You’ve found yourself in the tricky situation of having a bat in your attic. Due to reasons you might be unable to remove it, perhaps you don’t want to ruin its home, or you’re busy with more urgent matters. Regardless you should be aware of the mating season of bats as you might find yourself with a family of bats.

The Maternity Season of Bats

The maternity season of bats heavily relies on the climate of the state you’re located in. Warmer areas will have the maternity season start earlier than areas in the north. In general, it begins in the range of mid- April to the beginning of June, and it ends in mid to late August. The season captures not only the birth of the baby bats but their initial development, meaning that at the end of the maternity season all of the babies will be fully capable of flying and the mother won’t have to bring food to them at night.

Of course, for a pregnant, mother bat to even consider giving birth to the next generation of the species on your property, she would need to create a roost. That would mean she would have to find a suitable, safe place with the possibility to find food during the night in nearby locations. There’s plenty of ways to prevent that situation from happening.

Safely Removing the Population

There’s exclusion devices that a person could mount up on all entry points of the attic, which serves as a one-way path. The bat would be able to leave the premises, but be unable to enter it through the same path. That could pose to be a problem, especially in cases where you exclude the mother from the newborn bats, as she won’t be able to come back in and feed them which could because you trouble. Keep in mind that only full grown bats go out hunting at night.

Don’t Remove During Maternity Season

There’s a large list of reasons because of which you shouldn’t bother the bats during the maternity season. The first and most important one is because they are protected by the law, and it is literally illegal. As surprising as it may be, bats are endangered species, which control the pest and insect population, thus positioning them at a vital step on the food-chain.

You could theoretically obtain a special permit in the rare case that the bat poses a direct threat to your well being, however, you would have to prove that.

Another reason to not remove the bats during the maternity season is that it is simply inhumane. If you restrict the access of the mother to its babies, she will be unable to provide them with food; they won’t develop and will eventually starve to death. The mother bat will also not simply give up because of the exclusion device; she will scratch to your walls if she has to, to get back to her babies.

With that in mind, it would be best to wait until the end of the maternity season to solve your “problem”.

Read the How to get rid of bats page for helpful information and to learn more about Will a Bat in the Attic Have a Nest/Roost of Babies?