Silver Bullet Pest ControlSeeing bats pour out of the roofline at dusk, or finding piles of dark droppings in the attic? That's usually a colony, not a lost bat. Silver Bullet Pest Control serves Linden homeowners with bat inspections, humane exclusion on New Jersey's legal dates, acoustic bat surveys in the cold months, and guano and insulation clean-up afterward.
4.9 stars on Google • NJ License 90568B • Licensed by NJ Fish & Wildlife • 15+ years • Hablamos español
Bat inside the living space right now? Call or text 973-510-2585 — and if it was in a room with someone sleeping, don't let it go.
A bat colony in an attic in Linden, NJ is removed by exclusion: every gap is sealed except the bats' main exits, one-way devices let the bats fly out at night but not return, and then the last openings are closed. In New Jersey this can only be done April 1–30 or August 1–October 15, or in the colder months after an acoustic survey shows no bats inside. Silver Bullet Pest Control serves Linden and is licensed by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife; call or text 973-510-2585 for a free quote.
The plan depends on which one you have. Here's how to tell them apart:
| One stray bat | A bat colony in the attic | |
|---|---|---|
| What you notice | A single bat in a room, garage or basement | Many bats leaving the roof at dusk, night after night |
| Droppings | None, or a few scattered | Piles of guano under one spot in the attic or on a sill outside |
| Sound | Usually none | Scratching or squeaking in a wall or ceiling, often near dusk |
| Smell | None | Ammonia smell from the attic in warm weather |
| Season | Any time, often late summer | Mostly spring through early fall; some stay through winter |
| What it needs | Get the bat out safely, check how it got in | Full inspection, exclusion on legal dates, sealing and clean-up |
One bat in the house can still be a sign of a colony in the attic. If it happens twice, assume there's a roost and have the house inspected.
Stand outside 15 minutes before sunset and watch the roofline. Bats leaving one by one from the same gap means a roost.
Dark droppings that crumble into shiny dust when pressed, piled under a beam or at the base of a wall.
Greasy brown stains around a crack at the soffit, fascia, vent or chimney where bats squeeze in and out.
Scratching and chirping in the walls or ceiling when the bats leave in the evening and come back before sunrise.
Don't confuse bats with squirrels: squirrels are noisy in the morning and daytime and chew bigger holes. Our attic noises guide helps you tell the difference.
Linden has a lot of older housing — Cape Cods, colonials and two-family homes on tight lots, many built decades ago and re-roofed or re-sided over the years. Every re-roof and siding job leaves joints, and over time those joints open. A gap the width of a finger at the roof edge is enough for a bat.
The spots we check first on homes like these:
Linden is in Union County, farther from our Garfield base than our core Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson towns. We serve Linden, and bat visits there are scheduled ahead; a same-day visit is sometimes possible. Because exclusion is tied to legal dates anyway, booking the inspection early is the smart move.
New Jersey protects bats during the pup season, so timing decides when the work happens:
| Dates | Exclusion allowed? | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| April 1 – April 30 | Yes | Exclude the colony before pups are born |
| May 1 – July 31 | No | Inspect, plan and seal non-roost gaps only; pups can't fly yet |
| August 1 – October 15 | Yes | Main exclusion window once pups are flying |
| October 16 – March 31 | Only after an acoustic survey shows no bats | Acoustic bat survey, then seal if clear; otherwise plan for April |
An inspection is allowed any time of year. What the calendar controls is when the bats can be shut out. More detail on our licensed bat exclusion page.
It's common to notice bats once the weather turns — a bat shows up in the basement, or you hear something in the wall on a mild winter day. Some bats, especially big brown bats, can spend the winter inside walls and attics in New Jersey.
Between October 16 and March 31, the house can only be sealed after an acoustic bat survey shows no bats are present. We do those surveys ourselves. If the survey picks up bats, sealing waits until the April window.
What you should never do is seal the gaps or spray foam with bats inside. Trapped bats die in the walls or find their way into the house.
A licensed technician checks the roof, soffits, fascia, vents, chimney and attic, finds the roost and the exits, and confirms it's bats and not another animal.
Every opening except the main exits is closed so the colony has only the routes we control.
Exclusion devices go on the main exits. Bats leave to feed at night and can't get back in.
We leave the devices up long enough for every bat to leave, then check before closing anything.
Devices come down and the final gaps are sealed so the house stays bat-proof.
Guano removal, sanitizing, odor control and insulation replacement where needed.
A colony that's roosted for a few seasons can leave a lot of guano. We remove it with HEPA equipment, sanitize the area and treat for odor so the smell doesn't come back in summer.
If the insulation is soaked, cleaning the surface isn't enough. We remove the contaminated insulation, clean the attic floor and install new insulation ourselves.
Outside clean-up and sealing go together. Once the gaps are closed for good, the stains and droppings on the outside of the house can be cleaned up too.
Your quote is free and comes after the inspection. The main things that change the price:
Call or text 973-510-2585 with your address in Linden and a photo of the roofline or the droppings, and we'll set up a time.
Tell us what you've seen — bats at dusk, droppings, a bat inside — and send a photo of the roofline or attic if you can. We'll explain the dates, the plan and the price.
🔒 Your info stays private · Hablamos español.
Watch the roofline at dusk. If several bats leave from the same gap evening after evening, you have a colony. Other signs are piles of crumbly dark droppings in the attic, brown rub marks around a gap outside, an ammonia smell and scratching in the walls at dusk and dawn.
Not by sealing them out unless an acoustic survey shows no bats are present. From October 16 to March 31, New Jersey only allows exclusion after that survey. We do the survey ourselves; if bats are still there, we protect the living space and schedule exclusion for April.
The exclusion itself usually takes from several days to a couple of weeks, because the one-way devices stay up until every bat has left. Then the last gaps are sealed and the clean-up is done. The bigger factor is the calendar: the work has to happen inside New Jersey's allowed windows.
Bats are protected wildlife, and poisoning or trapping a colony isn't the right way to deal with them. The accepted method is humane exclusion on the allowed dates, done by someone licensed for wildlife work. Silver Bullet Pest Control is licensed by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Bats rarely bother people, but they can carry rabies and their guano can grow a fungus that causes a lung infection. Never handle a bat with bare hands. If a bat was in a room with a sleeping person or a child, keep the bat and call your local health department about rabies testing.
Yes. Linden is in Union County, farther from our Garfield base than our core counties, so visits are scheduled ahead and same-day is sometimes possible. Call or text 973-510-2585 to book.
Not if every gap is sealed. Bats return to the same roost each year, so a missed opening is the usual reason they come back. That's why we inspect the whole house, seal the secondary gaps first and close the main exits only after the bats are out.
Only if the guano and urine have soaked into it. A small roost may just need spot clean-up and sanitizing. A colony that has used the attic for years often leaves insulation that needs to be removed and replaced, which we do ourselves.
It's risky. You can't be sure every bat has left, and young bats that can't fly yet in summer would be trapped. Sealing with bats inside often pushes them into the living space. Use one-way devices on the legal dates, or have a licensed crew do it.
Sí, hablamos español. Si tiene murciélagos en el ático en Linden, llame o mande texto al 973-510-2585.
We serve Linden and other Union County towns by appointment, and cover Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties from our Garfield base.
Updated November 2026 by the Silver Bullet Pest Control team, Garfield, NJ • NJ License 90568B
