Growing up I lived in a house where bats inside were a regular occurence in most of the houses on the street one summer. The preferred method was to swat them with a tennis racket, or even better, with (groan)a bat-minton (LOL) racket. Actually the latter being lighter made for a better tool. The impact would stun the bat, and it could quickly be scooped up into a wastebasket, and set free outside.

I remember one summer when my Dad removed a sign from the house that had our name and house number, and bats flew out from behind it for some time. Hundreds probably.