If a bat’s loose in your Owen Sound home, don’t chase or grab it. Get everyone out of the room and close the door. If no one was asleep or exposed, open one window and let it fly out; if anyone may have been bitten, contain it for testing instead. Then call The Critter Guy — a real person answers, same-day where we can across Grey-Bruce.
What should I do in the next 10 minutes?
A single bat that got in through a door or window is usually just lost and scared — it wants out as much as you want it out. The goal for the next few minutes is simple: keep everyone safe, don’t corner or handle the bat, and — once you’ve ruled out any exposure — give it a way to leave. Work through these in order:
- Get people and pets out of the room. Close the door behind you so the bat stays contained to one space.
- Don’t chase it or swat at it. Chasing makes it panic and fly erratically. A cornered bat is far more likely to be injured — and a bat you have to handle becomes a health question you’d rather avoid.
- Check for exposure before you let it out. If the bat was in a room where someone was sleeping, or near a young child, an elderly person, anyone who couldn’t say for sure whether they were bitten, or a pet — treat it as a possible rabies exposure. Don’t release it. Safely contain it (thick gloves, and a box or container placed over it) so it can be tested, and call your doctor or Grey Bruce Public Health. You can’t tell by looking whether a bat carries rabies, and once it flies off it can’t be tested.
- If no one was exposed, give it a way out. Turn off ceiling fans and dim or turn off bright lights, then open one exterior window or door and pop the screen. Bats navigate by echolocation; one clear opening to the night air is usually all they need. Give it a few quiet minutes.
- Never touch a bat with bare hands. If it lands and you must contain it, use thick gloves and a box or towel — never fingers.
- Call us. If the bat won’t leave, if it’s in an attic or wall rather than the living space, or if there’s any chance a person or pet had contact with it, stop and call a licensed remover.
Not sure whether it counts as exposure? Don’t guess — contain the bat instead of releasing it, call us, and reach your doctor or Grey Bruce Public Health for the health side. The bat specialists at Bats and Wildlife have a fuller write-up on whether it’s safe to sleep in a room where a bat was.
Quick reference: do this, not that
| Do | Don’t |
|---|---|
| Contain the bat to one room, door closed | Chase it around the house |
| Check for exposure before you let it out | Assume a sleeping-room bat is “fine” |
| Open one window and turn off fans if no one was exposed | Swat at it or knock it down |
| Wear thick gloves if you must contain it | Touch it with bare hands |
| Keep an exposure bat contained for testing | Release a bat someone may have been bitten by |
How fast can you get a bat out of my house in Owen Sound?
Owen Sound is our home base — one of our two locations is right here, and a large share of our jobs are within a 30-minute drive. For a bat loose in your living space, we treat it as a priority and get to you same-day where we can, same-week otherwise. When you call, a real person answers — usually Dave or Roman, the two owners who run every job. It’s a family-run local business, and has been since 2005.
Being local is the point. Shorter drives across Grey and Bruce, and a crew that already knows the older brick-and-stone homes on the East and West Hills, the harbour neighbourhoods, and the cottages out toward Wiarton, Sauble Beach, and Meaford — not a province-wide outfit driving up from the city.
We’re glad to let the work speak for itself: The Critter Guy is well-reviewed by homeowners across Owen Sound and Grey-Bruce, including bat jobs. You can read the testimonials here.
One bat, or a colony? They’re two different jobs
It helps to know which situation you’re in, because the fix is different:
- One bat flying around the living space is the emergency version — follow the 10-minute steps above, and call if it won’t go or there’s any contact concern.
- Bats in the attic, soffit, or wall — droppings along the eaves, chirping at dusk, a greasy stain around a hole, or one or two bats slipping out of the same spot each evening — means a roost, and roosts need humane exclusion, not a quick catch.
We keep the biology light here on purpose. For the deeper health and species side, the bat specialists at Bats and Wildlife have the full picture — start with their complete humane bat-removal guide. This page is about getting a real person to your door.
How do you get bats out — humanely?
We use humane one-way exclusion only — no chemicals, no trapping. A one-way device fits over the active entry point so bats crawl out to feed at dusk but can’t get back in; after several nights with no return activity, we confirm the roost is empty, seal every entry, and clean up the roost area. Several Ontario bat species are at-risk and protected, so exclusion is both the legal way and the right way to do it.
Timing matters, especially May through August. That’s maternity season, when mothers are roosting with flightless pups — seal the entry at the wrong time and the adults get shut out while the pups are trapped inside your wall. So in summer we time the actual exclusion so the whole colony leaves together. The one loose bat in your living room, though, we can help with any time. There’s a full breakdown of the process on our Owen Sound bat removal page.
What does it cost to get a bat out in Owen Sound?
Every home is different, so we give an honest quote up front rather than a one-price-fits-all number — and we walk you through it before any work starts. The main things that move the price:
- How big the colony is and how established the roost has become
- How many entry points need sealing (older Owen Sound homes with original wood soffits tend to have more)
- Roof access — a steep, multi-pitch roof takes more setup than a simple one
- Attic cleanup — whether guano removal, sanitizing, or insulation work is part of the job
There’s no flat rate — a straightforward single-entry exclusion is a smaller job than a large colony with multiple entry points or attic decontamination. We’ll look at your specific situation and walk you through a clear, honest quote up front.
Why call The Critter Guy for a bat in your house?
- Local to Owen Sound — home base here, short drive times across Grey-Bruce, same-day where we can for a bat loose in your living space
- A real person answers — usually Dave or Roman, the owners
- Family-run since 2005 — 20+ years of bat work behind us
- Licensed and insured for wildlife removal in Ontario
- Humane exclusion and a full seal-up — one-way devices, no chemicals or trapping
- Well-reviewed by homeowners across Owen Sound and Grey-Bruce — read the testimonials
Frequently asked questions
Is a bat in my house dangerous?
Bats are mostly harmless and ecologically valuable, and only a small share of tested bats carry rabies — but you can’t tell by looking. The rule is simple: never handle one bare-handed, and treat any possible contact (especially a bat in a room where someone was sleeping) as a reason to contain the bat for testing and call your doctor or public health. For the fuller health picture, see Bats and Wildlife’s guide to whether it’s safe to sleep in a room where a bat was.
Can you come out same day?
Often, yes — for a live bat loose in your living space we treat it as a priority and get there same-day where we can, and usually same-week otherwise. Because we’re based in Owen Sound, drive times across Grey-Bruce are short. Call and a real person will tell you honestly when we can be there.
Do you kill or relocate the bats?
Neither. We use humane one-way exclusion, so bats leave on their own and can’t get back in — no chemicals, no trapping. (For animals we do trap, like raccoons and skunks, Ontario law limits relocation to one kilometre; bats aren’t relocated at all — they’re simply excluded.)
It’s summer — can you still do the work?
We can always inspect and help with a single loose bat. But full attic exclusion in May through August is timed carefully, because mothers are roosting with flightless pups. We’ll schedule the seal-up so the whole colony — adults and young — gets out together, rather than sealing young inside.
How do I book?
Call 519-783-1575 or send us a message through the contact page. Tell us what you’re seeing, and we’ll get you on the schedule.
Got a bat in the house right now in Owen Sound or anywhere in Grey-Bruce? Contain the room — and if anyone may have been exposed, keep the bat for testing — then call 519-783-1575. A real person answers. Prefer to write it out first? Reach us here and Dave or Roman will get right back to you.