Bat Removal in Texas

What if a bat is in a room with people?

The Texas Department of State Health Services says the bat should not be released when contact cannot be ruled out. Its examples:

• someone woke up and found the bat in the room;
• a child, a toddler or a person who cannot report a touch was near it;
• it touched bare skin, or someone stepped on it barefoot;
• someone felt pain after reaching into a dark space.

In those cases the department says to call local animal control to capture the bat and send it for rabies testing. Releasing a bat applies only when it is certain that no person and no pet had contact with it.

Texas law also has a bite or scratch that could pass rabies reported to the local rabies control authority (Health and Safety Code, Section 826.041). A doctor decides about treatment.

Is it legal to remove bats from a building in Texas?

Yes, from a building people occupy. The Parks and Wildlife Code bars hunting a bat, and selling or buying one, but allows a bat to be removed when it is inside or on such a building (Section 63.101).

The section says nothing about method or season. Those questions go to the operator who takes the job.

When are bat pups in the roost?

For the Brazilian free-tailed bat, Texas Parks and Wildlife gives this calendar. Maternity colonies form in early spring. Pups arrive in June, and by early August most of them can fly. The southward migration runs from late October into mid-November.

No Texas Parks and Wildlife page read for this site sets fixed dates for bat work. Two of its news releases describe one-way valves left in place for a week before the openings are sealed. Ask the operator how they time the job around pups that cannot fly.

Where do bats roost in a Texas house?

Texas Parks and Wildlife lists roof overhangs, attics and other spaces in buildings as roosts of the Brazilian free-tailed bat. Look at the eaves from the ground at dusk and note where bats come out.

Who captures a bat for testing?

The state health department names local animal control. Cities word their part differently. Austin treats a bat on the ground as sick and takes that call on 3-1-1. Fort Worth looks into bats where a person or pet may have been exposed (page as captured May 3, 2026). Houston’s BARC says it does not take requests about bat colonies. The list of city answers has each city’s line.

What happens when I call about bats?

Say first whether a bat was in a room with people. For a colony in the attic or a wall, give your ZIP code and where you see bats leave the building. Where an independent operator works at that address, the request goes to that operator, who inspects and gives a price.