- (301) 829-0060
- Mt. Airy, MD
- info@pestshieldinc.com
Pest Shield has handled bat calls across Frederick County since 2011, with Troy Yowell personally responding to most service requests. The company is licensed by the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA #30263) and holds 338+ five-star reviews across Google and HomeAdvisor. Bat removal is non-chemical work that depends on careful inspection, accurate identification of entry points, and an honest read on whether the situation is a single intruder or something larger — and Pest Shield has been recognized as a Neighborhood Favorite on Nextdoor four years running (2021–2024) for exactly that kind of straightforward service.
How it works
Four steps. No surprises. Same answer whether it's your first call or your tenth.
You reach Troy or someone on his team directly. No call center, no dispatcher, no routing.
Same-day or next-day for most calls. Emergency stinging-insect situations and real-estate WDI deadlines get priority.
We identify the species, locate entry points, and find the source — not just the symptom.
Written recommendation, straightforward pricing, no obligation. If you don't need treatment, we'll tell you.
Most bat calls in Frederick fall into one of two situations, and the right response depends on which one you’re dealing with. A single bat that found its way into a bedroom or living room is different from evidence that bats have been roosting in an attic — and confusing the two leads homeowners to either overreact or underreact.
Frederick County’s housing stock and surroundings create the conditions for these calls. Older homes in and around the city have aging fascia, deteriorating soffits, and stone or brick chimneys with gaps that bats can use as entry points. Wooded lots and proximity to agricultural land sustain healthy populations of Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) and Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus) — the two species most commonly encountered in Maryland residential settings. A quarter-inch gap is enough for either one.
One practical point on safety: do not handle a bat with bare hands. Bats are a rabies vector species in Maryland, and while the actual percentage of bats carrying rabies is low, the consequences of an unrecognized bite are serious enough that the standard guidance is to let a professional do the extraction and to preserve the bat for testing when human or pet exposure is possible.
60+ years of combined experience. Tell us what you’re seeing — we’ll come look, no obligation.
Troy is a true professional. He accommodated my schedule by coming after hours to do an inspection. I had gotten a “free inspection” from another BIG, WELL-KNOWN company and they had me believing I had live termites. I was suspicious when they didn’t show up for the initial treatment, and more so when I got conflicting information from people at their company. Turns out I didn’t have termites, and Troy was straight up, didn’t try to rip me off with a service I didn’t need. He SAVED me $1400 and I will surely use him in the future if I ever have a pest problem of any kind! Go Pest Shield!
Marion Entwisle · June 2014 Read on HomeAdvisor →
Troy was asked to do a simple pest inspection job. He was very professional, very prompt, thorough, and provided good service and cogent advice. Hire this guy. G.P.Krueger, Frederick, MD
Gerald Krueger · December 2013 Read on HomeAdvisor →
Troy gave me honest feedback and even suggested that I didn’t really need a treatment at this time, which saved me money. He inspected my basement and explained that there is old damage from beetles and also what the limitations of treatment were. Very helpful and informative and reasonably priced.
Anna West · August 2022 Read on Google →
General pest & rodent control
Pest Shield handles two specific bat situations: extracting a single bat from a living space, and inspecting small attic situations to identify what’s going on and where bats are getting in. Troy or a Pest Shield technician comes out, locates the bat or signs of activity, performs the extraction safely, and inspects the structure for entry points — gaps in soffits, deteriorating fascia, chimney openings, attic vents, and gable louvers are the usual suspects in Frederick County homes.
Where Pest Shield draws a clear line is large colony exclusion. Established maternity colonies in an attic — typically multiple bats roosting through the warmer months — require one-way exclusion device installation and Maryland DNR procedures that include seasonal restrictions, because Maryland law protects bats during the maternity season when flightless pups would be left behind. That work is referred to wildlife control cooperators equipped for it. Pest Shield will tell you honestly which category your situation falls into during the inspection, and connect you with the right resource if it’s outside their scope.
| Situation | Pest Shield’s Role |
|---|---|
| Single bat in a bedroom, living room, or other living space | Same-day or next-day extraction, plus inspection for the entry point that let the bat in |
| Small attic situation — limited evidence, recent activity | Inspection, entry-point identification, written assessment of what’s there |
| Established maternity colony or large roost in attic | Honest assessment and referral to a wildlife control cooperator |
| Bat guano cleanup or attic restoration | Not a Pest Shield service — referred out |
Response timing matters with bat calls, and Pest Shield’s same-day response is documented across more than 100 reviews. If a bat was in a room where someone was sleeping, or if a child or pet may have had contact, Troy will advise that you contact the Frederick County Health Department or your doctor in parallel with scheduling the extraction — and he’ll preserve the bat for rabies testing when the situation calls for it. The work is non-chemical, the inspection is free, and the recommendation you get reflects the honest scope of what pest control in Frederick looks like when it’s done right.
Owner
Founded Pest Shield in 2011 after years as a pest management contractor on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Around 35 years in pest management. Personally handles or leads the majority of service calls.
Pest Management Specialist
Field technician handling residential and commercial service calls across Frederick, Carroll, and Montgomery counties.
Pest Management Specialist
Field technician handling residential and commercial service calls across the service area.
Our Entomologist
Consulting entomologist on species identification, conducive conditions, and treatment strategy for difficult cases.
Frederick sits at the northern edge of the Monocacy River valley, bordered by the Catoctin Mountains to the west and surrounded by farmland, hardwood forest, and tributary streams. The city’s housing stock spans 18th-century stone homes downtown to mid-century neighborhoods near Baker Park to newer construction toward Urbana and Walkersville, with US 15 and I-70 connecting the corridor to the broader region.
That mix is exactly why bat calls happen here. Older fascia, weathered soffits, and brick chimneys with mortar gaps give bats easy entry into living spaces and attics, while the wooded lots and agricultural surroundings around Frederick County sustain steady populations of Little Brown and Big Brown Bats — the two species behind nearly every Maryland residential bat call.
Bat removal in Maryland is regulated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the rules depend on the situation. A single bat that’s gotten into a living space can be extracted at any time. Larger situations — established colonies in an attic — fall under seasonal restrictions because Maryland protects bats during the maternity season, when removing adults would strand flightless pups. The practical takeaway: have a licensed professional assess the situation rather than trying to handle a colony yourself, and never attempt to seal an attic that may contain bats without an inspection first.
Contact your doctor or the Frederick County Health Department to discuss potential rabies exposure, and call Pest Shield to extract the bat — preserving it for testing if possible. Bat bites can be too small to feel or notice, so Maryland public health guidance treats a bat in a sleeping area as a potential exposure even when no one recalls being bitten. This is the situation where a bat should not be released or killed in a way that damages the head, because testing the bat is what determines whether post-exposure treatment is needed.
Yes, if the entry point isn’t identified and addressed. Bats return to the same access points season after season, and a quarter-inch gap in a soffit, fascia board, or chimney flashing is enough for them to use. Pest Shield’s bat removal service includes entry-point identification as part of the inspection — Troy will show you where the bat got in and what the structure needs to keep it from happening again. For situations beyond a single-bat extraction, sealing typically waits until after a wildlife control cooperator has confirmed the attic is clear.
Pest Shield handles single bat extractions from living spaces and small attic situations with inspection and entry-point identification, but does not perform large colony exclusion — that work requires one-way exclusion device installation and Maryland DNR procedures handled by wildlife control cooperators. If the inspection reveals an established colony, Troy will tell you honestly and refer you to a cooperator equipped for that work. That referral practice is consistent with how Pest Shield operates: telling you what they can do and connecting you with the right resource when the situation calls for it.
Same-day or next-day in most cases, including weekends. Troy answers his own phone at (301) 829-0060 — no call center, no dispatcher — and bat-in-the-house calls get scheduled with urgency because the longer the bat is loose in the home, the more stressful the situation gets for everyone. Sunday and after-hours response are documented across Pest Shield’s review history, and the initial inspection is free.
