Bat Care and Rescue

What to do if you find a bat

Any bat found in an exposed place is in trouble and needs help.

Please don't assume the bat is healthy and leave it outside to fly away.

The Bat Conservation Trust run a helpline which will give you advice on how to contain the bat.

Bat Helpline 0345 1300 228

They have details for over 250 volunteer Bat Carers operating throughout the UK, and may be able to refer you to someone local to you for further advice.

There are several volunteer bat carers covering Tayside and they will do the best they can to get to you and help your bat.

The helpline will talk you through the below information on how to contain the bat:

You should avoid handling the bat, but if it is necessary WEAR GLOVES due to the small risk of a rabies type virus. Carers are all vaccinated against rabies but if you are bitten or scratched please seek medical advice immediately - rabies is preventable only if you get treatment before symptoms develop so its really important to follow these best practice guidelines.

Containing the bat

You will need:

A shoe box, with holes punched in the lid
A cloth or teatowel
A plastic bottle cap (milk bottle tops are perfect)

As we don't get the larger species of bat in Tayside, it doesn't matter if you don't have something the size of a shoebox - a tupperware container works well for short periods but make sure there are plenty of air holes!

It may seem obvious, but make sure there are no holes in the box the bat can get out of! Bats can get out of smaller holes that you would expect and are quite capable of pushing a cloth plug out of the way and get out. This means the bat will escape and the carer will arrive to find an empty box.

If you don't have any bits of cloth or tea towel, some scrunched up bits of kitchen roll works fine - make sure its scrunched up though as the whole point is to give the bat somewhere to crawl and hide.

To contain the bat:

a) Like a spider, by placing a box on top of it and sliding a piece of card underneath.

b) Alternatively, cover the bat with a cloth/tea towel and carefully scoop it up and place it in the box. (You should not handle the bat with bare hands.)

Then call the bat helpline and they will put you in touch with a local carer.

Brown long eared bat with injury to ear © Jean Oudney

© Bat Conservation Trust

Bat is flying around a room or living space

Sometimes bats will make a mistake and fly through an open door or window. NEVER try to catch a flying bat you are likely to injure it severely and it may even bite in self defense.

If it's a warm evening the best thing to do is:

Close the door to the room
Open the windows to the outside as widely as possible
Dim the lights

This will give the bat a chance to find its own way out.

If you are not sure it has flown out, it is best to look high up in places such as in the folds of curtains and behind picture frames, (a healthy bat will want to be out of reach and out of the light) or in low level places (if a bat is injured or in trouble it will struggle to hide properly).

If you find a bat flying during daylight hours:

Wait until the bat lands
Contain the bat
Release it at dusk

During the winter, please call the National Bat Helpline on 0345 1300 228 as the bat may need to be assessed by a bat carer.

Sometimes in the summer, young bats, which are inexperienced flyers, will become exhausted before finding their way out. They may try to land on a wall or curtains, or they may crash land on furniture or the floor. In this case, you should contain the bat, and then release it at dusk.

Instructions for Release

Always wear gloves to handle bats. If you need help, call the Bat Helpline 0345 1300 228.

There are some situations when it is appropriate to release a bat - but only if the bat has been seen flying very recently and it is a warm evening (do not release a bat during the winter).

If a bat is flying indoors during the day, it is easiest to contain it once it has landed and release it at dusk. If it is flying during the evening, and the weather is good, open windows and switch off the lights and the bat should find its own way out.

If you had to contain the bat you should wait until dusk to release it. It should be a warm, dry night.

The box should be placed at least five feet off the ground e.g. on top of a wall. Put the box on its side so the bat can crawl out and watch it closely.

If the bat does not fly away within about fifteen minutes it will need further attention, so take it back inside and call the Bat Helpline 0345 1300 228 for further advice.