As local bats continue to make campus buildings at Mississippi State University their home, university officials attempt to eliminate the problem.
Since January, the MSU Department of Housing and Residence Life has been working to eradicate a bat infestation in Hathorn Hall.
Ann Bailey, director of Housing and Residence life, said in a letter her department is cooperating with a number of experts to remove the bats from the dormitory.
“We are working closely with a wildlife biologist bat expert, the MSU Longest Student Health Center director and the Mississippi Department of Health,” she said in a letter mailed to parents of Hathorn Hall residents.
Bailey said housing staff have filled in crevices with expandable foam and fitted Hathorn Hall with mechanisms that block bats’ re-entry into the building.
“We have installed devices where bats are entering and exiting the building,” she said in the letter. “These devices allow bats to exit, but not reenter the building.”
Sid Salter, director of University Relations, said estimating how many bats are in the residence hall is difficult, but that MSU considers even one bat to be too many.
Salter said the Department of Housing and Residence Life offered to place Hathorn Hall residents in different campus housing locations if the residents felt uncomfortable.
There have been requests to be relocated, Salter said.
“Parents and students have been advised that the university is doing everything possible under the restraints of federal law to get the problem under control,” Salter said. “Any time our students are uncomfortable or frightened is serious business to the university. That’s why Student Affairs, (the Department of Housing and Residence Life) and basically every university asset has been thrown in at dealing with this problem.”
Some species of bats are protected under federal law as part of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Salter said, so MSU must follow specific protocols while trying to remove the bats.
“We can’t go in and use chemicals or things of that nature,” he said. “Primarily what has to be done is figure out points of entrance where bats are going in the building and fitting the entries with devices that allow bats to leave and not reenter.”
Dante Hill, area coordinator for Residence Life, declined to comment.
Nicole Blackmon, sophomore psychology major and Hathorn Hall resident adviser, said the housing staff has been instructed not to share any information about the bat problem with the media.
Sarah Caitlin Wheat, sophomore special education major, said she came face to face with a bat in her hallway in Hathorn Hall.
“It spread its wings and took off down the hall,” she said.
Wheat also said she was alarmed by the compact size of the bats, which allows them to enter and exit the building through tiny openings.
“Once I saw how little it was and that it could get under a door, I started freaking out,” she said.
Abigail Hartman, sophomore biological sciences major, said an acquaintance of hers killed one of the bats in Hathorn Hall.
In an email to Hathorn Hall residents, Bailey advised residents not to personally interfere with any of the bats.
“Please do not attempt to handle, capture or disturb the bat. Leaving it alone and undisturbed makes it much easier for our staff to catch it,” she said via email. “If one enters your bedroom, please leave the room, turning off the lights and closing the door as you leave.”
Paul Hogue, sophomore microbiology major and Hathorn Hall resident, said he finds the MSU’s response to the plague of bats problematic.
“It’s a major issue that a major university would have a bat infestation and not do something about it quickly,” he said. “It’s not fair to the students.”
Hogue said he is undisturbed by the bats and has no plans to move out of Hathorn Hall.
“It doesn’t bother me, but some people it does bother,” he said.
According to Melanie Harris, instructor in the Department of Communication, McComas Hall has long housed a small population of bats.
“There have always been a couple of bats in the very top part of McComas,” she said.
Harris said the bats in McComas Hall have never presented a problem.
“They’re not worth worrying about,” she said.
Ann Bailey, Director of Housing and Residence Life, said a trained animal control professional is leading the effort to rid campus buildings of bat infestations.
“We are working with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services bat expert,” she said via email.
Bailey said her department is following national protocol in resolving the bat issue.
“USDA Animal Damage Control Bat Management Guidelines are focusing our efforts,” she said via email.
Harris said the bat expert inspected McComas Hall to ensure the building is not housing the bats leaving Hathorn Hall.
“I spent two hours with an expert making sure that while they’re cleaning up the mess at Hathorn, they’re not creating one at McComas,” she said.
Harris said the expert found that McComas Hall is not bat-ridden.
“McComas is not infested,” she said. “Hathorn is infested.”
According to an email notice from Brenda Grebner, administrative assistant to the dean of the Bagley College of Engineering, bats have also been found in McCain Hall.
“We are currently experiencing a problem with bats inside McCain Hall,” the email said. “If you should find a bat in the building, please do not pick it up.”
The email instructed recipients to notify the MSU Police Department, MSU Biosafety Officer, Patricia Cox or Facilities Management.
Editors Note: The Reflector News Editor, Emma Crawford, lives in Hathorn Hall, and Campus News Editor, John Galatas, works for the Department of Housing and Residence Life.