UPDATE: April 14th, 2024, 1:50 PM MST
THE BATS ARE FREE! Thankfully, Austin Bat Refuge volunteers took action and started removing the foam late last night. They were confronted by the maintenance person who then called the apartment manager off-site. The volunteers were told to stop, but they continually educated the people about the danger of bats trapped inside to the tenants and were eventually allowed to continue removing the foam. Tomorrow, exclusion tubes will be installed and the bats will be removed safely and humanely.
UPDATE: April 13th, 2024, 6:00 PM MST
Local news has reached out to the apartment complex management without success.
ORIGINAL POST: April 13th, 2024, 3:00 PM MST
Please read this in its entirety and PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD:
Yesterday evening we learned of a large colony of pregnant free-tailed bats who were sealed into an apartment complex. This photo is a small sampling of the areas that were foamed.
The bats have been living there peacefully for years, however, a new tenant complained and the apartment complex took drastic measures. Rather than doing a safe and humane exclusion (eviction) of the bats, they instead decided to use spray foam to entomb the bats in hopes they will slowly die.
The police in San Antonio were contacted, and allegedly cites a NONEXISTANT law of USFWS, that the bats should be killed when inside a building. To add to this, Texas Parks and Wildlife allow the indiscriminate killings of bats when they are inside a building occupied by humans.
However, sealing the bats in will not work. They will not just stay there and slowly die, they will try to escape and end up INSIDE apartments, where they are likely to come into contact with children and pets. If an exposure occurs, the apartment complex and associated owners will be liable.
Another issue is that thousands of decaying bodies will end up inside the walls and ceiling of the apartments, causing a horrible odor issue that will not dissipate until the walls and ceiling are torn down and replaced. The last time and apartment complex did this, they were forced to relocate all of their tenants into hotels at the apartment owners expense.
ALL OF THIS CAN BE AVOIDED IF THEY SIMPLY REMOVE THE FOAM AND THEN PERFORM A HUMANE BAT EXCLUSION.
The apartment complex and the property owners do not have Facebook pages so we are encouraging folks to contact these companies through the information below. It is not too late to save the bats so please act quickly!
THE FOAM MUST COME DOWN!
Hillside Manor Apartments
501 Koehler Ct, San Antonio, TX 78223
(210) 533-9480
You can leave a voicemail. You can also contact your local news.
If the possibility exists for human endangerment then you can’t really be held responsible for removing the foam, but I hope you’re ready to defend yourself in court if you, as in anybody reading this message, decide to try it.