Bat Removal Brighton, CO

Who to call about a bat in Brighton

Animal welfare in Brighton is handled by the Police Department's Community Service Officer division, which enforces the animal rules in Chapter 6 of the Brighton Municipal Code. The city describes the division's focus as domestic pets and responsible pet ownership. Wildlife questions go to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and bat contact goes to the county health department.

• Brighton Animal Control (CSO division): through non-emergency dispatch, 303-288-1535. Listed hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, weekends by appointment. Call 911 for an emergency.
• Possible bat contact with a person or pet: Adams County Health Department Diseases & Outbreaks program, 720-769-7600 (Disease@adamscountyco.gov). The department's main office is at 4430 S. Adams County Parkway in Brighton.
• Wildlife questions: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 303-297-1192, the number Brighton lists on its own wildlife safety page.
• Impounded or lost pets: Riverdale Animal Shelter, 12155 Park Blvd., 720-523-7387.

If you live just outside city limits, Adams County Animal Management covers unincorporated areas through the same dispatch number. The county says its officers do not handle problem wildlife and refers residents to private wildlife companies. A colony in an attic or wall is the property owner's to deal with, through humane exclusion.

Bats and rabies around Brighton

We have not found a published report of a rabid bat inside Brighton city limits, and we won't invent one. Rabies is still well established around the city. In February 2013 a skunk found in Brighton, just south of the Weld County line, tested positive. Tri-County Health said at the time that it confirmed rabies was endemic in Front Range and Eastern Plains skunks. Bats remain the most common rabid animal in Colorado. Arapahoe County's 2024 release, citing CDPHE data, counted 55 rabid animals statewide in 2023, and 47 were bats. Elsewhere in Adams County, in August 2020 a bat that children had been seen playing with at a Westminster apartment complex tested positive.

CPW asks residents to call their county health department about any bat found from July through November, and about any contact with a bat without protective gloves. CDPHE adds that a bat found in the house should not be released, killed or thrown away until the health department has assessed the risk, because testing the bat can rule out the need for rabies shots. Our guide to finding a bat in your house in Colorado covers how to contain one safely.

Why Brighton homes get bats

Brighton roughly doubled in a generation, from 20,905 people in the 2000 census to 40,083 in 2020, and the Census Bureau estimates 43,473 for 2024. The housing reflects that. Of the city's 14,116 housing units, the median was built in 1999, 24% were built in 2010 or later, and 31% predate 1980. About 70% are single-family detached homes, 3% are mobile homes and 29% of homes are rented.

The two halves of town leak in different places. Older houses near downtown and the original farm-town grid tend to have wood soffits, gable vents and masonry chimneys that open up with age. Newer subdivisions are tighter, but bats still find ridge-vent ends, gaps where stone veneer meets fascia, unscreened gable vents and the seams of complex rooflines. The Colorado Bat Working Group says bats use openings about the width of a thumb and switch to a new gap when one is blocked, so a full roofline inspection matters more than patching the spot with the stain.

Location helps the bats too. Brighton sits on the South Platte River with farm fields, ponds and Barr Lake State Park nearby, which means plenty of night-flying insects. CPW says Colorado has roughly 20 bat species and that bats live everywhere from the eastern plains to downtown Denver. CPW has confirmed white-nose syndrome in bats in Boulder, Douglas, El Paso, Grand, Jefferson, Larimer, Otero, Routt, Teller and Weld counties, and Weld takes in a small part of Brighton. That is one more reason exclusion has to let bats leave alive.

Sealing a roost the right way

CDPHE's rabies FAQ warns against sealing a summer colony's outside entrance, because trapped bats are more likely to end up in living space. Its advice is to seal the cracks that lead from the roost into rooms during summer, keep the outside entrance open, and close it in fall after the bats have left. CPW gives the same advice from the wildlife side: don't cover roost holes while bats may still be inside, and do the sealing in fall after the young can fly, or in winter.

When bat exclusion can happen in Brighton

Colorado Parks and Wildlife asks property owners to avoid sealing bats out of buildings during pupping season, June through August. The Colorado Bat Working Group gives a slightly longer window (June to mid-August) and asks a simple question first: can the work wait until the maternity colony disperses in autumn?

In Brighton, NOAA normals for the Brighton 3 Se station put the average low at 50°F or warmer in Jun–Aug, the stretch when insects, and therefore bats, are most active. That lines up with the state window. We use those months for inspection and night exit counts. One-way doors go up after the pups can fly, and stay up for the 5–10 nights the Working Group recommends before the last gaps are sealed.

Brighton at a glance

• Housing units: 14,116 (median year built 1999)
• Built before 1980: 31%; built 2010 or later: 24%
• Single-family detached: 70%; buildings with 10+ units: 14%
• Renter-occupied homes: 29%
• Average January low: 16°F; average July high: 90°F
• Months with an average low of 50°F or warmer: Jun–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, Brighton 3 Se station.

Common questions

Nearby city guides

• Thornton
• Commerce City
• Northglenn
• Henderson
• Fort Lupton

Sources

1. City of Brighton: Animal Welfare (CSO division)
2. City of Brighton: Staff directory, Animal Control
3. City of Brighton: Helpful safety information (wildlife, CPW contact)
4. Adams County: Animal Management (unincorporated areas; does not handle problem wildlife)
5. Adams County Health Department: Insect and animal borne diseases (rabies concerns line)
6. Colorado Community Media: Skunk found in Brighton tests positive for rabies (Feb. 27, 2013)
7. Arapahoe County: First 2024 case of rabies in Arapahoe County identified (Englewood bat near Quincy Ave. and Santa Fe Dr.)
8. CDPHE: Rabid bat found at Westminster apartment complex (Aug. 6, 2020)
9. CDPHE: Colorado Rabies FAQ
10. Colorado Parks and Wildlife: Living with Bats
11. Colorado Parks and Wildlife: Protect your home from wildlife
12. Colorado Bat Working Group (CNHP, CSU): excluding bats from buildings
13. U.S. Census Bureau: City and town population estimates, Vintage 2024 (SUB-EST2024)
14. Census Reporter: Brighton profile (ACS 2024 5-year)
15. NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 monthly normals (Brighton 3 Se)