Visitors to our Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) campus comment on how beautiful it is. However, students have begun to notice they’ve been sharing space with flying rodents.

We have bats.

“I was terrified!” said Dan Kilkelly. A bat had appeared in the Spur office the Monday of layout night. “I checked the ceiling for holes afterwards, but I still have no idea where it came from.”

A fellow Spur editor trapped the bat (below) under a box. The critter did not appear to be sick, but did look disorientated. Public Safety was called, and a person came quickly and removed the live animal.

Bats on the SMSU campus are not uncommon. Earlier this semester, a bat had been trapped in the Library.

Circle the dorm complexes and you can sometimes see what appears to be a wire tube or netting protruding from the corners of the lobby windows. These are for bats. These cover bat holes. Bats can leave the building at night to feed, but come dawn, they are unable to return inside. The bats get frustrated and leave.

Why is it important to remove bats? Bats can become sick with viruses that can infect humans. One example of illness a sick bat can carry is rabies which can be fatal in humans.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) advises against getting rid of bats via poison and/or inappropriate removal methods. These can increase the contact between sick bats and humans. Proper removal methods of bats can be found on the DNR’s website.