Thank you for submitting a report of the bat(s) you found. In most cases we will not be able to immediately respond to your submission and this does not act as an emergency contact page.

In cases of direct human or pet exposure to a bite, scratch or saliva of a bat and rabies testing may be required, please contact your health care provider or veterinarian and work with your County Health Department to get the bat tested. Bats sent in for rabies testing should be refrigerated, not frozen. In addition, we encourage you to submit a sick and dead bat report via the following form.

If you find one or more sick and/or dead bats, please fill out the following reporting form. If you are reporting five or more dead bats at one time, the WDNR Bat Program may be interested in investigating for cause of death. Please consider collecting any freshly dead carcasses for this purpose by double-bagging and freezing. Carcasses that have been dead more than 12 hours are generally not useful. Do not collect carcasses if there is a noticeable odor or there are insects present.

- Do not attempt to collect a live bat, and if you are unsure if it is alive, DO NOT handle it.
- If you are certain it is dead, collect it by wearing gloves or putting your hand in a plastic bag using it as a glove and then inverting the bag around the carcass.
- Place the bat and bag in a freezer or in a leak-proof container and keep it cool either in a refrigerator or outside if temperatures are below 45 degrees.
- Wash or discard the gloves and wash your hands with soap and water
- Indicate in the comments section that you collected one or more carcasses and DNR staff will contact you as soon as possible.
- If you have immediate questions, contact WDNR switchboard at 608.267.0866 or DNRWildlifeSwitchboard@wisconsin.gov.

If you find a bat hibernating in a building in winter, in most cases it is best to release it outside in a sheltered location using gloves and the box method. If hibernating bats are found inside homes during extreme cold or weather events and cannot be safely released outside, consider contacting a local wildlife rehabilitation facility in addition to filing a sick/dead bat report.

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