Related articles:

Bat hazard spurs school shutdown

Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Health Care
Dependable Health Services
Physical Therapists Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Construction
West-Press
Printing Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President

An East Side middle school temporarily shut down Thursday morning after more than a dozen bats were found inside, but no one was hurt.

After school personnel found about 14 bats inside Magee Middle School, 8300 E. Speedway, more than 800 students were evacuated for more than an hour and a half as experts removed the potentially hazardous animals. The incident ended around 9 a.m.

Officials expected to know today if the bats had rabies, said Marc Hammond, co-owner of Animal Experts Wildlife Services, a private animal removal company that handled the incident.

Clusters of bats are commonly found everywhere in Tucson from schools to City Hall, but 14 is a large number, Hammond said. Animal Experts had been working at the school since last month to remove bats, capturing nine on Feb. 28, he said.

"They're sort of like mice," said Mark Soto, enforcement operation supervisor with the Pima Animal Care Center. "They get in the smallest crevice they will find. There's a high potential that one of the children may handle one and get a bite."