Florida Administrative Code addressing bats

Bats are considered Florida wildlife and are protected under the Florida Administrative Code Chapter 68A-4.001General Prohibitions,

as well as Chapter 68A-9.010:

Chapter 68A-4.001 General Prohibitions: No wildlife or freshwater fish or their nests, eggs, young, homes or dens shall be taken, transported, stored, served, bought, sold, or possessed in any manner or quantity at any time except as specifically permitted by these rules nor shall anyone take, poison, store, buy, sell, possess, or wantonly or willfully waste the same except as specifically permitted by these rules.

Chapter 68A-9.010 Taking Nuisance Wildlife:  Any person owning property may take nuisance wildlife or they may authorize another person to take nuisance wildlife on their behalf except those species listed in subsection (1) below on their property by any method except those methods listed in subsection (2) below…

[The following excerpts are those relating to bats:]

(1) Wildlife prohibited to take as nuisance wildlife:

3. Bats - Except that bats may be taken either when:

a. that take is incidental to the use of an exclusion device, a device which allows escape from and blocks re-entry into a roost site located within a structure (including chemical repellants), [see note below] at any time from August 15 to April 15 or

b. that take is incidental to permanent repairs which prohibit the egress of bats from a roost site located within a structure provided an exclusion device as described in sub-subparagraph a. above is used for a minimum of four consecutive days/nights for which the low temperature is forecasted by the U.S. National Weather Service to remain above 50°F prior to repairs and during the time-period specified.

(2) Methods that may not be used to take nuisance wildlife:

(d) Bat exclusion devices or any other intentional use of a device or material at a roost site which may prevent or inhibit the free ingress and/or egress of bats from April 16 through August 14.

The above rules are effective July 1, 2008

Note:  Although Chemical repellents may deter some bats from using a roost for a while, they cannot be depended upon to force all bats out of a roost at a given point in time and therefore are not an effective exclusion device.  The use of chemical repellents is not recommended by the

Florida Bat Conservancy.