In Illinois, bats are protected by the Wildlife Code. If the person was bitten or scratched while handling the bat, then the bat should be tested. However, if bats are safely handled during an exclusion (i.e. the animal did not bite or scratch), they should be released immediately or transported away from the site and released. Without evidence that the bat is rabid, or that a person has definitely been bitten or scratched, it would be a violation of the Illinois Wildlife Code to euthanize seemingly healthy animals classified as protected.
