Bat Exclusion Season Is Open — Schedule Before It Fills

Every year on August 16, my phone starts ringing. That's the date Texas bat exclusion season opens, and for every homeowner who spent the summer listening to bats in their attic and waiting for me to be able to do something about it — that date means everything.

If you have bats in your Georgetown home, here's everything you need to know about the season, the law, and why waiting even a few days into August can mean waiting months.

Why There's a "Season" for Bat Removal in Texas

Bats in Texas are legally protected. You cannot kill them, trap them, or poison them. The only legal method for removing bats from a structure is exclusion — installing one-way devices that let bats fly out at dusk but prevent them from re-entering.

But even exclusion has a legal window. From April 1 through August 15, bat exclusion is prohibited in Texas. This is the maternity season, when female Mexican free-tailed bats give birth and raise their pups. During this period, the pups are flightless — they can't follow their mother out through an exclusion device. Excluding the adults would strand the babies inside, where they would die.

The result would be a dead animal problem on top of a bat problem — and a Texas Parks & Wildlife violation on top of that.

So for roughly four and a half months every year, I inspect homes, document entry points, and prepare jobs — but I cannot perform exclusion. The season opens August 16, and it runs through March 31.

What Makes August–September Our Busiest Time

Think about what happens the moment August 16 arrives:

• Every homeowner who discovered bats in April, May, June, or July is calling at once
• Every job I inspected and quoted during the maternity season goes on the schedule
• New calls come in as homeowners start noticing bats emerging at dusk in the evening heat

The result is that August and September are by far our highest-demand months. Jobs scheduled in early August get done quickly. Jobs that call in late September may be looking at October availability.

What Bat Exclusion Actually Involves

A lot of homeowners imagine exclusion is complicated — it's actually straightforward when done correctly. Here's what we do:

1. Full inspection — We walk the entire roofline looking for entry points. Bats enter through gaps as small as 3/8 inch. Ridge caps, soffits, gable vents, and where the roof meets the fascia are common entry spots. We find every gap before placing a single device.
2. One-way exclusion devices — We install exclusion netting or tubes over active entry points. Bats fly out at dusk and cannot re-enter. We monitor activity for 3–7 nights.
3. Permanent sealing — Once activity stops, devices come down and every gap is sealed with caulk, hardware cloth, and metal flashing. This is the step that makes it permanent.
4. Optional cleanup — Accumulated bat guano in your attic can harbor Histoplasma spores. We offer full attic cleanup and insulation replacement if needed.

Georgetown's Bat Situation

Central Texas is one of the densest bat habitats in North America. Georgetown sits in the flight corridor between Austin's massive Congress Avenue Bridge colony (1.5 million bats) and the cave systems to the north and west, including Inner Space Cavern right along I-35.

Mexican free-tailed bats range up to 50 miles per night in search of roost sites. Georgetown attics — especially in the city's older neighborhoods near the historic Square and in homes adjacent to the San Gabriel River corridor — are constantly being scouted.

Once bats find a roost, they return year after year. Colonies grow. A colony of 30 becomes 100 within a few seasons. The sooner exclusion happens, the smaller the problem — and the smaller the cleanup.

Signs You Have Bats in Your Attic

• Bats emerging from a specific point on your roofline at dusk
• Dark brown staining at entry points (bat grease from fur)
• Scratching or chittering sounds in the attic, especially at dusk and dawn
• Strong ammonia smell from the attic (guano accumulation)
• Small dark pellets in the attic — smooth and slightly segmented, unlike rat droppings
• A bat found inside your living space (it fell through a gap in the attic floor)

Any one of these is enough to warrant an inspection. A free inspection confirms whether you have bats and identifies exactly where they're getting in.

The Bottom Line

If you've been waiting since spring to deal with your bat problem — the wait is over. Call us, get an inspection if you haven't had one, and let's get you on the schedule. The season runs through March 31, but the calendar fills from the August 16 starting gun.

For more detail on the exclusion process, read our full bat exclusion Texas guide or see our bat removal Georgetown TX service page.