Batty Behavior

A school in Arkansas has had to evacuate students from classrooms until officials can deal with a situation that is driving the educators batty. That would be an infestation of bats who have invaded the walls and ceilings of the school.

Bats are roosting inside Mansfield Elementary School, and it appears the problem has gotten worse since classes resumed in August. In some cases, teachers have had to move students out of their classrooms.

School officials said a teacher found a dead bat in a utility closet a few days before school started. District officials told authorities they thought it was an isolated incident, but when they started finding more and more guano, they knew there was a problem.

"I had no idea it was going to be this big, had no idea," said Mansfield Elementary Principal Kathy Goff. "We found guano on the roof. That's when we knew there was a major problem."

Superintendent Jim Hattabaugh believed students were the source of one problem.

"We started looking around and noticed the odor was something else, and we kind of blamed that on the little boys missing the toilet," he said.

The bats are in the classrooms, on ceilings and, according to animal-control officers, behind the walls.

"They are really small. They can hide in a crevice. They are just a pest," Hattabaugh said.

After consulting with animal control workers, school officials set up a bat funnel. They hope the bats will fly out at night and not find their way back in.

Just another front in the animal uprising. Now the evil winged rodents are trying to keep our kids from being educated.

(Actually, this is a pretty dangerous situation. Not only is there a risk of rabies associated with the little beasts, but bat guano is quite nasty and can be a source of histoplasmosis - and yes, I am aware bat guano is used as a fertilizer, but ideally that guano has been composted and sterilized.)