- Here’s one story that’s bats*** insane.
Many different kinds of pests and vermin can infest your home. You could get roaches, bedbugs, rats, mice, praying mantises…
But bats? That’s a rare one.
Yet, even the rarest things still happen sometimes. Just ask the Georgia family who can’t return to their because a colony of bats has become their unwelcome subtenants.
When they spotted the first bat, the Grant family thought it was just a lone straggler who had somehow found its way into their home. But then they saw another one. And another, and another.
Eventually, the house got so full of bats that the Grants couldn’t take it anymore. They moved to a hotel and began racking up the lodging fees.
That’s in addition to the cost of the rabies shots they’ve had to get and pay for out of pocket. Fortunately, a GoFundMe campaign — coupled with some generous neighbors — has helped them make ends meet.
The Grants say they’ve been in touch with their property management company, but the situation hasn’t yet been cleared. Both have lawyered as they try to figure out the next steps.
One thing is sure for the family, though. They aren’t going back into the bat house.
Like a Bat into a Home
Isaiah and Monica Grant moved from Chicago to Savannah, Georgia, about a year ago with their children, 2-year-old River and 4-month-old Clara. Initially, all was fine in their lives.
That changed on January 18 of this year. They had gone to bed when they began hearing strange squeaking and rustling emanating from… Somewhere.
Then, the bat flew into the bedroom. The ensuing scramble woke Clara up, but the Grants were able to chase the bat outside with a tennis racket and a box.
And that’s the end of that, they figured.
“We’re like, Savannah has many bats, so it’s fine. Nothing’s wrong,” Mrs. Grant told Savannah Now.
But something was wrong. Over the following days, the Grants began seeing more and more bats pop up in their home.
They were in the heating vents, under the stairwell, in the living room, everywhere. A bunch of them sent their guest coming screaming out of the bathroom.
Eventually, the Grants estimated that there were roughly 80 bats living in their home.
Nothing They’d Ever Seen Before
On January 22, the Grants reported the bat infestation to their rental home’s property management company, the Property Management Company (PMC). No, seriously, that’s the firm’s name.
Yet, to the Grants’ disappointment, the PMC didn’t respond as quickly as they’d hoped. Two days later, they were still living in the bat-filled house after almost a week their problem began.
That night, Mr. and Mrs. Grant were sitting in their living room when they heard a noise from the kitchen. There, they saw dozens of tiny bat arms reach through the heating vent’s cover.
“We decided we just can’t be here because there’s so many [bats],” said Mrs. Grant.
The couple woke up their kids and drove to a hotel. The following day, pest management technicians finally showed up.
All they could do was express their shock at the house. According to the Grants, the pest control guys had never seen anything like it.
Yet another day later, the PMC responded to the Grants for the first time. That same day, the pest technicians came back to hang up some glue traps.
Not that the traps are going to do much for the problem.
Then again, there’s a not whole lot the pest guys can do. All of Georgia’s 16 native bat species are protected and cannot be intentionally killed — so simply gassing the home is out of the question.
Lawyering Up
For the time being, the Grants have been able to move in with a neighbor to stop paying constant hotel fees. On top of that, all four of them have had to get rabies shots — and pay for them out of pocket.
Consequently, life was getting too expensive for the Grants. Lucky for them, the local community has shoveled support on them after they started a GoFundMe campaign to cover the costs.
But what about the bats? They’re still in the house and the City of Savannah has decreed the building to be unlivable due to a code violation.
The city also said that it is working with the PMC to resolve the problem. The PMC told WFLA that the bats are now gone and the company is disinfecting the home.
Yet, the PMC also claims that the Grants aren’t making it clear what they want from the company and the house. Sure, they want the bats gone, but they also say that they have no intention of ever living in the home again.
Due to that, the Grants said they haven’t paid February’s rent — and also admitted that the topic of eviction has not come up on the PMC’s part.
So, both the Grants and the PMC have made what’s perhaps the most reasonable move and gotten in touch with lawyers. With the help of legal professionals, they’re now trying to figure out a way to get the Grants a new home.
Hopefully that won’t have any uninvited leathery critters in it.