Pest control used to mean ants, roaches and the occasional mouse. Lately, more of those service calls come with a very different kind of visitor on the other end — a raccoon in the attic, a squirrel in the soffit, or a colony of bats that found their way into a chimney. Wildlife-removal companies and state wildlife agencies in multiple states are describing an uptick in animals getting into homes that’s bigger than the usual seasonal bump.
Bats Are Driving the Sharpest Increase
Vermont offers the clearest documented example. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Department and its Department of Health have received far more calls this year about bats getting into homes than in any of the past two decades, according to a report from CBS affiliate WCAX published September 8. State wildlife biologists tied the surge to bat calls peaking in July and August, when young bats learn to fly and sometimes end up inside buildings by accident. Emergency room visits related to potential bat exposure are also running above the historic average for this time of year, the station reported.
Bats aren’t a minor nuisance story. They’re already the leading source of human rabies infection in the United States, a fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tracked for years — part of why a spike in bats entering occupied homes gets public health departments involved, not just pest control companies.
Raccoons and Squirrels Aren’t Far Behind
Texas-based Wildlife X Team, a national wildlife-removal franchise, issued its own warning this spring about a jump in intrusions. “Wildlife activity is on the rise, and many people don’t realize there’s a problem until it becomes costly or dangerous,” the company’s CEO, Don Hudson, said in an April press release, pointing to rapid urban expansion and shifting seasonal weather patterns as key drivers. Raccoons and squirrels remain two of the most common nuisance-wildlife calls nationally, according to industry group PestWorld, which tracks the animals homeowners most often report finding in attics, chimneys and crawl spaces.
What to Do Before They Get Comfortable
Wildlife doesn’t need much of an opening. A gap the size of a quarter is enough for a bat, and a squirrel can chew its way into a soffit vent in an afternoon. Capping the chimney, screening attic and roof vents, and sealing gaps where utility lines enter the house are the cheapest ways to keep animals from ever getting a foothold. If something is already inside, resist the DIY instinct, especially with bats — state wildlife agencies and licensed wildlife-control operators know how to remove animals safely and check for rabies exposure risk, which a homeowner poking around in an attic with a flashlight cannot do.
None of this means your neighborhood is suddenly overrun. But if it feels like more of these calls are landing on local news and neighborhood social pages this year, the state-level data backs that impression up — at least for bats, and likely for their more familiar attic-mates too.