Bats took over her Virginia store. Here's what happened next.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, Va. —A Virginia business owner says a bat infestation at her former North Main storefront forced her to close up shop and move — costing her and her vendors lost sales.

Debra Tucker says her dream of owning a business began in 2000, but the path to her current location came at a steep price after her previous space at 207 North Main turned into a nightmare.

"In 2000, I started a t-shirt making business from home. It exploded," Tucker said. "Now we are at Market on Main."

Tucker says it all began in June, shortly after moving her business in, when she noticed movement on the cameras she set up inside.

"I thought it was a bird and I've seen a bird. Well, that's the day that we went into the restroom and behind the bathroom door in the corner was the bat laying on the floor, still alive," Tucker said.

"This is one of my vendor's dough bowls and the bat is laying in it, you can see all the furry hair on it," Tucker said.

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The problem quickly grew.

"They would be in the booths. They'd be in the shirts. They'd be hanging from the ceiling," Tucker said. "At the end of the stairwell, there were seven on each side of the steps that go up to the second floor, which is where it housed hundreds of bats. There were bats in the hallway leading to the bathroom. There were bats hanging in my t-shirts."

Terrified and uncomfortable inviting customers into the space, Tucker reached out to the landlord for help.

"He said, as soon as I return, I will come see you," Tucker said. "I knew he'd be back in three days. I figured we'd get it taken care of and go from there. Two weeks later, I have bats."

She says he initially told her someone would be sent to take care of the problem.

Later, she was told the bats could not be removed because it was maternity season, but that they would no longer be getting into her work space.

"I said, as long as they do not enter my showroom, I'm OK," Tucker said.

"The last straw was in June when I showed up and there was more than five flying around in the room when I went to open that morning. And I was like, I can't open like this. I cannot. So, I called a moving company and they moved us out of there," Tucker said.

Unable to operate, Tucker found a new place to set up — but says it came at a cost.

"It hurts me because it hurt my vendors. They lost money on sales. It hurt all of us," Tucker said.

After she left, Tucker says she received a letter from the landlord requesting the rest of her rent.

"I feel like he wanted my money each month. It did not matter if we were there in a good, safe environment," Tucker said.

I also spoke with the landlord. He says he did everything he could to address the problem, but there were limits to what he could do. He says he initially sought the remaining rent, but shortly after Tucker moved out, decided he would no longer pursue it.

Tucker says she didn't know that until I spoke with her.

When I asked if he planned on having the bat infestation addressed, he said he's looking into it, but that he does not plan on renting that building to anyone else.

"I just hope and pray that it was a lesson learned to him," Tucker said.

I confirmed with a local wildlife removal service that removing bats during maternity season, which is May through August, is restricted by the state. However, perimeters can and should be put in place to best protect the bats and the people.

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