# I have a bat in my apartment and I can't catch it. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 4, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262 "2009-08-04T05:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/1 "2009-08-04T05:06:36Z")
My ceilings are too high - it just keeps flying over me, and the top of the window is too low so when it gets towards the wall it goes up towards the ceiling instead of out. I like bats (anything that eats bugs is a friend) and I don’t want to kill it or injure it. I just want it to fly out so I can go to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/2 "2009-08-04T05:10:32Z")
Do you have a shop vac? Maybe even a regular vacuum with a hose attachment. Not to suck it up, but maybe a vacuum hose attachment would hold it against the nozzle. Then you could hold the nozzle out the window and shut off the vacuum. Though that might injure it, I don’t know. How high are the ceilings? Maybe you could put a garbage can over it and then slide a piece of cardboard over the garbage can top (between the can and the ceiling) and bring it outside. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/3 "2009-08-04T05:16:37Z")
My apartment set up is a little weird - normal height ceilings in part of it, but towards the window wall it goes up to…I dunno, 12, maybe 14 feet? Therefore, every time it gets near the ginormous sliding glass door, it flies UP. I’ve heard of the vacuum idea before; the trick is to get it to not only stop flying, but also stop flying in a place where I can reach it. At the moment it’s climbed on top of/into the AC unit, which is above said ginormous sliding glass door. I had the screen open for about an hour earlier tonight. Result: two mosquitos. Maybe I should let the bat stay the night… ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/4 "2009-08-04T05:58:47Z")
Crap, it’s flying around again. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/5 "2009-08-04T06:03:17Z")
The [thread=477963]last time this happened to me[/thread] I eventually just left the door open and he found his own way out. I’m not sure it is possible to help the little fellow. Don’t get bitten. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/6 "2009-08-04T06:05:13Z")
This happened to my roommate years ago - a bat flew in to my room while I was away on vacation. He cornered it with a tennis racquet, and when the bat flew into the racquet he ran to the door and let it out. So if you have any kind of racquet or net I’d try that. ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/7 "2009-08-04T06:15:43Z")
You might want to get a rabies vaccination, just in case. Especially if you have to leave it in overnight. Apparently, you don’t always feel yourself being bitten. And don’t worry - they don’t actually stick you in the stomach anymore, I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/8 "2009-08-04T07:33:47Z")
Try waiting till it lands. One got in my parents’ house in the 80’s and my father tried to nail it with a broom. My mother yelled “You can’t kill that thing with a broom,” and then they waited till it landed on a towel in the bathroom. My mother then slammed a salad bowl over it and ordered my Dad to take off the bathroom window pane. Then bowl, bat, and towel went out the window hole. I don’t know if anyone ever ate out of that salad bowl again. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/9 "2009-08-04T08:01:07Z")
Don’t let it get tangled up in your hair. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/10 "2009-08-04T08:12:55Z")
It’s never worked for me, but the advice I’ve gotten is to open the door (which you’ve done of course), turn out the lights, and toss a grape or something else edible and “bug sized” out of it in hopes the bat will activate the sonar and chase it thinking it’s a juicy insect. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/11 "2009-08-04T08:21:46Z")
Better in your flat than a bat in your belfry 🙂 Just call animal control, they should come get it. You should be able to buy a cheap net or use a sheet and throw it over the bat. I suppose you’re worried about injuring it, but hey, he lost that when he invaded your turf. I’m sure you don’t go spelunking in his cave ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/12 "2009-08-04T15:56:32Z")
I caught one in our 12’ ceilinged house by using a sheet and a tennis racquet. Racquet to herd it, then slung the sheet up in the air kind of like pizza dough, then rolled it up in the sheet and took it outside. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/13 "2009-08-04T16:14:09Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Do you have a shop vac? Maybe even a regular vacuum with a hose attachment. Not to suck it up, but maybe a vacuum hose attachment would hold it against the nozzle. Then you could hold the nozzle out the window and shut off the vacuum. This works, but the bat DOES get sucked into the shopvac. The best technique I’ve discovered for birds and (I suppose) bats in the house is to get a shirt or a towel and toss it over them. Then gently relocate. I used to have a cat who would bring me home live presents, so I got a lot of practice. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/14 "2009-08-04T16:19:21Z")
Open your doors and windows and wait outside for a while. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/15 "2009-08-04T16:19:27Z")
So did you ever catch the bat? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/16 "2009-08-04T16:22:48Z")
I wonder if this happened to Bruce Wayne. “Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot…so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible…Yes! A bat! \ How the hell am I going to get that thing out of here?” ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/17 "2009-08-04T16:41:13Z")
I’ve successfully caught bats in a fishing net ([this kind](http://www.swiftys-fishing-tackle.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/19_21_61/products_id/4694)) before, when they got into my grandmother’s cottage. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/18 "2009-08-04T18:18:18Z")
Did you have the lights off? Poor little guy. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/19 "2009-08-04T18:26:36Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Don’t let it get tangled up in your hair. Damn you, evil man! ::shudder:: ::shudder:: Bah! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262/20 "2009-08-04T18:40:58Z")
> [@supergoose](#): > > You might want to get a rabies vaccination, just in case. Especially if you have to leave it in overnight. Apparently, you don’t always feel yourself being bitten. And don’t worry - they don’t actually stick you in the stomach anymore, I’ve heard. +1. I would consult a doctor very soon after this whole episode, especially if you even _think_ you might have made contact with the bat at all. A bite is not required in order to transmit rabies. From [the Wikipedia page on bats:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat) > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Only 0.5% of bats carry rabies. However, of the few cases of rabies reported in the United States every year not caused by dogs, most are caused by bat bites.[34] Although most bats do not have rabies, those that do may be clumsy, disoriented, and unable to fly, which makes it more likely that they will come into contact with humans. Although one should not have an unreasonable fear of bats, one should avoid handling them or having them in one’s living space, as with any wild animal. If a bat is found in living quarters near a child, mentally handicapped person, intoxicated person, sleeping person, or pet, the person or pet should receive immediate medical attention for rabies. Bats have very small teeth and can bite a sleeping person without being felt. There is evidence that it is possible for the bat rabies virus to infect victims purely through airborne transmission, without direct physical contact of the victim with the bat itself.[35][36] > > If a bat is found in a house and the possibility of exposure cannot be ruled out, the bat should be sequestered and an animal control officer called immediately, so that the bat can be analysed. This also applies if the bat is found dead. If it is certain that nobody has been exposed to the bat, it should be removed from the house. The best way to do this is to close all the doors and windows to the room except one to the outside. The bat should soon leave. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-bat-in-my-apartment-and-i-cant-catch-it/505262.md?page=2)