After the infestation of bats in Hathorn Hall last February, Mississippi State University has incorporated exclusion units to keep bats out of buildings on campus.
Sid Salter, director of Office of Public Affairs, said MSU proactively inspects and repairs buildings to find and close all known points of entry on the roofs and on the eaves of buildings.
“There have been no complaints regarding bats on the MSU campus since last year,” Salter said. “But like the vast majority of the hotels, apartment complexes and multi-story commercial buildings in this region of the state, we do expect to hear sporadic reports.” 
Wildlife biologist Dave Richardson said for the moment, bat problems from last winter and spring have been resolved.
“The bats that were trying to roost in Hathorn Hall, the Hand Lab and Mitchell Memorial Library last winter and spring were big brown bats,” Richardson said. “T   hese bats are common in Starkville, but if we have anymore bat problems, we are ready to address it up front and handle it.”
Richardson said bats retrieved last year were submitted for rabies testing, and the test results came back clean.
“We have placed exclusion devices over the areas of entrance for bats, which are screens that will allow bats to fly out but not back in,” he said. “However, with the cracks that are in a lot of buildings on campus, no one really knows how many bats have actually roosted in buildings.”
Jeanne Jones, professor of wildlife ecology and management at MSU, said the bats’ natural habitat has degraded, which causes them to search for a place to roost.
“Buildings that have entry cracks of as small as one half inch serve as roost for bats,” Jones said. “Many of the bats that are found in buildings roost in groups, and the fact that we keep much lighting on during the nights serves as attractants to bats.”
Marina Denny, Extension associate in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, said she witnessed the first successful bat house at the University of Florida in 1995, and a bat barn built later become a tourist attraction.
“As far as I know, MSU is not considering building bat houses, but I’ve heard a couple people mention that it could be a good idea,” Denny said. “Bats help keep the mosquito population down, and they eat other types of insects. Even their waste could be harvested and maybe used as fertilizer for research.”
Denny said it is illegal to use insecticides or pesticides to repel the bats or to kill them, and the purpose of exclusion devices is not to harm the bats, but to keep them out of buildings and ensure they cannot get back in.
For more information about bats and exclusion devices visit, batcon.org.