By Isabella Swan
Vampire Fanclub President
At the beginning of the Fall 2022 semester, many students living in Reid Hall reported seeing bats flying around the building. The bats were properly removed by members of Buildings and Grounds. However, it seems they have made their return this semester.
“When I came back from the bathroom the other night, I saw one flying around my dorm,” Reid Hall resident freshman Jonathan Harker said. “And I do not have time to get a rabies shot.”
Other students have not been so lucky.
“I think one bit me,” Reid Hall resident junior Eddie Cullen said. “Hope I don’t become a vampire or something.”
With the uptick in bat sightings, many Reid Hall residents reported the issue to their residential assistants. The residence hall has been fraught with many other issues in the past, including a pungent marijuana smell lingering throughout the halls and long lines for the washer and dryer.
“There’s not much we can do about the bats,” RA sophomore Farren Hauer said. “I’ve tried to catch them, but they’re very fast.”
Fortunately, residents received a much-needed answer about the bats in the form of an email from residential life.
“For those currently residing in Reid Hall, we understand the current bat ‘infestation’ has been bothering some residents,” the email read. “Unfortunately, the bats have nowhere else to go. [Director of Residential Life] Amy Sine can simply not host them at her house.”
This email led to many raised eyebrows and even more student concerns.
“In my last meeting with [Sine] about the bats, she seemed very maternal,” Hauer said. “I suggested we call pest control or something, and she yelled at me not to. I think I even heard her call the bats her ‘babies.’”
Reid Hall residences are blaming Sine for the recent infestation, with many believing the bats are her pets.
“I get that bats can be cute,” Reid Hall resident freshman Katherine Pierce said. “But who would want them as a pet?”
The bat problem all came to a head on March 19. While some students were moving back in after spring break, they noticed Sine gathering the bats in the basement common room, feeding and petting them.
“I was here during spring break, and I didn’t see the bats around my dorm or in the hallway,” sophomore Evan Merk said. “I guess [Sine] was taking care of them downstairs when no one was here.”
After unpacking, Pierce was curious, and decided to listen in on Sine’s conversations with the bats.
“It was actually pretty sweet,” Pierce said. “[Sine] named each bat after a different ‘Interview with a Vampire’ character. It sounded like the bat named after Lestat bit a student, but [Sine] told him the student would be okay.”
Unfortunately for Sine, the Reid Hall residents took the bat-related matters into their own hands. On March 24, they called none other than pest control specialist Bob Duncan of Bob’s Bugs-Be-Gone to handle the infestation.
“My speciality is bugs,” Duncan said. “But I’ve handled a bat or two in my day. We’re hoping to remove the bats and return them to their loving mother.”
Reid, Minta Martin, and Caroline Hall residents watched in awe as Duncan and other members of his team worked to carefully remove the bats. After each bat was removed, they were placed in a cage and handed right to Sine, who cried during the whole removal process.
“Bob is hot, I will say that,” Caroline Hall resident freshman Jessica Stanley said. “I could watch him take care of those bats all day.”
Once the bats were removed from Reid Hall, Duncan was asked to handle the bug infestations in the other residence halls.
“Washington College has a big bug problem,” Duncan said. “They should’ve called us sooner.”
Sine did not respond to requests for comments, but has started a GoFundMe titled “Find the Bats a Home.” In the donation description, Sine said, “These bats deserve a proper home, one that doesn’t smell like weed. Please donate as much as you can to help them out.”
Photo by Amy Sine
Photo Caption: Bats on marijuana. Who can stop them? Amy Sine can! But she does not want to :p #putthebatsinbyford