Georgia family plagued by bat infestation at Savannah home: 'They were everywhere'

At first Monica and Isaiah Grant thought the small black bat flying in their rental home in Savannah, Georgia was a fluke.

After all, bats are common in the Georgian coastal city, where the family had moved last year after living in Chicago. But that didn't make it any less terrifying when on Jan. 18, the small, dark creature came flying into the couple's bedroom long after its high-pitched squeaks, scratching and rustling had awoken them from a winter's slumber.

The clatter also disturbed their 4-month-old baby as Isaiah and Monica grabbed a tennis racket and a box to herd the bat outside the home. Problem solved – or so the couple thought.

“We’re like, Savannah has many bats, so it’s fine," Monica recalled in an interview with Savannah Now, a USA TODAY publication. "Nothing’s wrong."

But the bat wasn't alone. The nocturnal animal was just the first sign of a growing bat infestation that the Grants soon discovered lurked in their home, causing them to eventually be displaced.

More bat encounters require rabies treatment

Within a few days, several more bat encounters occurred, one of which even startled a guest who came running out of the bathroom screaming. The infestation seemed to only be growing as temperatures dropped and the animals sought shelter.

The bats clung in clusters along a lace room divider and gravitated toward the warm humidity of the bathroom. In a video that's racked up thousands of views on YouTube, the Grant family shared footage taken around the home that shows bats flying inside the living room and stairwell, and hiding inside heating vents in the ceiling.

Upon the advice of a public health official, Isaiah and Monica and their two children, River, 2, and Clara, 4-months, began prophylactic treatment for rabies. The Grants also said the Georgia Department of Health and Human Services has deemed the house “to be an imminent public health risk.”

Throughout the whole ordeal, the family had to deal with close to 80 bats inside their home, according to local outlet WSAV.

Bats must be removed humanely, and rabies shots advised

It’s not unusual for bats to find their way into homes in Savannah, especially when temperatures dip into the 20s, like they did on mid-January, said Trina Morris, program manager in the Wildlife Conservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The Grants' home just happened to provide a tempting refuge to the small Brazilian free-tailed bats

“We had several situations where we had unusual wildlife events because of that cold spell," Morris told Savannah Now. "That's just the way it is. Everything's trying to survive.”

Georgia is home to 16 native species of bats, all of which are protected from intentional harm, Morris said.

Bats are just one of many animals that are capable of spreading rabies to those who are bitten or scratched. Rabies, which infects the central nervous system, can be fatal if left untreated, but is easily prevented with vaccinations, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

Only about one to three rabies cases are reported annually in the United States, but across the globe, the disease is thought to cause approximately 59,000 deaths a year, according to the National Park Service.

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Grant family flees to hotel after nearly a week

The Grants reported the pervasive problem the following Monday, Jan. 22, to the Property Management Co. LLC, but were unhappy with what they viewed as a slow and reluctant response.

One night, after nearly a week of living with the infestation, Monica and Isaiah were relaxing downstairs when they heard a noise in the kitchen and looked to see little arms reaching through the air vent.

That’s when Monica said she had enough.

“We decided we just can’t be here because there’s so many,” she said.

That night, Jan. 24, the couple promptly woke the kids and left the home ‒ still with remnants of the Christmas holiday season, including a tree, garland and string lights ‒ headed for the relative safety of a hotel.

The next day, a local pest control company came to inspect the property and were shocked by what they saw: According to Monica, the technician claimed that in 43 years, the company had never seen that many bats in a living space.

“It's like they're in the hall, not in the attic," Monica said. "They're in your bedrooms, they're in your kitchen. I mean, they're in the bathroom… they were everywhere.”

It took some prodding, but finally Isaiah said by Jan. 26, he was able to get the property management company to take more concrete action after more than a week after the first bat was seen.

“And that was the first time we actually had any communication from them,” he said.

The pest control company came out again and hung glue traps in the attic and closed the areas where the bats had entered so that no more new bats could fly in. Of course, that also meant the bats couldn't leave, either.

Property Management Company Owner Cathleen Barela told WSAV-TV that bats were removed last week and that the house will soon be sanitized, the station reported Monday.

“Code Compliance left a violation due to the pressure they were getting from the tenants,” Barela told the station. "But all and all that the bats needed to be removed from the property and that they are well aware of the fact that we are working to get that done.”

Grants start GoFundMe to help with expenses

Even if the bats are removed, the Grants said they have no intention of returning to the home.

Exasperated and not knowing where else to turn, the Grants started a GoFundMe campaign on Jan. 29 to raise money to help with growing medical bills and living expenses.

The expensive rabies treatments require an emergency room visit each time they get one of the series of eight shots, the family said. The Grants hopes to raise $10,000, enough to cover what they estimated would be $6,000 in medical bills and $4,000 or more to move.

The GoFundMe raised $11,72 before Isaiah disabled it.

In an update Friday, the family said they have been "overwhelmed by the support of our family, friends, community, and even strangers. When we started this GoFundMe, we had very few answers to where to go, how to solve this and how we would ever recover."

The family said in the GoFundMe update that they were able to stay with a neighbor but had plans to temporarily move into a fully furnished townhome thanks to an unnamed individual's generosity.

They've also hired an attorney to negotiate with the management company as they look for a permanent home elsewhere.