Pregnant bats flooding NJ homes spark urgent April removal warning

🔴 A surge in bats, including pregnant ones, is driving infestations inside New Jersey homes after a harsh winter.
⚠️ Experts warn April is the critical window to remove bats before baby season makes it illegal to act.
🔴 Bat droppings can pose serious health risks, including lung infections like histoplasmosis.

The brutally cold February has led to a surge in bats, especially pregnant ones, taking up residence inside people’s homes in New Jersey.

Surge in bats invading New Jersey homes after brutal winter

This can cause a whole array of issues, but Josh Fogle, Northeast Region Sales Manager at Critter Control, says it’s imperative to get them out now, before they give birth.

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NJ bat removal laws tighten during baby season

Bats are very beneficial to the environment, and some species are considered endangered, protected, and native to New Jersey, which means they are highly protected by local and government authorities, Fogle said. So, there are very limited ways animal control can address the problem.

“We can only utilize one-way doors or bat valves to allow them to escape without catching or killing, and then we have to make sure that the structure is completely sealed so they can’t get back in,” Fogle said.

The problem with that is that baby season for bats is in the summer and when they have the babies, animal control cannot legally remove them. They are not allowed to separate the parents from the babies, and the babies won’t leave until August or September.

April ‘blackout month’ critical for bat removal in NJ

So, the month of April, especially early April, is designated a safe “blackout month” for bat removal. Fogle said once April passes, there is nothing that can be done to remove bats from your home in New Jersey until August through October.

That’s the winter blackout period, which is not as strict as summer bat baby season. So, in reality, there are only three or four months during the entire year that bats can be safely removed from a home, Fogle said.

“The full month of April is the main time that we’re allowed to take care of bats, so it’s pivotal that if there’s any kind of bat issue, that we take care of it now,” he said.

Health risks from bats in homes include rabies and lung infections

Once those babies are born, nobody can do anything legally to remove them.
This causes so many issues. First, the bats are repopulating in the attic, the wall, or wherever they are hiding out.

If they bite or scratch you, they can give you rabies, which is 100% fatal.

Fogle said while rabies infections are relatively low, the more worrisome thing about having bats in your home involves their guano or poop.

If bats are in your home for a long time and you don’t know it, the guano will collect, spore, and fungal infections could form inside your lungs, most notably histoplasmosis, a scarring of the lungs.

This can cause permanent damage by just breathing in the air that’s contaminated with guano, Fogle said.

Oftentimes, you may not even know you have bats in your home. They are small, so they can fit through small gaps high up in your home.

But if you notice bats flying outside your home, Fogle said it’s a good idea to have a professional come out and check the attic. The signs of a bat infestation are not always visible.

A professional will remove the bats (again, only during certain months of the year), they will clean and sanitize the area, and then to keep them from returning, the house needs to be completely sealed up because bats are small and can squeeze in and under vents, Fogle said.

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