Signs of Bats in Your Attic: A Macon Homeowner's Checklist

Updated October 2026. Signs drawn from the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management and Georgia DNR guidance.

Brick house with white louvered shutters and a metal grille under the eaves

The Quick Checklist

Bat droppings, rub marks around a gap, a musty smell and sounds at dusk or dawn are the main signs of bats in an attic. According to the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management, rub marks, guano and bat sightings are usually enough to confirm bats are present.

Droppings piled on the attic floor, in wall recesses or on the ground outside
Smooth, slightly sticky rub marks at an opening
Spots and stains on siding or windows below a roost
A musty, acrid smell, sometimes noticeable from outside
Squeaking, scratching or crawling around dusk and dawn
Bats seen leaving the roofline after dark, or turning up indoors

Droppings: How to Tell Bat Guano From Mouse Droppings

Guano is the most reliable clue. ICWDM describes bat droppings as segmented, elongated and friable: crushed, they turn to powder with shiny fragments of insects in it.

Rodent droppings taper, are not segmented and are harder and more fibrous, and they do not powder when crushed unless they are very old. Bat droppings also never contain the white chalky material found in some bird droppings.

If you check, wear gloves and do not stir up the pile. The CDC says Histoplasma grows especially well in material with large amounts of bat droppings, and NIOSH's fact sheet for workers lists a NIOSH-approved respirator, eye protection, gloves and disposable coveralls among the protective gear for disturbing them.

Rub Marks and Stains at the Entry Points

Bats leave marks where they come and go. ICWDM says rub marks show up along walls, under loose woodwork and around entryways, looking smooth and polished, slightly sticky, yellow-brown to blackish brown, and sometimes holding a few bat hairs; a marked opening has been used again and again.

Bats also urinate and defecate as they leave a roost, so spots and stains can appear on siding, windows and anything parked or stored below.

Where to Look on a Macon House

Start where ICWDM says bats most often get in: roof edges and valleys, eaves, the peak of gables, chimneys, attic and roof vents, dormers and siding. Bats also roost behind shutters and where siding or trim boards are poorly joined.

That list fits Macon's older housing well. About 55 percent of Macon-Bibb homes were built before 1980, and a 2008 study of Baldwin County bats found one roosting behind the wooden window shutter of a Milledgeville home.

Size matters less than people think. ICWDM treats a gap of about a quarter inch by three quarters of an inch, or a hole about 5/8 inch wide, as a potential entry, and Georgia DNR guidance says many bat-sized gaps cannot be seen from the ground.

Smells and Sounds

A large or long-term colony can be smelled. ICWDM describes decomposing bat droppings as giving off a pungent, musty, acrid odor that can often be noticed from outside the building, and says the smell of urine from a moderate colony gets worse in damp weather.

Listen at the right times. Bats are noisiest on hot days in the attic, just before they leave at dusk and when they return at dawn, according to ICWDM, though scratching and thumping can also mean rats, mice or squirrels.

Droppings Under a Porch Are a Different Sign

Not every pile of guano means a colony in the attic. Georgia DNR's guidance for wildlife control operators says bats use open spaces such as porch ceilings as night roosts, resting there between feeding flights, and that guano can collect under them.

Night roosts usually do not call for an eviction. DNR guidance suggests making the spot unattractive with hanging ribbons or mylar balloons that move in the breeze, and saving the full exclusion for bats that live inside the building.

Which Bats You Are Likely Seeing

Three species account for most bats found in Central Georgia buildings, according to Georgia DNR's identification guide. The big brown bat is about 3 inches long with glossy brown fur and rounded ears, and DNR rates it very common statewide.

The Brazilian free-tailed bat is a little over 2 inches long, grayish brown, and the only Georgia bat whose tail extends past the membrane between its legs; DNR calls it very common in the southern half of the state. The evening bat looks like a smaller big brown bat and turns up in buildings more often than in bat boxes.

One name people often expect, the little brown bat, is described by DNR as uncommon and found regularly only in North Georgia. Either way, identification is a job for a trained eye, never a reason to handle a bat.

Signs Inside the Living Space

A bat in a hallway or bedroom can mean a roost nearby. DNR guidance says openings from an attic, wall or garage into the living space can be as small as 5/8 inch round, so check attic hatches, ceiling fixtures and the gaps where pipes and wiring pass between floors.

Any bat found in a room where someone was asleep, or near a young child, is a health question first. Georgia's public health rabies manual treats those situations as possible exposures, so call your doctor or the local health department before letting the bat go.

Watching the Roofline at Dusk

Bats leave the roost at night to feed, and Georgia DNR guidance builds the whole exclusion method around that habit. Watching the house from the yard around nightfall, on an evening above 50 degrees, is a simple way to see where they come out.

Note each spot you see. Those openings are where one-way exits would go later, and the remaining gaps would be sealed first.

Found Signs? What to Do Next

Leave the bats alone. Do not seal the opening they use, since trapping a colony inside can push bats into the living space.
Check the calendar. From April 1 to July 31, Georgia DNR says exclusions should wait, so bat-proof the rooms you use instead.
Keep people out of the guano. Close off the attic and avoid sweeping or vacuuming droppings with household equipment.
Get an inspection. A bat inspection finds every opening a quarter inch or wider before anyone quotes the job.
Plan the work. Removal, sealing and cleanup follow in that order; bats in the attic lays out the full process.