Unexpected guest flew into Round Rock kitchen

A Round Rock woman got an unexpected house guest Friday morning when she discovered a nocturnal creature of the night stuck in her kitchen. A Mexican free-tailed bat made its way in.

Just recently a Mexican free-tailed bat was found outside of a Manor home and just a day apart another bat was discovered in Wimberley. Both bats tested positive for rabies. 

The Texas Department of State Health Services are advising the public not to touch or handle any bats but to instead alert animal control. That's exactly what Jessica Creech did when she found a baby Mexican free-tailed bat in her home. 

“I didn’t notice it was a bat until it stretched out its wings and took that bat form,” said Creech. 

She said she can now laugh as she looks back at the bat attack.  But said earlier she found herself in a horrifying situation. “It just plopped on the plastic and you can hear its finger nails hitting the plastic almost like a huge spider it was crawling like a big bug,” said Creech. 

Cell phone video given to FOX 7 Austin shows the bat climbing around in the kitchen light fixture making cringe worthy sounds.  “I immediately started sweating and my heart was like pounding really fast and my anxiety was going,” said Creech. “It felt like the Blair Witch Project.  I was like holding the camera breathing hard and loud hyperventilating.”

Once she realized what the unexpected house guest was she jumped into action, ordering her sons to barricade themselves until it was a bat free zone. “I immediately put them in the run and told them to shove a blanket under the door,” said Creech.  

She said was extra careful and notified the right people to handle the situation. An animal control officer was able to trap the little bat and take it in for testing at the Texas Department of State Health Services.

“Don’t try to be a hero in that situation let the police and animal control do what they are trained to do. It’s not safe. I wouldn’t take the risk for my family or myself to try to capture it myself,” said Creech. 

Results are still pending. However, if the bat does test positive for the rabies virus officials said her two dogs will have to be placed on a temporary quarantine. “45 to 90 days he did say we can do quarantine in home but they didn’t want to go over everything until they get results. That scared me but they are both up to date on their rabies shot,” said Creech.