Bats in a School

We've all seen Snakes on a Plane, right? Well, get ready for Bats in a School: in this case, it's Bellaire High School, where three bats have been found hanging out in a third-floor hallway. The bats were noticed over the past two weeks, and Bellaire police officer Richard Perez got called to the school when one was captured. "One was actually hanging off the ceiling tile, and there was one behind a doorway entry coming off the stairwell. Another one was behind a garbage can," Perez told KPRC.

The captured bat was tested for rabies and found to be clean; officials say the other Bellaire bats have not come in contact with humans, and the school is working with an exterminator to take care of the problem. Bat rabies testing skyrocketed in Harris County after Zachary Jones, a Humble teen, got rabies from a bat bite and died in May. Kathy Barton of the city's health and human services department said five or six times as many bats were tested in May, June and July as in a normal month, but she added that people really don't need to worry about bats as long as they leave them alone.

"Bats are a member of the natural habitat here in Houston and they play an important role. But, they don't need to be playing a role in your personal life. They don't need to be in your house. You don't need to be touching them or letting the bats touch your children," Barton said.

So we're not supposed to be walking around picking up bats? There go our weekend plans. (For more info on bats and rabies, check out this CDC report.)