OMAHA, NEB. and OTTAWA, ONTARIO: Bats are invading North American newsrooms. For the second time in as many months, news crews were visited upon by web-winged mammals when one of the creatures began swooping through the studio at KETV-TV, the Hearst-owned ABC affiliate in Omaha recently. The staff gave pursuit, which was captured by the KETV crew. The station reported that it was a first in its “55-year history.” The bat was brought down when a staff member stunned it with a box top and an animal control officer then captured it. (KETV’s video of the incident is here.)
CTV’s news staff had a similar experience in August, except they were live on-air at the time of their first bat invasion. (A second one appeared later that same night.) Noon anchors Michael O’Byrne and J.J. Clarke were on the air when the bat flew behind them on the set. It was eventually herded out the door by the crew. CTV’s bat invasion video, with a nice slo-mo of the live, on-air fly-over, is here.
