GOIN’ BATTY: In case you haven’t noticed, it’s the first
“official” day of autumn although it’s felt like fall for several
weeks. With the change of the season comes a warning that young
bats take flight in September and, according to the Humane Society
of the United States, may inadvertently wind up in the living space
of your home.

John Griffin, director of The Humane Society’ Wildlife Services,
reports that these chance meetings are nothing to be afraid of –
despite the bats’ reputation.

“These incidents often occur this time of year when young and
newly weaned bats get lost trying to make their way out of an attic
for the first time to join the rest of their colony in nocturnal
foraging for insects,” he writes.

Attics are the ultimate hang-out for bats because they provide
the high temperatures and undisturbed environments that bats need
for resting, giving birth and rearing young. Baby bats are born in
late spring and become mobile and interested in braving the great
outdoors around the end of summer. The young bats can sometimes
take a wrong turn and end up flying into the living areas of your
home.

How to “humanely” capture a bat? To do this as safely as
possible, make sure that you do not come in contact with the bat by
using a container (e.g. a plastic food container or shoebox) and
placing it over the bat when he or she is at rest on drapery or the
wall. The lid is then carefully slid underneath to contain the
bat.

Heavy gloves must be used to do this. Never try to handle a bat
with bare hands or cotton gloves. Once contained, the bat can be
safely released outside, but be sure to put the bat on a tree limb
or wall since they cannot fly from the ground up.

If there is any chance that the bat was in the room of a
sleeping or intoxicated person or young child, health authorities
mandate that the bat be captured and tested for rabies – even if
there’s only a slim chance that the bat could have bitten someone
without their knowing it.