onedef92
03-31-2011, 9:06am
Thousands of bats invade historic Tifton home
Posted: Mar 30, 2011 6:34 PM EDT
Updated: Mar 30, 2011 6:34 PM EDT
TIFTON, GA –There's a house in Tifton's historic district that is infested with bats, more than a thousand of them. People who live near the house says it's disgusting and that the smell takes your breath away.Code enforcement officers have now deemed the house unfit for human habitation.
Code enforcement was contacted this week about the bats by a realtor who was listing the property. Once code enforcement went inside the home they found an overload of bats. Some were chirping from the attic, others chirping from the walls and some were even dead on the floor. It was so bad, a section of the ceiling was sagging with bat droppings leaking to the floor.
For more than 3 decades Annie Sumner's lived just feet away from some very pesky neighbors,"You can't imagine how it is to live next door to bats," she said.
Same goes for Diane Lewis, "I have been smelling those bats for 30 or 40 years," she said.
They say living next door to bats is difficult, sometimes even unbearable. "You know what an old stinking outhouse is? well if you put about 6 out there that is how it smells," said Sumner.
It can also be scary. "One time when they were trying to get rid of the bats, I guess they got them mad because they were flying in a circle around the house and if you opened the door you could have gotten hit by one flying by," said Lewis.
It's gotten so bad, Sumner says she no longer goes outside. "I stay inside and sew," she said.
She lights candles to fight the odors, and no longer picks fruit from her own trees. "Late in the afternoon, they pour out of the top of that house to feed, they feed and go back in," she said.
Bats have been flying around the neighborhood for years, but they've taken a special liking to this home, 316 West 6th Street. A few years ago the house was cleared of bats, but the owner did not seal the home properly to keep the bats out, so more and more bats have been piling in.
This week code enforcement and animal control officers got a glimpse and a whiff of the inside. "Upstairs the odor was very strong, I wore a respirator myself," said Russell Gay, Tifton Tift County Code Enforcement.
It wasn't so much downstairs, but upstairs where the bats were spotted."At one point the ceiling was sagging with drippings so we knew we had a problem," he said.
Which can be a scary situation, "You can have a bat on you and not really realize until its bitten you or something, I will run if I need to," he said.
Next city leaders plan to work with the mortgage company that owns the home about getting the bats out. Neighbors say there is no easy fix for the home, "The only solution for the house it to condemn it tear it down," said Sumner.
They want the bats gone for good, so they can return to their normal life.
Posted: Mar 30, 2011 6:34 PM EDT
Updated: Mar 30, 2011 6:34 PM EDT
TIFTON, GA –There's a house in Tifton's historic district that is infested with bats, more than a thousand of them. People who live near the house says it's disgusting and that the smell takes your breath away.Code enforcement officers have now deemed the house unfit for human habitation.
Code enforcement was contacted this week about the bats by a realtor who was listing the property. Once code enforcement went inside the home they found an overload of bats. Some were chirping from the attic, others chirping from the walls and some were even dead on the floor. It was so bad, a section of the ceiling was sagging with bat droppings leaking to the floor.
For more than 3 decades Annie Sumner's lived just feet away from some very pesky neighbors,"You can't imagine how it is to live next door to bats," she said.
Same goes for Diane Lewis, "I have been smelling those bats for 30 or 40 years," she said.
They say living next door to bats is difficult, sometimes even unbearable. "You know what an old stinking outhouse is? well if you put about 6 out there that is how it smells," said Sumner.
It can also be scary. "One time when they were trying to get rid of the bats, I guess they got them mad because they were flying in a circle around the house and if you opened the door you could have gotten hit by one flying by," said Lewis.
It's gotten so bad, Sumner says she no longer goes outside. "I stay inside and sew," she said.
She lights candles to fight the odors, and no longer picks fruit from her own trees. "Late in the afternoon, they pour out of the top of that house to feed, they feed and go back in," she said.
Bats have been flying around the neighborhood for years, but they've taken a special liking to this home, 316 West 6th Street. A few years ago the house was cleared of bats, but the owner did not seal the home properly to keep the bats out, so more and more bats have been piling in.
This week code enforcement and animal control officers got a glimpse and a whiff of the inside. "Upstairs the odor was very strong, I wore a respirator myself," said Russell Gay, Tifton Tift County Code Enforcement.
It wasn't so much downstairs, but upstairs where the bats were spotted."At one point the ceiling was sagging with drippings so we knew we had a problem," he said.
Which can be a scary situation, "You can have a bat on you and not really realize until its bitten you or something, I will run if I need to," he said.
Next city leaders plan to work with the mortgage company that owns the home about getting the bats out. Neighbors say there is no easy fix for the home, "The only solution for the house it to condemn it tear it down," said Sumner.
They want the bats gone for good, so they can return to their normal life.