Bats Bother Home Sellers, Take a Bite Out of Value

Some folks in Tifton, Ga., sure do have some batty neighbors that they just want to leave town. Brown bats, that is, the kind Count Dracula might invite over for a bite.

Hundreds and hundreds of the flying critters have taken up residence in one foreclosed home leaving a stench that wafts past the curb if you dare roll down your car window.

"The smell would knock you down to size, especially in this heat,"Realtor Norris Bishop told AOL Real Estate. "With it being 85 degrees right now, you would not even be able to go into the house."

And who'd really want to? The crew hired to clean up the place estimated that there's more than 10,000 bats inside, reported the Tifton Gazette. But Bishop, who had the listing on this otherwise vacant 4,341-square-foot historic home (pictured in our gallery) before he told the bank last month to take it off the market so they can get the vermin out, tells us he thinks that's an exaggeration. "It's probably only 800 or 900."

Don't think that the bats are just attracted to drafty old homes in the south. In-house sightings are on the rise as their natural habits are being eroded away by humans. As a result, there are a few things you may want to know about these tiny furry mammals with fangs before you rest your head on your pillow tonight.