What the Law Protects

Bats

The Strictest Protection There Is

All British bat species are protected, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. The protection covers the animals and, crucially, their roosts — whether or not bats are present at the time.

So a loft used by bats in summer is a protected roost in January. It is an offence to deliberately kill, injure or disturb bats, or to damage or destroy a roost.

In practice this bites hardest on proofing. Closing gaps at a roofline, replacing soffits, re-roofing or spraying timber can all constitute damaging a roost, and this is the commonest way an ordinary bit of building work becomes an offence. If you have or suspect bats, the work needs advice first — the National Bat Helpline is the usual route, and a licensed ecologist where the work is going ahead.

We will not proof a roofline where there is evidence of bats. It is not a judgement call.

Birds

Nests, and the General Licences

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird, or to damage or destroy an active nest — one being built or in use — or the eggs in it.

Two things follow. Timing matters enormously. Proofing, netting and spiking have to happen outside the nesting season, or after a nest is finished with. And a nest in a gutter or a vent cannot simply be removed while it is active, however inconvenient, which catches people out every spring.

A small number of species may be controlled by authorised persons under general licences, for specific purposes such as public health or preventing serious damage, and only where non-lethal methods have been tried or properly considered. Those licences change, they carry conditions, and the conditions are the point — acting outside them is an offence.

The realistic answer for most bird problems is proofing at the right time of year: netting, spikes, wires and closing the gap they are using.

Badgers, and the rest

Short Versions

Badgers are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. It is an offence to kill, injure or take one, or to interfere with a sett — including blocking access to it or disturbing a badger occupying one. Setts under a shed or in a garden bank are a licensing matter, not a pest control job.

Hedgehogs are protected against certain methods of killing and taking. They also turn up in bait boxes and under decking, which is a reason to site things carefully rather than a reason to do nothing.

Foxes are not protected in the same way, but methods are constrained by the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and by animal welfare law, and most fox problems are food-source problems that respond better to bins and proofing than anything else.

Grey squirrels are the reverse case: it is an offence to release one into the wild under Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so a trapped grey squirrel cannot lawfully be relocated. That is covered in full in the squirrel section.

What good practice looks like

Beyond What Is Illegal

The law is a floor, not a standard.

The Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 makes it an offence to cause a wild mammal unnecessary suffering, which governs how any control is carried out, not just whether it happens. Live-capture traps have to be checked frequently — at least daily — and spring traps must be an approved type used as the approval specifies.

Rodenticide use is constrained too, by product label conditions and by the stewardship regime, which is why professional baiting looks the way it does: secured boxes, recorded placements, and bait removed at the end rather than left down indefinitely.

And plenty of things simply should not be treated. Bumblebees, solitary bees, a honeybee swarm, a European hornet nest somewhere nobody goes — all of those are better left, and saying so is part of the job.

If a firm agrees to do something on this page without hesitating, that tells you something worth knowing before they are on your roof.

Short answers

Drain Blocker Questions

Going further

Drain and Rat Guides