Bat Removal Morgan, UT

Who to call in Morgan

• Morgan County Animal Control: 801-791-7714 (officer's cell). Office: 48 W Young St; shelter: 395 N 400 E. The county says the officer is not always in the office, so leave a message, and if it is urgent call dispatch to have a deputy respond.
• Non-emergency dispatch: 801-629-8221. Emergencies: 911. Morgan County Sheriff's Office: 48 W Young St, 801-829-0590.
• Bites, scratches or a bat in a bedroom: Weber-Morgan Health Department Clinical Nursing, 801-399-7250 (main office, 477 23rd St, Ogden, 801-399-7100). The Morgan office is at 90 W Young St, lower level, 801-399-7155, open Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment.
• State wildlife office: Utah DWR Northern Region (Ogden), 801-476-2740. Morgan County's own contact page lists this number for wildlife.

Weber-Morgan Health Department's guidance is that any direct, bare-skin contact with a bat is a potential exposure, and so is finding a bat in any sleeping area, because bites and scratches can be too small to see or feel. If you were bitten or scratched, wash the area with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If the bat is still there, confine it to that spot without touching it so it can be tested, then call the health department or your medical provider. Utah DHHS also has an online Rabies Exposure Assessment Tool at epi.utah.gov/rabies.

If nobody had contact with the bat, DWR says to turn off the room lights, turn on an outside light, open a door or window and leave the room so it can fly out. A roost in the attic or walls is a different job. Bats are protected wildlife in Utah, so a colony is excluded by a permitted wildlife nuisance control company that coordinates the timing with DWR.

Rabies in Morgan County

On June 2, 2025, the Weber-Morgan Health Department announced that a bat found in Morgan County had tested positive for rabies, the first positive bat reported in Utah that year. Its nurse noted that a bat seen in daylight, or one in a place where a person or pet can pick it up, is likely ill. The DHHS 2025 annual report lists 1 positive bat in Morgan County. The Weber-Morgan health jurisdiction as a whole submitted 43 specimens that year: 4 positive, 34 negative and 5 unsatisfactory.

Statewide, DHHS counted 24 rabid animals in 2025, all bats. Of 240 bats tested, 10.0% were positive, and they exposed at least 19 people and 26 pets. Mexican free-tailed bats were the largest share of tested and positive bats (8 positives of 63 tested), followed by silver-haired bats (5 of 29) and big brown bats (4 of 46). The only rabies variant known in Utah is the bat variant, and most rabid animals are detected from June through October. In 2024, Weber-Morgan Health said its summer had been "extra busy with bat reports."

Morgan housing, cabins and bat entry points

Morgan city has 1,268 housing units with a median build year of 1993. About 42% were built before 1980 and 16% in 2010 or later. Single-family detached homes make up 82% of the stock, and 20% of occupied homes are rented (ACS 2024 5-year). That means mostly detached houses with long eaves, gable vents, chimney chases and soffit returns, plus outbuildings and barns around town. USU Extension says bats do not chew their way in but use openings about ¼ inch across or larger, usually 12 feet or more above the ground, and DWR tells homeowners to check siding, chimneys and rooflines. Weber-Morgan Health has also warned camps that bats often rest in cabins, and that people and pets should never sleep in the same room as a bat, which applies just as much to a family cabin up the valley.

When bats can be excluded in Morgan

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) says female bats usually move into buildings in May or June to give birth, and that June through August is the hardest time to deal with a colony. Blocking the mothers then kills the flightless pups, and bats are protected wildlife in Utah. Unless bats are coming into close contact with people, DWR does not permit colony removal during that period. DWR advises against sealing openings from May through August and names fall as the best time.

For an attic colony, DWR says to contact a local, permitted wildlife nuisance control company, which coordinates the removal with DWR for a time of year that won't harm the pups. After August, DWR describes hanging bird netting over an exterior opening (stapled at the top and sides, open at the bottom) for four to five days, until the bats have left, and then sealing the holes. In Morgan, NOAA normals for the Morgan station put the average low at 50°F or warmer in Jul–Aug, the months when bats are most active here.

The NOAA station in Morgan is about 0.6 miles from the city center and averages roughly 17.1 inches of precipitation a year. Morgan's valley floor is colder than the Wasatch Front: average lows are 41°F in September, 31°F in October and 22°F in November, and the January average low is 14°F. With fewer warm nights, the practical window for sealing a house after the pups can fly is short, so plan exclusion for late summer or early fall rather than waiting until late fall.

Morgan at a glance

• Housing units: 1,268 (median year built 1993)
• Built before 1980: 42%; built 2010 or later: 16%
• Single-family detached: 82%; buildings with 10+ units: 0%
• Renter-occupied homes: 20%
• Average January low: 14°F; average July high: 92°F
• Months with an average low of 50°F or warmer: Jul–Aug

Housing figures: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (tables B25024, B25034, B25035, B25003) via Census Reporter. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals, Morgan station.

Common questions

Nearby city guides

• Mountain Green
• Huntsville
• South Weber
• Uintah
• Ogden

Sources

1. Morgan County: Animal Control Services
2. Morgan County: Report a crime (dispatch and DWR numbers)
3. Morgan County: Sheriff Department Services
4. Weber-Morgan Health Department: Avoid touching bats, update pet vaccinations (June 2, 2025)
5. Weber-Morgan Health Department: Avoid touching bats to prevent rabies exposure (July 31, 2024)
6. Weber-Morgan Health Department: Stay away from bats (camps and cabins)
7. Weber-Morgan Health Department: Locations and directory
8. Utah DWR: Contact us (regional offices)
9. Utah DWR: What to know about bats in Utah (July 14, 2026)
10. Utah DHHS: Rabies Annual Report 2025
11. Utah State University Extension: Bats (Wildlife Damage Management Series, PDF)
12. Census Reporter: Morgan profile (ACS 2024 5-year)
13. NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 monthly normals (Morgan)