First Gueydan High and now the University of Louisiana at Monroe. What the heck is going on with these bats?!

A bat infestation has forced ULM faculty members to close Sugar Hall on their campus.

According to Dr. Ken Alford, the interim dean for the College of Health Sciences, he says they discovered the bats a month ago. He and other staff members were coming out of the building around 5:00 pm, and that is when they saw bats streaming out of the building's vents.

"It is a nuisance more than anything else right now," Alford said. "Once they're in, they are hard to get rid of, and they can fit through the smallest cracks."

Alford says that there are thousands of bats. A bat eradication team was called in. And since bats are mammals, they have to be relocated and not exterminated.

"The team came in and provided some exits for the bats, the hope was, or for the company, was that the bats would exit for the evening and not be able to get back in," Alford said. "But that was not the case."

It is believed the bats were initially in the walls of the exterior surface of the building but now they have forced themselves inside classrooms, halls, and offices.

The interim dean believes the bats started coming in the HVAC ducts.

"[The team] is also going to test air quality and do some other things that will help us to ensure health," Alford said.

The building is closed at least through Wednesday (1/30) and faculty will reassess the situation on Thursday.

Classes have been moved in the meantime. Alford says the college cannot afford to close the building entirely.

 

 

 

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