Hey Newmarket if you’re hearing faint chirping in the walls at dusk, finding little black crumbs that turn to dust when you touch them, or watching a line of bats pour out of your roof like smoke every night, you’ve got a colony. And in neighbourhoods like Glenway, Stonehaven, Armitage, Summerhill or the older brick homes around Main Street and Davis Drive, it’s basically an annual rite of passage.
This long, no-fluff guide is written like I’m standing in your driveway explaining it in person because that’s how I talk to every client. You’ll get the real facts about why bats pick Newmarket houses, what the law actually says in 2025, the only removal method that’s legal and permanent, prevention that works in our crazy freeze-thaw winters, and exactly when you need to stop Googling and call someone who does this for a living.
Why Newmarket Is Basically Bat Disneyland
We’re parked right on the Oak Ridges Moraine with miles of forest, creeks, and century-old trees. Add in thousands of homes built before 1990 that have curled soffits, loose ridge caps, and brick-to-roof gaps the size of a toonie, and bats think they hit the jackpot. A single female little brown bat (our most common species here) will return to the exact same attic every spring to have her baby. One turns into five, five turns into fifty, and suddenly you’ve got a full maternity colony living above your kid’s bedroom.
Ontario Bat Laws in Plain English (2025 Rules: No Sugar-Coating)
You cannot seal them in, poison them, fog them, ultrasonic them, or trap and dump them somewhere else. From May 1 to August 31 it is 100 % illegal to exclude bats if flightless babies are present. Do it anyway and you’re looking at minimum $5,000 fines per offence. Come September 1 the window opens again until the end of April, and that’s when the pros do every single job.
The One and Only Legal Removal Process That Actually Works
Every licensed company in Newmarket follows the exact same steps (and if they tell you anything different, walk away) :
- Full dusk watch to find every single exit hole (most houses have 3 to 8).
- Install heavy-duty one-way bat valves (mesh tubes) that let them leave but not return.
- Leave the valves up for 7 to 21 days depending on weather and colony size.
- Come back, remove valves, and permanently seal every gap with colour-matched metal flashing, caulk, and foam.
- Decontaminate the attic (guano is a legit biohazard histoplasmosis spores).
- Hand you a written warranty that lasts years, not weeks.
Quick Reality Check Table (DIY vs Calling a Pro)
| Factor | Trying It Yourself | Hiring a Licensed Newmarket Pro |
| Legal during baby season | Illegal and cruel | We wait until it’s safe and legal |
| Chance of trapping bats inside | Extremely high | Basically zero |
| Warranty on the work | Zero | 2 to 5 years in writing |
| Attic cleanup & sanitizing | Almost never done | Always included |
| Permanent fix first time | Rarely | Pretty much guaranteed |
Prevention That Survives Newmarket Winters
Seal every gap bigger than a dime with expanding foam backed by steel wool or metal flashing. Put proper chimney caps with half-inch mesh on every flue. Trim branches so nothing touches the roof. Consider putting up a bat house on a pole 15 to 20 feet from the house gives the colony somewhere else to go next spring and keeps them eating the mosquitoes in your backyard.
When You Absolutely Need to Pick Up the Phone Today
- You hear chirping or scratching only at dusk or dawn
- You’re finding guano piles bigger than a handful
- There’s a strong ammonia smell coming from the attic in summer
- You see bats swirling out of the roof like a Disney movie every night
- You’ve already tried mothballs, lights, or sound machines and nothing changed
Real Newmarket Stories from This Year
A couple on Mulock Drive called in June thinking they had squirrels. Turned out to be almost 200 bats with babies. We waited until early September, installed valves, and the house was bat-free in ten days. Attic sanitized, new insulation blown in they slept through the night for the first time in years.
Another homeowner in Woodland Hill tried sealing the gable vent himself in July. Two weeks later the house smelled like death because dozens of babies were trapped and died in the walls. We had to cut open drywall, remove the carcasses, and fog for maggots. Lesson learned the hard way.
Bottom Line
Bats are awesome in the trees and terrible in your house. The only way to get rid of them permanently and stay on the right side of the law is a professional, humane exclusion done between September and April with a real warranty behind it.
Don’t wait for the smell, the health department, or the next litter of babies next spring.
Ready to Sleep Without the Wings Flapping Overhead?
Get your free dusk inspection booked this week we serve all of Newmarket, Aurora, Sharon, and Holland Landing.
Text or call right now and we’ll have someone out within 48 hours.
Send a quick photo of the droppings or the spot they’re flying out of and I’ll tell you exactly what you’re dealing with no charge, no pressure.
Take your attic back. Book your bat removal service in Newmarket today!