HOUSTON – A creepy, flying creature has one family so spooked to the point they called KPRC 2 for help trying to get rid of them.
The family lives at The Braeswood Condominiums on Braeswood Boulevard.
One day, they had a new neighbor move in.
It’s tiny. It’s furry. And it can fly.
“And I thought it was just like a big brown leaf,” said Gregory McClinton, whose fiance lives in the condo building.
Oh, but was he mistaken.
“Then I just, really just looked over it,” he said. “I kind of knew there was a bat and like, an ugly creature.”
A bat that somehow managed to make its way inside this condo building. It’s not the only one either.
“They down here like two of them,” McClinton said. “One was at the bottom and one was at the top.”
Gregory tried to shoo them away with one of his friends. That went about as good as you could imagine.
“I got suited up. Jacket, long sleeve, pants. And try to take care of myself.”
In a matter of a day, the bats returned (or new ones showed up).
“Looks dead,” he said. “Now, it was just like a possum. It’s really playing possum right now. So when you touch this one, wings and everything expand.”
It’s not just creepy to look at. As one of his kids was walking down the hall, a bat came flying at her from behind.
“I was crying cause I didn’t know what to do because my mom was inside and she didn’t know at all,” said 15-year-old Kamora Dock. “I didn’t have my phone with me. So I started crying and panicking.”
“While she was running back down the hallway, the bat was flying in the hallway. Just imagine how scary that is,” added McClinton.
Scary and dangerous.
Bats can bite and that bite could carry rabies.
That’s why McClinton has been trying to get rid of the bats.
He called his fiancé's landlord but had no luck.
Also, wildlife experts were charging an arm and a leg.
The City of Houston doesn’t deal with bats either.
When he called KPRC2 for help, Gage Goulding picked up the phone and called the Houston Humane Society to help them.
The team there is accepting animals, including bats.
“Bats are incredibly important to both the Texas economy and ecosystem. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, bats contribute $1.4 billion per year in insect control,” said a spokesperson with the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center. “With the animals gathering in Houston during the summer months, this is incredibly important for addressing the mosquito population in Southeast Texas. While we at the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center understand the concern that comes with unfamiliarity about certain animals, we want to express that bats carrying rabies is very uncommon, with fewer than 0.5% contracting the virus. In the event one encounters an injured, sick, or orphaned bat, please call the Houston Humane Society Wildlife Center at 713-468-8972 as soon as possible so we can advise you on how to manage this situation safely. We have a team that can safely remove them from the property and take them into our care if needed. We are happy to help with any bat-related questions or concerns. For more information, please visit www.houstonhumanewildlife.org.”
Gage: “Will that be a sigh of relief knowing that it’s not there anymore?”
Gregory: “It will man. I mean, for my kids as well.”
If you have bats, you can try to rid them with repellent. If that doesn’t work, it’s best to call in a professional.
