Lake in the Hills counts a state nature preserve and two wildlife ponds among its open land.

Who handles an animal problem in Lake in the Hills?

What's happening	Who to call
Someone was bitten or scratched by a wild animal	Wash the wound with soap and water and see a doctor right away. The health department or animal control should also be told.11
A bat flying around indoors	Don't touch it with bare hands. The county health department says to close the door to the room, seal the gap underneath with a towel, and call McHenry County Animal Control at (815) 459-6222 to arrange collection and possible rabies testing.6 If you woke up with it in the room, or it was near a child, keep the bat and call your doctor or the health department.11
A wild animal that looks sick or hurt, or is threatening someone	McHenry County Animal Control, (815) 459-6222. Its permits cover wild animals that are sick or injured, or that pose an immediate threat or public health issue.5,6 Emergencies go to 911.1 The Lake in the Hills Police non-emergency line is (847) 658-5676, and its patrol division works 24 hours a day, every day of the year.1
A stray dog or cat	Lake in the Hills Police non-emergency line, (847) 658-5676.1 Village code has the police chief impound a dog running at large, and an unlicensed dog its owner doesn't claim goes to McHenry County Animal Control (Sec. 14.09).4 Not a wildlife operator.
A calm animal living in your attic, walls, chimney or under the deck	Healthy wildlife is outside what McHenry County Animal Control can disturb, so this one goes to a wildlife removal service.5 That can be this site's advertiser or anyone on the Illinois DNR list.

The Wildlife Line isn't part of the Village of Lake in the Hills or McHenry County.

What the village code says about trash and carcasses

• A can that seals. Under Section 12.02, a garbage can that isn't tight enough to keep flies out is a public health nuisance.²
• Bins kept back from the street. At a single-family home, outdoor garbage, recycling and yard-waste containers stay at the rear or side of the house, or in a fully enclosed area, except when they're set out for pickup (Sec. 13.02).³
• Curbside no sooner than noon the day before. Containers may go to the curb on collection day, or from noon on the day before at the earliest (Sec. 13.04).³
• A 24-hour clock on dead animals. The code treats the carcass of an animal or bird that isn't buried or otherwise disposed of in a sanitary way within 24 hours of death as a public health nuisance (Sec. 12.02).²

McHenry County's health department makes the link to wildlife directly, asking residents not to attract it with open garbage or litter.⁶

A fen, a marsh and two wildlife ponds

The village's own description names Willow Lake and Lake Scott as wildlife ponds.⁷ The Lake in the Hills Fen Conservation Area, entered at 1500 Jefferson Street, mixes dry gravel prairie, sedge meadows, Crystal Creek and rare hanging fens.⁸ Near the creek, the conservation district says, sedge meadows give habitat to butterflies such as the Baltimore checkerspot and to birds such as the sora rail, marsh wren and common snipe.⁸ It calls that creek corridor critical to the movement routes much of the area's local wildlife depends on.⁸ The state's nature preserve listing adds that the fen is home to the tiny blue bell, a damselfly known at only two sites in Illinois.¹⁰

The district's Peter J. Exner Marsh Conservation Area has entrances on Lakewood Road and Miller Road in the village.⁹ It is mostly shallow marsh dotted with ponds, where least bitterns, king rails and pied-billed grebes can be found and great egrets come to feed.⁹

Bats, the county health department says, are most active from late spring through summer and can get in through openings as small as 3/8 of an inch.⁶ Its prevention list: seal cracks and gaps around utility lines, keep the screens on doors, windows and vents free of holes, and cap chimneys.⁶ For bats that keep coming back, it suggests an IDNR-licensed nuisance wildlife control operator to find the entry points, and notes that state law allows bats to be shut out of attics and other non-living spaces for good only at certain times of year.⁶ There is more on each of these in bats in the house, a raccoon in an uncapped chimney, squirrels in the attic and an animal under the deck.

What are you hearing?

Does the sound come in the morning, at dusk or in the small hours? The attic-noise guide lines up each likely animal with the hours it keeps. If it starts once offices have closed, after-hours help separates what's urgent from what can wait for daylight.

Sources for this page

1. Village of Lake in the Hills Police Department, How Do I... Checked Oct 22, 2026.
2. Lake in the Hills Municipal Code, Chapter 12, Nuisances, Section 12.02(B)(2) and (B)(5). Checked Oct 22, 2026.
3. Lake in the Hills Municipal Code, Chapter 13, Solid Waste, Landscape Waste and Recycling, Sections 13.02(D) and 13.04(D). Checked Oct 22, 2026.
4. Lake in the Hills Municipal Code, Chapter 14, Dogs and Other Animals, Section 14.09. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
5. McHenry County Department of Health, Animal Control, Wildlife. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
6. McHenry County Department of Health, first rabid bat of the 2026 season, May 28, 2026. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
7. Village of Lake in the Hills, About the Village. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
8. McHenry County Conservation District, Lake in the Hills Fen. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
9. McHenry County Conservation District, Peter J. Exner Marsh Conservation Area. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
10. Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), Lake In The Hills Fen. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
11. Illinois Department of Public Health, Rabies (animal bites; bats in a sleeping area). Checked Oct 2026.

Written and checked by The Wildlife Line. Spot an error? Tell us through the About page.

Also: McHenry County · Algonquin · Huntley · Crystal Lake