This page provides information on bat-related problems and ways to make your home less attractive to bats in the first place.
For more information on these mammals, including the different kinds that live in the forest preserves and what they eat, visit the main bats page.
Bats can carry rabies, so if a bat enters your house, do not touch it. If possible, close interior doors to keep it in one room, and then call your local animal-control office.
Only 3 to 5 percent of tested bats have rabies, but because the disease is so severe, if a bat is in your home or if you come in contact with one, call your local animal-control office for assistance and report the incident to DuPage County Animal Care and Control at 630-407-2800. Depending on the circumstances, health officials may need to test the bat and may recommend postexposure vaccines, which are given in the arm like a flu shot.
Bats are also associated with Histoplasma capsulatum, a fungus that grows in areas with lots of bat droppings. People who inhale its spores can get histoplasmosis, a lung disease, but severe cases are rare. Removing accumulated bat droppings requires personal protective equipment, and only experienced professionals should remove large deposits.
A Bat in Your House
How to Make Your Home Less Attractive
What You Should Never Do
Public Health Concerns
If you find a wild animal that looks injured or orphaned, leave it alone and call the Forest Preserve District's Willowbrook Wildlife Center at 630-942-6200. Recordings offer general advice when the center is closed.
Or visit the wildlife rescue advice page.
More About
Birds
Fish
Frogs, Turtles, Snakes & More
Insects, Spiders, Crayfish & More
Mammals
Mussels & Snails
Living With Wildlife
Beavers
Chipmunks & Ground Squirrels
Coyotes
Eastern Cottontails
Mallards & Geese
Opossums
Raccoons
Skunks
Songbirds
Tree Squirrels
White-Tailed Deer
Woodchucks
Woodpeckers
Banner image by Brandon Keim/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
3S580 Naperville Road
Wheaton, IL 60189
630-933-7200
forest@dupageforest.org
Monday – Friday
8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
The Forest Preserve District is committed to making its facilities accessible to all visitors. Contact 630-933-7683 or TTY 800-526-0857.