Bat Infestation Forces Kentucky Elementary School to Temporarily Close
by Scott McDonald
The school district is attempting to ‘navigate the eviction of bats’
Scott McDonald
A school in Kentucky was forced to close down temporarily and move students to a neighboring school after a small colony of bats took over its structures.
Students at Wright Elementary School have relocated to Southside Elementary as the district attempts to “navigate the eviction of bats,” according to WKYT and the Shelby County Schools.
The exact number of bats at the elementary school was unclear, as was whether an incident led to the decision to temporarily close.
Kentucky residents could see more bats in their homes and other structures this fall, according to Dr. Justin Dodd, a mammalogist and professor at Eastern Kentucky University.
“Here in Kentucky, with this being a fair temperature sort of middle portion of the United States and North America — this is kind of a home that a lot of bats seek out in the wintertime,” Dodd said.
This is a time of year when bats begin looking for places to hibernate for the winter. Flying around schools, homes, businesses and bridges is commonplace.
”In the instances that we are describing here where somebody gets a bat in their bedroom or like in the regular living quarters of their house — the bat doesn’t want to be there, the bat probably accidentally got there,” Dodd said.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources said there are at least 16 different species of bats in the state, of which four are endangered. The EKU mammalogist encourages people to try and gently remove the animals from their homes and to protect themselves.
“The first thing I would say is don’t get close to the bat. Second, I would open up their windows and ensure the screens are out,” Dodd said. “The next thing is I would close all the doors, and at that point, I would contact Kentucky Fish and Wildlife and or animal control to see if you need someone to come in and remove that bat.”
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