climbing back in. Tubes work well for defined, single-point entries like gaps along a ridge vent or a hole where a soffit meets the fascia. These are the most common device we see used on residential properties throughout Albany, Schenectady, and Saratoga counties.

Exclusion cones. Similar in principle to tubes but with a wider funnel opening that narrows to a small exit point. Cones are effective for entries along flat surfaces where a tube cannot be angled properly. They work particularly well on the flat fascia boards common on ranch-style and split-level homes throughout Colonie, Guilderland, and the suburban developments in Clifton Park and Halfmoon.

Exclusion netting. Fine mesh netting hung over larger entry areas, secured at the top and sides but left open at the bottom with at least two feet of slack. Bats crawl down behind the netting and drop out at the bottom, but they cannot fly or crawl back up behind the netting to re-enter. Netting is the best option for long, linear entry points like the full length of a ridge vent, a gable louver, or a deteriorated soffit run. Older homes in Albany’s Pine Hills, Center Square, and Troy’s historic districts frequently have long runs of deteriorated soffit that require netting rather than individual tube placements.

Timeline: Exclusion devices are left in place for a minimum of five to seven days in New York, sometimes longer depending on colony size and weather. Capital Region spring weather is unpredictable and can suppress bat activity, so devices may need to stay up for ten days or more to ensure every bat has exited.

Method 2: Full Structural Sealing

Exclusion devices get the bats out. Structural sealing keeps them out. In New York, these two steps are inseparable, and the NYSDEC expects both to be performed as part of a compliant bat removal job.

What sealing involves:

A thorough inspection of the entire roofline, soffits, fascia, ridge vents, gable vents, chimneys, plumbing vents, utility penetrations, and any gap or crack larger than 3/8 of an inch. Bats can squeeze through remarkably small openings. Every identified gap is sealed using caulk, expanding foam, metal flashing, hardware cloth, or commercial-grade exclusion screening.

Common entry points on New York homes:

Gaps where the soffit meets the fascia board, especially on homes with aluminum or vinyl soffit that has pulled away from the framing over decades of freeze-thaw cycling
Loose or deteriorated flashing around chimneys, which is endemic on older homes throughout the Capital Region where brick chimneys have been repointed multiple times
Open or unscreened ridge vents and gable louvers
Gaps around plumbing and electrical penetrations through the roof
Cracks in mortar on brick and stone buildings, particularly common in Albany’s row houses, churches, and commercial buildings along State Street, Pearl Street, and Broadway
Warped or rotted trim boards along the roofline, accelerated by New York’s heavy snow loads and spring thaw cycles
Openings where dormers meet the main roof, a frequent issue on the Dutch colonials and cape cods common throughout Delmar, Slingerlands, Loudonville, and Niskayuna

All secondary entry points should be sealed before the exclusion device is installed on the primary exit point. This forces the entire colony to use the one remaining opening, which is the one fitted with the one-way device.

Method 3: Live Capture and Release (Single Bat in Living Space)

If a single bat is flying inside your living space, the situation is different from a colony in the attic. A lone bat inside the house is usually a juvenile that made a wrong turn, a bat that entered through an open window, or a bat that found its way down from an attic roost through an interior gap.

How to handle it in New York:

Close the doors to the room to contain the bat in one space
Open a window or exterior door in that room
Turn off interior lights and turn on an exterior porch light if available
If the bat does not leave on its own within 15 to 20 minutes, put on thick leather gloves, place a container over the bat when it lands on a wall or ceiling, slide cardboard underneath, and carry it outside for release

Critical rabies protocol for New York State:

If anyone in the household was sleeping in a room where a bat was found, or if the bat had any potential contact with a person, pet, child, or anyone who cannot reliably report whether they were bitten, do not release the bat. Contact the Albany County Department of Health at (518) 447-4580 or your local county health department immediately. The bat must be captured and submitted for rabies testing.

New York State has the highest bat rabies submission rate in the Northeast. The New York State Department of Health Wadsworth Center in Albany processes rabies testing for the entire state. Bat bites are extremely small, often leaving no visible mark, and rabies exposure from bats is the leading cause of human rabies deaths in the United States. New York has documented cases of rabies transmission from bats where the victim had no awareness of being bitten. Call our bat removal experts now to safely get rid of them from your property.

Method 4: Supplemental Harassment Techniques

In limited situations, licensed wildlife control operators in New York may use non-lethal harassment techniques to encourage bats to vacate a roost before performing exclusion. These are supplemental, not standalone solutions.

Light harassment – Installing bright LED lights in the attic can make the roosting environment uncomfortable. This is sometimes used in the weeks leading up to an exclusion to thin colony numbers.

Airflow disruption – Fans positioned to create drafts in the roosting area can make the space less desirable. These techniques must be used carefully and in compliance with NYSDEC guidelines. They are not substitutes for proper exclusion and sealing.

Bat Removal Methods That Don't Work

Mothballs and naphthalene – Often recommended online, mothballs do not repel bats and create a toxic vapor hazard. Using mothballs as a bat repellent is a violation of federal pesticide labeling laws because it constitutes off-label use of a registered pesticide. The NYSDEC and EPA both enforce this.

Pesticide application – Applying any pesticide to bats or bat roosting areas is illegal in New York. No pesticide is registered for use on bats in the state. A pest control operator who sprays an attic to kill bats is violating both state wildlife law and federal pesticide regulations.

Peppermint oil, cinnamon, essential oils – No scientific evidence supports these as bat deterrents.

Sealing entry points at night while bats are out – Not every bat leaves the roost every night. Nursing mothers, sick bats, and bats during cold or rainy New York weather stay inside. Sealing without exclusion devices traps remaining bats inside your walls.

Trapping – Live trapping bats requires a NYSDEC special license, and it is impractical for colony removal. One-way exclusion achieves the same result without the handling, stress, and permitting requirements.

Ultrasonic devices – Minimally effective. Bats habituate to ultrasonic emitters within days. Do not rely on these.

After the Bats Are Out: Guano Cleanup in New York

A bat colony roosting in an Albany attic through multiple seasons leaves behind significant guano accumulation. Histoplasma capsulatum, the fungus that causes histoplasmosis, grows in bat droppings and becomes airborne when disturbed. Cold winters followed by warm, humid summers creates conditions where the fungus thrives in accumulated guano during the warmer months. Professional guano cleanup involves:

Full attic access with OSHA-compliant respiratory protection
Removal of all guano and contaminated insulation
HEPA vacuuming of remaining debris
Antimicrobial treatment of affected surfaces
Replacement of damaged or contaminated insulation
Sealing of any interior gaps between the attic and living space

In Albany, contaminated insulation and guano should be bagged, sealed, and disposed of in compliance with local solid waste regulations. Do not attempt cleanup without proper respiratory protection.

Choosing a Bat Removal Company in New York

In New York State, bat removal should be performed by a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator (NWCO) holding a valid license issued by the NYSDEC, or by a licensed pest control operator with specific training and experience in bat exclusion. When evaluating a company, ask:

Do you hold a NYSDEC Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator license or a DEC-compliant pest control license?
Do you perform one-way exclusion as your primary method?
Do you observe the June 1 through July 31 exclusion blackout?
Do you seal the entire structure, not just the primary entry point?
Do you guarantee your exclusion work?
Do you provide guano cleanup and attic restoration?

A company that uses poison, offers to remove bats during the maternity season, or proposes sealing without exclusion devices is either unlicensed, uninformed, or cutting corners. Any of those should disqualify them immediately. Looking for professional bat removal? Call us now for a free estimate.