We’ve arrived at the time of year where bats in Iowa are starting to go dormant and hibernate for the winter.

Jefferson resident and Carroll County Conservation Naturalist Matt Wetrich says if you have an unwanted bat inside your home, typically you can open a door or window and bats will naturally navigate their way out. He notes you can also use a bed sheet between two broomsticks to create a wall to steer the bat out of your home.

Wetrich offers this advice of trapping a bat that had landed in your home. The materials that are needed include a container with one open end and a flat surface like cardboard or newspaper.

“Sort of sneak up and trap it on the wall, or the curtain, or whatever it may be (with your container). Then you take your cardboard, and you slide it up underneath your container, and you’re going to actually slide it right off the wall – you might hear a little resistance from it – and you slide it all the way up until you’ve trapped it inside of your container. Then you can go outside, and if you want to just set it there (on the ground) with the top off and let it figure it out by itself, great. Otherwise if you want to go dump it onto a tree branch or into a bush, something like that, (it’s) very easy to do.”

Wetrich points out bats are beneficial to the environment in regulating insect populations. He says it’s unlikely that an encounter with a bat may result in contracting rabies and bats are not interested in being around people. He notes that the common little brown and big brown bats are protected in Iowa and can’t be killed. Wetrich adds if you are uncomfortable with getting rid of bats on your own, you can contact the Jefferson Police Department as they also provide excellent services in trapping bats and letting them go outside of your home.