The University of Georgia has been grappling with a bat infestation in a dormitory, and school officials are working to get rid of them.
Five hundred students were shocked when they returned to campus for the spring semester earlier this month and found bats had taken over their dormitory.
Last weekend, an estimated 30 bats were spotted in the rafter of a mechanical space at Oglethorpe Hall. Pest control cleared the critters, and officials sealed the area from student entry.
Students at the university have been complaining for weeks about the bats that were on multiple floors of the residence hall. As WSBTV reported, the problem started on Jan. 14.
“It’s very alarming,” student Eva Sardon told Fox 5 Atlanta.
“There was one in the lobby, and it was like on the floor, and then all of a sudden, it just got up and started flying at me, so I ran back to my room.”
As of Sunday, all of the known holes where bats could access the building were sealed, said Linda Kasper, the executive director of university housing, to Fox 5.
Officials have also installed a one-way valve in the rooftop mechanical space so that the winged creatures can get out of the dormitory but cannot enter again, according to WSB-TV.
But freshman Ella Jones said she believes the school should be doing more to protect her and her fellow students, who fear rabies.
“I don’t know how exterminating works, but I feel like there could be more done,” she told Atlanta News First.