Post by L Roebuck on Sept 7, 2006 8:32:28 GMT -5
Benton Elementary School is going to the bats
By JANESE HEAVIN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Wednesday, September 6, 2006
It isn’t uncommon for Columbia public schools to have bats in the attic, but they seem to be multiplying at Benton Elementary School, and they’re starting to stink up the place.
Local animal control officers picked up a sleeping brown bat from Benton yesterday, the third bat found inside the building this school year. About 10 to a dozen bats are picked up from Benton every year, but Principal Debra Barksdale thinks the colony might be larger this year.
"Bats have always been a part of Benton, and we’ve lived harmoniously with them," Barksdale said. "The colony has expanded, and that’s why this year we’re seeing more bats than in the past."
In addition to finding a way to get rid of the bats, school district officials are looking to clean up large amounts of guano in the school’s attic. The combination of the guano, heat and humidity has caused some odor issues, Assistant Superintendent Jacque Cowherd said.
The bats might be inconvenient, but neither the mammals nor their droppings pose much of a threat to children, school officials say.
Bat guano can cause lung problems when breathed for extended periods, said Bill Elliott, a cave biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s resource science division in Jefferson City, but the illness isn’t common in Missouri. When it’s confined to an attic, the guano poses even less of a threat because it’s a separate air system, he said.
Although about 5 percent of bats tested are carrying rabies, for the most part they’re relatively harmless, Elliott said. Bats can only transmit the virus through bites, so people can’t get rabies just by being near them, a common misconception, he said.
"Rabid bats are not as common as people often think," Elliott said.
Barksdale is confident the district will solve the bat problem at her school.
Children at Benton are instructed to tell an adult if they see a bat, Barksdale said, although she stressed that it doesn’t often happen.
Although animal control officers have picked up bats at Jefferson Junior and Hickman High School, "Benton is the worst school for bats," Aust said. Buildings on the MU, Columbia College and Stephens College campuses are also "full of bats," Aust said.
Bats use attics in the summertime to have their babies because the heat provides incubator-like conditions, Elliott said. They can squeeze through openings and cracks less than a half-inch wide.
"They’ll come back to the same attic year after year," Elliott said. "They’re smart little creatures."
The Missouri Department of Conservation doesn’t advise killing attic-dwelling bats because the combination of poison and dying bats could create a health risk. Instead, the agency recommends patching the openings during the fall and wintertime, when bats are typically hibernating elsewhere. Elliott recommends observing the bats when they fly out of the attic in the evenings to see where the openings are. He doesn’t recommend patching those openings in the summertime, however, because doing so could trap baby bats inside.
Full Article
By JANESE HEAVIN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Wednesday, September 6, 2006
It isn’t uncommon for Columbia public schools to have bats in the attic, but they seem to be multiplying at Benton Elementary School, and they’re starting to stink up the place.
Local animal control officers picked up a sleeping brown bat from Benton yesterday, the third bat found inside the building this school year. About 10 to a dozen bats are picked up from Benton every year, but Principal Debra Barksdale thinks the colony might be larger this year.
"Bats have always been a part of Benton, and we’ve lived harmoniously with them," Barksdale said. "The colony has expanded, and that’s why this year we’re seeing more bats than in the past."
In addition to finding a way to get rid of the bats, school district officials are looking to clean up large amounts of guano in the school’s attic. The combination of the guano, heat and humidity has caused some odor issues, Assistant Superintendent Jacque Cowherd said.
The bats might be inconvenient, but neither the mammals nor their droppings pose much of a threat to children, school officials say.
Bat guano can cause lung problems when breathed for extended periods, said Bill Elliott, a cave biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s resource science division in Jefferson City, but the illness isn’t common in Missouri. When it’s confined to an attic, the guano poses even less of a threat because it’s a separate air system, he said.
Although about 5 percent of bats tested are carrying rabies, for the most part they’re relatively harmless, Elliott said. Bats can only transmit the virus through bites, so people can’t get rabies just by being near them, a common misconception, he said.
"Rabid bats are not as common as people often think," Elliott said.
Barksdale is confident the district will solve the bat problem at her school.
Children at Benton are instructed to tell an adult if they see a bat, Barksdale said, although she stressed that it doesn’t often happen.
Although animal control officers have picked up bats at Jefferson Junior and Hickman High School, "Benton is the worst school for bats," Aust said. Buildings on the MU, Columbia College and Stephens College campuses are also "full of bats," Aust said.
Bats use attics in the summertime to have their babies because the heat provides incubator-like conditions, Elliott said. They can squeeze through openings and cracks less than a half-inch wide.
"They’ll come back to the same attic year after year," Elliott said. "They’re smart little creatures."
The Missouri Department of Conservation doesn’t advise killing attic-dwelling bats because the combination of poison and dying bats could create a health risk. Instead, the agency recommends patching the openings during the fall and wintertime, when bats are typically hibernating elsewhere. Elliott recommends observing the bats when they fly out of the attic in the evenings to see where the openings are. He doesn’t recommend patching those openings in the summertime, however, because doing so could trap baby bats inside.
Full Article