I've just discovered i have a bat in the house and i need to know how to catch it and get it outside where it belongs.
I don't want to hurt it if possible.
I had the door wide open but it wouldn't go out and it it is surprising hard to catch even in an enclosed space.
We don't have an attic so i am not sure how it got in. Any advice?

Perhaps an old bedsheet or towel?

I've always found a towel works well. Bats are much easier to catch in the house than birds - you can sneak up on them. Just wait until it settles someplace and throw the towel over it.

Why, yes, I have had a cat for many years, why do you ask?

We've had bats a couple of times .. I reckon they came down the chimney. Each time we just had to wait for them to fly out! Turned all the lights on inside and opened all doors and windows and tried to herd them out. lol

In the UK, and here too, I think that it is illegal to remove bats however you can make it harder for them.

It is illegal to remove bats? So if the cat brings one into your house you have to let it stay there? Or are you talking about them nesting, say in your attic?

In the UK, unless you are qualified and are in possession of a licence, you are not even permitted to handle a bat. If a bat enters your house you are required to contact the local authority who will arrange for a licensed and qualified wildlife officer to visit you and remove it.

Isn't that interesting. Are they endangered, is that the reasoning?

We're losing all our bats here at an alarming rate, due to a dreadful fungus disease that is possibly spread on the boots and clothing of cave explorers. I've never heard of any laws here about the handling of bats, though, although we are always cautioned to be careful, as there is a small chance that they may carry rabies.

My cat carried birds, bats, and small rodents into the house on a regular basis - sometimes dead, but pretty often alive and just scared stiff. We learned never to startle her when she was trotting by in that businesslike fashion that meant she had something - she'd invariably drop it, and then the hunt would have to be on.

I was thinking that maybe it's because of the threat of rabies.

We had a bat once and I used a T-Shirt to throw over it; it's much lighter weight than a towel. They seem so fragile, I wouldn't want to hurt it.

It's because all species of bat in the UK are protected. There has been a case of someone being bitten by a bat with a disease akin to rabies but that is not the reason. I live on an estate built within an old sandstone quarry and there are bat roosts in the remaining "cliffs" - so when I heard noises in my loft I was convinced some had moved in. It's no big deal if they do - bats tend to move their roosts every two or three years and their droppings are dry and don't cause problems - but in my case it was a squirrel. I'd rather have had the bats, squirrels are a real nuisance.

If bats are roosting in your loft you cannot remove them. If one gets into the body of the house you can try to get it to go outside of its own volition, e.g. by dimming the lights and opening all the windows at dusk (make sure you close the door to the room they're in first though). This may only be done in spring, summer, and autumn - in winter, the bat may die in the cold so you can't encourage it to go outside. If it won't go out on its own or if it's winter you have to call the local authority and they will send a bat expert round, who may have the title of bat carer. "What's your job, sonny Jim?" "I'm a bat carer."

And you must never disturb bats in the breeding season or when there are young bats around. The penalties are even more severe during that period.

Anyway, I love to watch them. They fly over my garden a lot, and they eat insects - what's not to like?

Hopefully it's information I'll never need, as I hope I get no bats in the house, but thanks for this post! I had no idea that bats were protected in the UK!

I am reading a hairdresser's information booklet and it says that "It is a myth that bats are transported into buildings hidden in beehive hairdos. That is how the bees get inside. It is advised though not to make any bat cave hairdos."

I love to watch them, too - they're so "not birds", if that makes any sense.

There are huge colonies of bats in Sydney. I recently watched the night sky for over 20 minutes and saw them fly past in their thousands. They were flying foxes, aka fruit bats, and they are quite large- a wingspan of almost a metre.

I have a 17th Century cottage nestled in Devon.... I enjoy little more than sitting in my garden summerhouse on a balmy summer evening and watching 'my bats' flitting around the eaves and the trees after their insects and moths. I have encouraged bats to roost in my house by placing bat boxes. I think they're wonderful little creatures!

Who would have guessed so many people on FunTrivia had bats in their belfries?

Yes and there's me thinking we only had one Old Bat!

When I was to have more insulation added to my loft a few months ago the first question that I was asked was "Do you have any bats in there?" Fortunately I don't so they went ahead and did the work.

I am beginning to think that having a bat roost somewhere in my house is not such a bad idea, they are the perfect guests, quiet and unobtrusive, except for the times it flies out of nowhere and scares the bejesus out of me, but i can put up with that.
I will let it stay as long as it wants and i will give it a name,Richard.
Ha, you thought iwas going to name it something else, didn't you?

"Well now I know just one more reason why I don't want a cat," says this dog lover!

Bats - all - in Australia carry lyssavirus which is deadly to humans. It is related to rabies and we have had deaths caused by bites. Wildlife rescuers and vets etc are vaccinated for lyssavirus. Not sure if the disease is present elswhere in the world so be careful!

It seems to me that ANYTHING in Australia that isn't domesticated wants to kill you!