Raccoons, skunks, squirrels and bats in a Michigan attic

First, find out what is in there and whether it has young

Scratching overhead at night does not tell you the species, and the species decides which Michigan rule applies. Before you call anyone, write down when you hear it, where, and what you have seen: droppings, tracks, a tail, an animal at dusk. Do not seal anything yet. If young are inside, sealing an adult out is the wrong move, and DNR says only licensed wildlife rehabilitators may possess abandoned or injured wildlife and suggests contacting one before removing a young animal whose mother is believed dead.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) publishes species pages for raccoons, skunks, squirrels, opossums and bats, and a circular for nuisance animal control permittees. Everything below comes from those, apart from two city animal control notes.

Raccoons

DNR says a raccoon doing or about to do damage may be lethally removed with a legal weapon or trap on private property year-round by the property owner or a designee, without a written permit, where hunting and trapping are allowed. For a raccoon in an attic, DNR suggests noise or ammonia-soaked rags to encourage it to leave, then sealing the entry. DNR’s species page says it does not authorize or conduct live capture and release, while its circular tells permittees that raccoons may be relocated only within the county of capture. The circular and the public page differ, which is why a company’s promise of release should be treated as a question. Call DNR before taking any action yourself, since local rules on traps and firearms can differ.

Skunks

Skunks and their offspring may not be rehabilitated or possessed in Michigan because of rabies risk. A property owner or designee may lethally remove a skunk doing or about to do damage without a hunting or trapping license where hunting or trapping is allowed. DNR’s circular says skunks must be euthanized and not relocated. Neither Ann Arbor nor Sterling Heights animal control will help: Ann Arbor’s says it does not remove skunks or bats, and Sterling Heights Animal Control does not respond to calls for skunk removal. Both tell residents to call a private service.

Squirrels and opossums

DNR’s species pages for squirrels and opossums repeat the live-release statement. Opossums doing or about to do damage may be lethally removed by owners or designees without a hunting or trapping license where allowed, and DNR suggests contacting a rehabilitator before removing young squirrels whose mother is believed dead. For woodchucks, DNR recommends sturdy fencing buried at least 12 inches deep. DNR’s guidance on small rodents, which covers wild species, adds metal flashing and hardware cloth over openings.

Bats

Bats are the case with a health clock. DNR’s circular says bats are the most common animal with rabies in Michigan. A bat found in a room with a sleeping, impaired or very young person, or any contact where a bite cannot be ruled out, is potential rabies exposure. Report it to the local health department, save the bat for testing when you can do so safely, and expect that exposed people may need post-exposure treatment. Bat bites and scratches must be reported to the local health department under Michigan law.

Removing bats from a building is a timing problem. DNR’s public page says to wait until the young can fly, typically late summer, to use one-way doors and then seal openings, and to avoid exclusion in the maternity season, typically May to mid-August. Its permittee circular says to avoid June 1 through August 15, says removal during May 15 to August 15 should be limited to what protects human health, and permits lethal methods at any time if human or domestic-animal exposure is suspected. Because DNR gives slightly different dates in the two documents, treat the window as roughly mid-May through mid-August and ask the company which document it follows. Bats fit through holes as small as one-half inch, and five bat species are state or federally listed: little brown, northern long-eared, Indiana, evening and tricolor or eastern pipistrelle.

Who may be hired, and what to ask

A business removing nuisance wildlife needs a DNR permit, free to the business, and works under its permit with its employees. DNR publishes a directory, says it does not endorse listed businesses and says the list is updated once a year and may be incomplete. Permittees may act any time of year in cities, villages or townships closed to hunting or that prohibit firearm discharge, from April 1 to September 30 elsewhere, and at any time within the complainant’s house, buildings and yard. Ask for the DNR permit number, which species the company will remove, what happens to the animal, who repairs the entry point and what the price includes. DNR also says euthanasia must use methods approved by DNR, following the American Veterinary Medical Association’s guidelines. The DNR Permit Specialist is at 517-284-6210.

What a fair visit includes

A sensible wildlife visit has an inspection of the whole roofline and the attic, an identification of the animal and a statement of whether young are present. It names the method, which may be exclusion with one-way doors, a trap or something else, and says what will happen to the animal. It lists every entry point and who will close it, and it says if droppings or nesting material will be removed and by whom. DNR’s rules cover the animal; the repair falls outside them, so it is what you negotiate. Get the scope and the price in writing, and ask what happens if the animal or a different one returns through the same entry.

A simple order of operations

Listen and record. Identify. If it may be a bat, deal with the exposure question first. If it may have young, call DNR or a rehabilitator before anyone acts. Choose between acting yourself where DNR allows it and hiring a permitted business. Close the entry only after the animal is out. Then check the repair after the next rain and again after the next cold snap, since a patch that fails shows up when the weather changes.

Closing the entry

Whatever the species, the lasting part is the entry. Ask the company to show you every hole it found and to say who closes it and with what. Photograph before and after. Our wildlife removal page lists the license questions, and the emergency page covers the bat exposure steps in short form.