Wildlife / Around the house
Something's in the house or yard.
A raccoon in the attic, a skunk under the deck, an armadillo digging the lawn, a possum on the porch. Here's the part that trips everyone up.
What you can do
- Take away what's attracting it: secure trash, feed pets indoors, clean up fallen birdseed and fruit, cap chimneys, and seal holes into attics and under decks (after you're sure no animals - or babies - are inside).
- A landowner or the landowner's agent may take a nuisance furbearer causing damage on that land without a hunting or trapping license, but other laws still govern the method. The animal generally cannot be kept, and poison is not a do-it-yourself answer.
- Call local animal control or a wildlife-control professional for trapping and exclusion - the simplest route for most homeowners.
- For rural crop or livestock damage (feral hogs, predators), USDA Wildlife Services and county extension offices can help.
Bats - protected, but removable
Getting a bat out of your house
Bats eat tons of insects and are protected in Texas - you may not kill, sell, or possess them. One exception: a bat inside or on a building people use may be removed. Do it the right way.
No poison or mothballs: Never use poison, sprays, or mothballs on bats. It doesn't work, and it's illegal - mothballs are a registered pesticide, and using them this way breaks the product's federal label.
Use exclusion: The humane fix is exclusion: let the bats leave to feed, then seal the openings so they cannot return. TPWD discourages exclusions from May 1 through August 15 because young bats may be unable to fly and could be trapped inside. A professional can time and do the work correctly.
Bat in a bedroom? If a bat is in a room with a sleeping person, an unattended child, or someone who may not know whether contact occurred, close the room, keep people and pets away, and call local animal control or the health department before releasing it. A bat bite can be tiny, and the animal may need rabies testing. Do not touch it bare-handed.
Keep going
Official sources
Nuisance-animal control rules come from TPWD; the ban on moving rabies-vector animals comes from Texas DSHS. Bats are protected nongame, with a building-removal exception.
- Data vintage:
- Nuisance and bat rules as reviewed July 2026
- Last reviewed:
- July 10, 2026
- TPWD - Nuisance Fur-bearing Animals - Control and relocation rules
- Texas DSHS - Wild Animal Transport Rules - Why you can't move rabies-vector animals
- TPWD - Bats & Nongame Species
Before you act: Relocation rules are strict and vary by species. A licensed wildlife control operator is the safest route, and the official pages are the final word. How to use Texas Porch carefully.
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