THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506100272
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SNUG HARBOR LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Like the rest of the congregation, Gerald Bright sensed something was amiss when a strong odor spread through the sanctuary.
``I thought it was a problem that would go away,'' said the associate pastor of the 100-member Snug Harbor Community Church in rural Perquimans County.
Instead, it's created a big stink.
The strange smell turned out to be coming from the droppings of about 100 evening and brown bats that decided this spring to use the church attic as a nursery.
It wasn't until the weather heated up a few weeks ago that parishioners discovered they had uninvited tenants.
The odor from the bat dung, called guano, has forced church members to worship in the much smaller fellowship hall and could cancel the children's Vacation Bible School.
Some members have complained of respiratory problems. Others worry that the flying mammals may invade the church's hallowed halls and spread disease.
Worst of all, members of the small interdenominational church have yet to find someone who will go to bat for them.
``These poor people have been calling everywhere,'' said Lin Hood, who was baptized in the church five years ago. ``You see, we're trying to get rid of them nicely.''
So far, church building committee members have shone flood lights at all hours and hung mothball-mixture balls to drive them out. But the two colonies haven't budged.
``Maybe they're religious bats,'' joked deacon Mark Futrell.
``I've already been asking God since He speaks their language,'' Ned Thurston, also a church leader, said of his own personal efforts.
Edenton bat expert Paris Trail visited the church this week and said the best way to get rid of the rodents - besides waiting until the colonies leave for the winter - is by completely sealing off the place after all the bats leave at night.
This environmentally friendly method requires a lot of time and patience, and perhaps steel nerves and strong coffee. People must wait until the bats head off to hunt for food, find their escape routes and eventually seal them all up. It could take weeks, even a month.
But Trail and Tom Dyson, Perquimans County horticultural agent, warn that bats have a strong homing instinct and will likely come back next year.
If the church is carefully and completely sealed, though, the animals will find an alternate roost. In fact, the destruction or disturbance of their former habitat probably drew them to the relatively new blue-trimmed, single-story church, Trail said.
``We have no old growth forest left, and no big hollow trees left, so they are forced to move into attics, where it's warm, dry and there's lots of room,'' he said.
The brave few who have ventured into the church attic report the stench and the bats' high-pitched shrills to be overwhelming.
But Trail says bats are also beneficial, eating insects such as mosquitoes and moths.
That is of little comfort to the people who regularly attend Snug Harbor Community Church, about 10 miles southwest of Hertford.
``We've had so many bats that they're taking over the church,'' Hood said. ``It's really terrible.'' Some have even begun to hang upside down from outside shingles in broad daylight. Another was found Friday mid-morning eating near a trash can.
Bob Evans has steered clear of the inside of his church for almost a week now, under doctor's orders. Evans said he's had respiratory problems since trying unsuccessfully to clean up the bat dung to reduce the smell.
``It's just one of those types of smells that don't immediately overcome you. You kind of get used to it,'' he said.
``I think that's the worst part of it, that you're breathing that kind of stuff, filling your lungs with it,'' he said.
Bats are considered nongame wildlife in North Carolina and cannot be killed unless they cause substantial property damage, Tyson said.
If permitted by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, property owners may shoot or trap the animals in order to save their building. But local ordinances may impede those efforts.
The state has 14 bat species, including two on the endangered list. Both of those are located in the western part of North Carolina, but Trail is working with others to have the Eastern long-eared bat, found in the northeast North Carolina and Virginia, added to the list.
Meanwhile, the quest continues for someone to help save the Snug Harbor bats - and their latest landlords.
``We just pray somebody will come in and take them,'' Bright said. ``It's an environmental project is what it is. People are so interested in preserving things, I bet a guy could write a book on these.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
Staff photos
Above, a bat hangs on a screen designed to keep the animals from
returning to the attic of the Snug Harbor Community Church. But for
now, says associate pastor Gerald Wright, left, services will be
moved to the fellowship hall.
by CNB