CSU has a plethora of furry friends across campus, whether it’s the squirrels that fearlessly approach students, dogs that people take for walks. One animal, however, is rather unexpected: bats. And they haven’t been found just anywhere on campus, they have been found in Parmelee Hall.
Numerous bats have been found and removed from Parmelee, particularly the fourth floor on the south side of the building.
Second year student Irving Mendoza is currently living and working in Parmelee, and has had multiple interactions with the bats and those handling the situation.
One of the first interactions was with an RA, and someone brought in to actually remove the bats.
“Both of the RA’s, me and [my coworker] were just kind of distraught from like, seeing multiple bats, as we only expected to see one. And the guy caught them, then I took them out of the building,” Mendoza said.
It was assumed to be an isolated incident, but Mendoza started seeing more and more bats throughout that week. In only one night, eight bats were found and removed from the building.
“Until that day, I counted 16 bats being found […] in the span of maybe like, a week and a half,” said Mendoza.
The turning point for Mendoza was when he found out that a bat had been in his room.
“I didn’t feel that supported by people I told and by the whole residence hall because honestly, they were putting us in danger,” Mendoza said.
There were fliers posted in each hallway advising residents to watch for bats, and if one is spotted, to not interact with them and to call the RA on duty right away.
Marianne Weighaus, the director of Communications and Sustainability for Housing and Dining Services, provided some information on behalf of HDS.
“CSU’s Environmental Health Services personnel responded to Parmelee Hall and collected a total of seven bats in the first week of July, and two more this week. No reports of human contact with bats at Parmelee Hall have been made to CSU’s public health office. Bats are collected when found, and tested for rabies if there was possible contact with humans. If anyone sees a bat indoors, contact CSU’s Environmental Health Services to safely collect the animal. In any situation, do not handle wildlife, especially if the animal appears sick or injured,” Weighaus said.
At the date of publication, it is unknown if there have been more bat sightings, but residents discussed how this is not the first time this has happened; at least one bat was found in the same side of Parmelee last summer.
Other than the aforementioned fliers posted in the hallways, there has been no other widespread communication made to residents on this issue.
Reach Aubree Miller at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @aubreem07.