Bats roosting in health department building may be tricky to remove, SC officials say
Unwelcome critters have made their home inside a health department building — and it may be difficult to remove them, South Carolina officials say.
The Anderson County Health Department office is still open after bats were found living on the third floor, officials told WSPA and other news outlets earlier this month.
The state oversees the building, which offers vaccines, family planning and STD services, according to the S.C. Department of State Health and Environmental Control. Officials say the office is also a provider for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which helps low-income families.
People who breathe near bat poop can develop histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that can become severe in those who have “weakened immune systems” or who get close to large concentrations of waste, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Though many bats don’t have rabies, humans are encouraged to avoid contact with them, health officials say.
But in Anderson, bats have been roosting at the health department for at least three weeks, the Independent Mail reported Thursday.
So what has kept them there for so long?
Bats sometimes try to stay indoors to get away from “harsh weather,” according to the pest control company Terminx.
And when deciding to remove the animals, professionals must consider that many of the species are endangered and require protection, WHNS reports.
Adding to the complexity, state officials are spearheading bat removal in the building, which Anderson County owns, according to the Independent Mail.
The S.C. Department of State Health and Environmental Control expects the nocturnal animals to start getting the boot on Jan. 6, the newspaper reports.
The area where the bats are living is closed to the public, and “the animals have typically been discovered when the building is closed — either in the early morning or evening,” WHNS reports.
Fourteen species of bats are found in South Carolina, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
The animals “are of great economic importance to the state — they suppress nocturnal insect populations, including crop and forest pests, and reduce the need for costly pesticides,” wildlife officials say.
Anderson is roughly 30 miles southwest of Greenville, near the Georgia border.
