By HFT Staff

Animals and facilities generally are not a good combination. While this statement is true for animals outside of facilities, it’s especially true when the animals in question get inside buildings, especially hospitals or other healthcare facilities. 

In 2019, for example, a moose strolled into a physical therapy clinic in Alaska. The situation ended without incident, The moose grazed inside for 10 minutes before leaving on its own. A staffer closed the door behind the moose, which was roaming the parking lot later in the afternoon. 

More recently, however, one group of animal intruders — bats — posed a potential risk to patients and staff of a medical center in Shreveport, La. A pest control professional located the facility opening giving the bats access to the building and sealed it. No patients or staff members were harmed, and affected areas of the hospital were cleaned and disinfected. 

The intrusion offers healthcare facility managers a reminder that they can’t let their guards down when it comes to pest management because the animals won’t stop trying to gain access. 

Facility managers at the Pentagon got that reminder in February. The culprit? A bunny. A photo of the animal taken in Pentagon’s central courtyard recently appeared in ARLnow.com, prompting Pentagon officials to say they normally don’t intervene in such matters unless the animal creates a hazard to building occupants. 

That wasn’t even the first time that month that a wild intruder breached Pentagon security measures. Earlier, Pentagon officials nabbed a chicken that had managed to enter a security area at the facility. 

Think the Pentagon is the only building in the crosshairs of woodland creatures? Hardly. In 2021, a moose crashed through window into a school in Saskatchewan, Canada.