Baby Bats
If you find a baby bat on the ground or hanging on the side of a building during the day without its mother, place it in a small cardboard box with a paper towel and keep it warm. Follow the instructions here to get it to NWRI.
Adult Bats
If you find an adult bat outside:
And it is injured or laying on the ground alone, it is in need of help. Click here for instructions on how to get the bat to NWRI.
If it is a mother bat with babies attached, and she is not injured, do the following:
- Touch a small tree branch to the adult bat's feet.
- Once she grabs the branch, slowly move to the branches of a nearby tree.
- Secure the branch in the tree at least 6' above the ground, out of the sun and protected from rain.
- Check on the bats the following morning. If the mother and babies are in the same position or if the babies are alone and the mother is gone, follow these instructions to get them to NWRI.
If you find an adult bat inside:
And it is injured or cannot fly, it is in need of help. Click here for instructions on how to get the bat to NWRI.
If it is flying around the house, do the following:
- Wait until the animal is motionless.
- Contain the bat. Quietly approach the bat, and:
- Wearing thick gloves or a towel, pick up the bat and place it in a small cardboard box with a lid.
- Or place a coffee can over the bat and slide a piece of cardboard between the box and the surface the bat is on. Keeping the cardboard in place, gently turn the container right side up.
- From April through October, you can release the bat outdoors at night, if it is not raining or cold (less than 60 degrees), and if no one has been bitten by the bat. If someone may have been bitten or if you catch the bat during the winter months, contact us for assistance.
- Watch the bat leave. If it does not fly away or is unable to fly, contact us.
To avoid injuring a bat, do not attempt to catch a bat in flight.
Do not release bats outside between November and March, or if it is raining or the temperatures are below 60 degrees.
Bats and Rabies
If the bat has bitten someone, or was in a room with someone who was sleeping, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, someone with an otherwise altered mental state, or a child or an elderly person, the bat should be captured and submitted for rabies testing. For bats in the Omaha area, contact the Nebraska Humane Society at 402-444-7800 to have the bat tested. To learn more about bats and rabies, click here.
