When Alexandria Ness walked into the empty bathroom on the third floor of Barton Hall last Thursday night to brush her teeth, she didn’t expect to hear sounds coming from the trash can.

“There was a weird rustling sound, kind of like plastic moving around,” said Ness, sophomore in biochemistry. “I expected it to stop, but it just kept going.”

Ness said her curiosity got the better of her, so she walked over to the trash can. There, she saw a strange sight to go with the weird noise.

“There was this big black thing moving around,” she said. “At first, I thought it was a moth, but then I realized it was a bat trying to climb out.”

Ness said she left the bathroom and walked down the hall to find a friend.

“I told her there’s a bat in the bathroom,” she said. “And it’s alive.'”

Ness called the resident assistant on duty, who in turn called custodial services. Another RA sat by the bathroom door to keep residents out and the bat in.

Steve Berard, hall director for Barton, Lyon, Freeman and Fisher-Nickell Halls, said Ness did exactly the right thing.

Berard said a “bat policy” was developed last year after two bats were found in separate rooms in the Birch Hall dormitory on the same day.

The policy states that any student who wakes up to find a bat in his or her room should immediately call the Service Center, and someone will be sent to remove the bat.

The captured bat is then taken to the ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Lab to undergo rabies testing.

Berard said only those bats that are found in a room with a sleeping person are sent to the lab for testing.

“If you see a bat anyplace else, still call,” he said. “They’d remove the bat, but there’s no need for testing.

“If the person were sleeping, there’s the possibility that they could have been bitten while asleep. We then have to take the necessary precautions.”

Berard said the policy is beneficial to both students and bats.

“It’s something that basically tries to ensure the safety of the bat,” he said. “We aren’t supposed to kill it.”

When bats do enter the residence halls, Berard said, it’s usually during this time of year.

Ness isn’t the only person who has found a bat this year.

Several students found a bat flying around a parlor in Oak Hall. Another was reported in Helser Hall.

Lorna Lavender, supervisor for the Ames Animal Shelter and Animal Control, said people shouldn’t be too concerned if they run into a bat.

“Any encounter is accidental,” she said. “The bats aren’t coming at you on purpose. They want to get out as badly as you want them to get out.”

Instead, Lavender suggested getting out of the bat’s way and letting it leave on its own. She said swatting at the animal with a tennis racket or a broom is likely to disorient the bat.

Lavender said most of the bats inside buildings are “young, testing their flight skills.” These bats have been in nursery for several months, and are unlikely to know their way around, she said.

Bats enter and leave buildings by following air currents, and they can locate a current from a hole as small as half an inch, Lavender said.

Students who locate a bat inside a building on campus should immediately call the Service Center at 4-3322.