Big brown bat
Brown, about four to five inches long with a wingspan over a foot. Hardy and adaptable, big browns roost in attics, walls and barns, and some even hibernate inside buildings, which is why they turn up indoors in January.
Licensed nuisance wildlife control · Orange County, NY
Bat Removal and Exclusion for Homes Across Orange County, NY
Bats belong outside, eating insects over the Wallkill and the Hudson. When a colony moves into your attic or one turns up in the living room, you need someone who knows the law, the timing and how to get them out without trapping a single bat inside. One call gets you a local, licensed wildlife pro.
- One-way exclusion
- Seasonal timing done right
- Guano cleanup referrals
29 requests from Orange County today · last one 16 min ago
A colony in the attic and a bat in the bedroom are two different problems
Most bat calls in Orange County fall into one of two camps. The first is a colony: a group of bats roosting in an attic, behind a chimney chase, under ridge cap or in a gap behind fascia board. You see them stream out at dusk, notice droppings stuck to the siding under one spot, or hear faint scratching and squeaking in the wall above a window on summer evenings. That is a structural job. It takes planning, the right time of year and a careful seal-up.
The second is a single bat inside the living space. That is more urgent, not because the bat is aggressive (it almost always just wants out) but because of rabies. Bats are one of the main rabies carriers in New York, and their teeth are so small that a bite on a sleeping person may leave no mark at all. The tip below explains what to do.
In both cases the long-term fix is the same: find every gap bats are using, let them leave, and make sure they cannot come back.
Found a bat in a room where someone was sleeping? Do not let it go.
New York health guidance is clear: if a bat is found in a room with a sleeping person, a young child, someone who is impaired, or a pet, the bat should be safely captured and tested for rabies rather than released. Close the door, keep people and pets out, and if you can do it safely, wear thick gloves and trap the bat under a container once it lands, then slide cardboard underneath. Call the Orange County Department of Health for instructions on testing, and talk to your doctor or veterinarian. If you are not comfortable capturing it, a wildlife pro can help.
Bat in the house right now?
Close it into one room and call. Licensed local wildlife operators often respond quickly, in many cases the same day or evening.
33 pest calls from the Orange County area today. Most recent: 14 minutes ago.
Which bats end up in Orange County buildings
Little brown bat
Smaller, glossy brown, and once the most common attic bat in the Northeast. White-nose syndrome devastated its numbers after it appeared in New York in 2006, so colonies are smaller and more precious now.
Protected species
The Indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat are protected under state and federal law. Rare in houses, but one reason licensed operators follow strict timing and never kill bats during exclusion.
When bat work can and cannot happen
| Time of year | What is going on with bats |
|---|---|
| April – May | Bats return to summer roosts as nights warm. An exclusion can work in this window, before pups are born, if the weather allows. |
| June – mid-August | Pup season. Mothers raise young that cannot fly. Excluding now would trap pups inside to die, so exclusion waits. Inspections and planning are fine. |
| Mid-August – October | The main exclusion window in Orange County. Pups are flying, colonies are still active, and one-way devices work well. |
| November – March | Most bats are hibernating, many in caves and mines but some inside buildings. Exclusion is not effective while bats are not flying, so this is time for sealing non-active gaps and planning. |
Signs you have a colony, not just a visitor
- Guano piling up in the attic insulation, on a porch floor or stuck to siding below an entry point. Bat droppings look like mouse droppings but crumble to dust and glitter with insect parts when crushed.
- Brown stains and greasy rub marks around a gap at the roofline, gable vent, chimney flashing or behind shutters.
- Bats leaving at dusk from the same spot on the house, easiest to see by sitting outside for half an hour after sunset in summer.
- Squeaking or rustling in a wall or ceiling in the evening, especially in July when pups are growing.
- A strong ammonia smell in an attic, upstairs closet or garage loft.
- Repeated bats indoors, often coming down from the attic through gaps around plumbing stacks, light fixtures or an attic hatch.
Bat removal near me: who to call in Orange County
Search "bat removal near me" and you will find plenty of companies willing to come out. In New York, though, anyone who removes nuisance wildlife for pay needs a Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator license from the DEC. We only connect you with licensed, independent operators who work bats in this county regularly.
A good bat company will happily talk timing on the first call. If one offers to "get rid of them this week" in the middle of July, that is a red flag. If you are in a hurry because of a bat in the living space, though, ask for "bat control near me" and say so up front. That changes the priority.
The bat exclusion process, start to finish
Inspection from roof to foundation
The operator looks over the whole structure, usually on ladders or the roof: ridge vents, gable vents, soffit returns, chimney flashing, loose siding, dormer corners and anywhere wood has shrunk away from masonry. Bats need only a gap of about three-eighths of an inch. Active entries are marked by staining and droppings.
Seal everything except the main exits
Every unused gap is sealed with caulk, foam, mesh or flashing. At the active exits, one-way devices (tubes or netting) are installed so bats can drop out at night but cannot crawl back in. They stay up for about a week of good flying weather.
Remove devices, final seal, cleanup
Once the colony is out, the devices come down and those last openings are sealed permanently. Heavy guano in the attic may call for cleanup and insulation replacement, done with respirators, since bat droppings can carry the fungus that causes histoplasmosis.
Why bats like Orange County houses so much
Bats need two things: a warm, sheltered roost and lots of insects nearby. The county has both in abundance. The Wallkill River, Moodna Creek, the Hudson, the Delaware and hundreds of ponds and lakes produce clouds of insects all summer, and the forests of the Hudson Highlands, Schunnemunk, the Shawangunk Ridge and Sterling Forest surround many neighborhoods with good habitat.
The housing stock fills in the rest. Slate roofs, wooden cornices and brick chimneys on older homes in Cornwall-on-Hudson, Highland Falls and the City of Newburgh have shrunk and shifted over a century, opening up gaps along the roof. Big farmhouses and barns around Pine Bush, Montgomery and the Warwick Valley have hot, roomy attics that colonies return to every year. Lake houses near Greenwood Lake and old river houses along the Delaware in Sparrowbush and Port Jervis have their own share.
Newer homes get bats too, mostly through ridge vents that were not installed tight, gaps where soffit meets the gable, and poorly flashed chimney chases.
Cost, DIY and the risks of going it alone
The cost of bat exclusion depends on the house more than the bats. The height and pitch of the roof, the number of potential gaps (old houses with many rooflines, dormers and chimneys have far more), whether a lift is needed, the materials involved (slate and copper work takes more care than vinyl and asphalt) and how much guano cleanup the attic needs all play in. A single gable vent on a ranch is a very different job from a three-story Victorian with two chimneys.
DIY bat exclusion is legal for a homeowner on their own house, but it goes wrong a lot. People seal holes in June and trap pups inside, or miss the second and third exits and push the colony into the living space. Killing bats or using poisons is not an option, and in New York there is no registered pesticide for that purpose anyway. Ladder work at roof height is the other hazard.
If a bat has already come inside, or you have a colony and young children in the house, a professional is the safer route. While they are up on the roof, ask them to look at the same gaps for squirrels and nesting birds, since the same weak spots let all three in.
Licensed bat removal in every corner of the county
Choose your region or town to learn more about local wildlife and housing.
Newburgh & the Hudson Riverfront
- Newburgh
- Town of Newburgh
- Balmville
- Gardnertown
- Orange Lake
- New Windsor
- Vails Gate
- Rock Tavern
- Cornwall
- Cornwall-on-Hudson
- Mountainville
- Highland Falls
- Fort Montgomery
Middletown & the Town of Wallkill
- Middletown
- Town of Wallkill
- Scotchtown
- Circleville
- Mechanicstown
- Howells
- Wawayanda
- Slate Hill
- New Hampton
- Mount Hope
- Otisville
Montgomery, Walden & Pine Bush
- Montgomery
- Town of Montgomery
- Walden
- Maybrook
- Pine Bush
- Crawford
- Bullville
- Thompson Ridge
- Campbell Hall
- Hamptonburgh
Goshen, Chester & Blooming Grove
- Goshen
- Chester
- Sugar Loaf
- Washingtonville
- Blooming Grove
- Salisbury Mills
- South Blooming Grove
Monroe, Woodbury & Tuxedo
- Monroe
- Harriman
- Central Valley
- Highland Mills
- Woodbury
- Kiryas Joel
- Tuxedo
- Tuxedo Park
- Southfields
Warwick Valley & the Black Dirt Region
- Warwick
- Greenwood Lake
- Florida
- Pine Island
- Bellvale
- New Milford
- Minisink
- Westtown
- Unionville
- Johnson
Port Jervis & the Upper Delaware
- Port Jervis
- Deerpark
- Huguenot
- Cuddebackville
- Sparrowbush
- Westbrookville
- Greenville
Bat removal FAQs
Is it legal to kill bats in my attic?
No. Bats are protected wildlife in New York, and some species are listed as endangered or threatened. Humane exclusion with one-way devices is the accepted approach.
Why can't you get the bats out in July?
Because young bats cannot fly until roughly mid-August. Exclusion during pup season would leave flightless pups trapped inside to die, which is cruel and leads to dead bats and odor in your walls. Planning can happen now and work can begin when the pups are flying.
Do I need a rabies shot if a bat touched me?
Talk to your doctor and the Orange County Department of Health right away, and keep the bat if you can safely capture it so it can be tested. Testing often makes the shots unnecessary.
Will bats come back after exclusion?
They will try, since bats are loyal to roost sites. If every gap was sealed properly, they will move on. A good operator stands behind the areas they sealed.
Is bat guano dangerous?
Large amounts of dried guano can carry the fungus that causes histoplasmosis, a lung infection. Do not sweep or vacuum heavy accumulations without proper protection. Professional cleanup is recommended.
Bats out, gaps closed, timing right.
One free call puts you in touch with a licensed Orange County bat exclusion pro.