Wildlife Removal in Austin, Texas
Calls from Austin ZIP codes go to an independent operator where one works at the address. Where none does, the call stays with Local Core Group; this page does not say Austin has an operator.
Wildlife removal in Austin, Texas is left to private operators for healthy animals, and a call here is passed to one where an operator works at your address.
Austin Animal Services does not remove healthy native wildlife, so an animal living in an attic is the owner’s to deal with. The city does respond to sick or injured wildlife, to a bat on the ground, and to bites.
Who do I call about an animal in my attic in Austin?
For a healthy animal in the attic, a private operator: Austin Animal Services does not remove healthy native wildlife. For a sick or injured animal, a bat on the ground, or any bite or exposure, call 3-1-1 or 512-974-2000, which reaches Animal Protection.
What Austin says it does
Austin and unincorporated Travis County
Austin Animal Services, Animal Protection
- 3-1-1 or 512-974-2000: inside Austin: sick or injured wildlife, a bat on the ground, and any bite or exposure to a wild animal.
- 512-974-2000: the same office, from unincorporated Travis County.
Healthy wildlife in an attic: Animal Services does not remove healthy native wildlife. It has two Wildlife Officers, one for the city and one for Travis County, who advise residents instead.
What the city does respond to: Officers pick up sick or injured wildlife. A bat on the ground counts as sick: leave it alone and call. Bites and exposures to wild animals are reported to Animal Protection, and the city tells residents to see a doctor promptly about rabies treatment.
City and county pages read November 13, 2026. Source: City of Austin, Austin Animal Services, Wildlife; City of Austin, Austin Animal Services, Animal Protection; City of Austin, Austin Animal Services, Animal Bites; Travis County Health and Human Services, Animal Control.
Other cities are in the Texas city lookup.
What does Austin Animal Services do about wildlife?
It advises. The city says Animal Services does not remove healthy native wildlife and that its two Wildlife Officers, one for the City of Austin and one for Travis County, work with residents on the conflict instead.
Officers do pick up sick or injured wildlife, which goes to Austin Wildlife Rescue, and they remove non-native animals.
What about a bat in Austin?
The city treats a bat on the ground as a sick animal. Leave it where it is and call 3-1-1.
A bat in a room with a sleeping person is a state health matter as well: the Texas Department of State Health Services says not to let that bat go, so that it can be tested. The Texas bat page has those steps.
Austin has more bats than most cities. By the Texas Parks and Wildlife count, roughly 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats live at the Congress Avenue Bridge, and around 750,000 pups are born there in a year. That figure describes the bridge, not houses.
Who takes a bite or exposure report in Austin?
Animal Protection. The city has every animal bite, and every exposure to a wild animal, reported through 3-1-1 or 512-974-2000 or on its Animal Exposure Report, and tells residents to see a primary-care provider promptly about rabies treatment. In an emergency the number is 9-1-1.
What if I live outside the city limits?
Animal Protection is a joint program of Austin and Travis County. Travis County gives 512-974-2000 as the number for unincorporated parts of the county. Neither page read says which smaller cities the program serves, so if you live in one, ask when you call.
Who handles a healthy animal in an Austin attic?
A private operator, hired by the owner. This site names none and does not say that one works at any Austin address. Start with the page for the animal: the raccoon page, the squirrel page or the opossum page.
Austin questions
Will Austin 3-1-1 send someone for a raccoon in my attic?
Not for a healthy one. Austin Animal Services says it does not remove healthy native wildlife. It does respond to sick or injured animals.
What number reaches Animal Protection from unincorporated Travis County?
512-974-2000, according to Travis County’s animal control page.
What this page rests on
Each link opens the page or statute a fact here came from, with the date it was read. A title that names an Internet Archive capture was read from that saved copy, not from the live page.
- WildlifeCity of Austin, Austin Animal Services
- Animal ProtectionCity of Austin, Austin Animal Services
- Animal BitesCity of Austin, Austin Animal Services
- Animal ControlTravis County Health and Human Services
- Bat Exposure ScenariosTexas Department of State Health Services
- Bat-watching sites: Congress Avenue Bridge, AustinTexas Parks and Wildlife Department
How this page was checked
- Last checked
- , by Local Core Group, against the pages and statutes listed here
- Method
- How pages on this site are researched and written
- Sources
- One page lists everything the site relies on: all sources
This page is general information for Texans. It is not legal or medical advice and not an inspection of your house. Facts from state and city pages are restated in this site’s own words and linked; where a city page was read from a dated archive copy, the page says so. The operator who takes a job answers for following state and city rules.
Corrections. If a line here is wrong or a source has changed, name the page and the line through the contact form or call 512-434-0107. A correction that checks out against the source is made, and the page gets a new date.
Animal pages for Austin homes
Raccoon removal
A fur-bearing animal under Texas law, with state rules on taking it and on moving it once caught.
Raccoons →Squirrel removal
Game animals under Texas law. This page is short, because the state pages read say little about one in a building.
Squirrels →Bat removal
What to do when a bat is in a room with people, what state law allows, and when pups are in the roost.
Bats →Opossum removal
An opossum inside the house or attic. Yards and decks are outside what this page covers.
Opossums →Call about an animal in an Austin house
Give the sound, the hour you hear it, the part of the house and your ZIP code. The request is passed to an independent operator where one works at that address; that operator inspects and gives the price.