Bats Invade Arkansas Elementary School


Sep 1, 1:37 AM (ET)

MANSFIELD, Ark. (AP) - It's just a few day into the new school year and teachers are already being driven batty. By bats.

Bats are roosting inside Mansfield Elementary School, and it appears the problem has gotten worse since classes resumed in August. In some cases, teachers have had to move students out of their classrooms.

School officials said a teacher found a dead bat in a utility closet a few days before school started. District officials told authorities they thought it was an isolated incident, but when they started finding more and more guano, they knew there was a problem.

"I had no idea it was going to be this big, had no idea," said Mansfield Elementary Principal Kathy Goff. "We found guano on the roof. That's when we knew there was a major problem."

Superintendent Jim Hattabaugh believed students were the source of one problem.

"We started looking around and noticed the odor was something else, and we kind of blamed that on the little boys missing the toilet," he said.

The bats are in the classrooms, on ceilings and, according to animal-control officers, behind the walls.

"They are really small. They can hide in a crevice. They are just a pest," Hattabaugh said.

After consulting with animal control workers, school officials set up a bat funnel. They hope the bats will fly out at night and not find their way back in.

"Our main concern is the safety of our students and the staff, and we want to get this taken care of as quickly as we can," Hattabaugh said.

Because the bats are in the walls, officials said they don't know how many there are in the school. Once the bats are gone and the school is inspected, the students will be able to return to their classrooms.

The Mansfield superintendent said the school is supposed to get a new roof next year, which should prevent bats from getting inside.

Batty school

Dang, nothing that cool ever happened while I was in school... the most excitement we ever had was some kid's pet rat getting loose and someone's else's cat killing it on pet show and tell day....

Wouldn't that be fun?

I work for the local school district.The special ed department was located in an old two sstory school in Cibolo,Tx. Well I worked there part time in the evenings as a custodian. We used to have a bat now in then in the place. But then we started to get more and more.Always had to watch out for them when I was on the ladder cleaning blinds
or doing other things.We had such a bad infestation that the district called professional exterminators to come and gas the building. They we just all over the place.Since Bracken Cave near Bracken, texas is the largest colony of mexican free tail bats in the world,it's no wonder we had them.
Not fun doging bats believe me.

Oh goodness. Only in Arkansas. Or Transylvania.