Lake Mary counselor relocates practice after bats invade office

A Lake Mary mental health counselor had to move her practice after finding about 50 bats inside her office, including in the sink, the toilet and even shoes. The problem shut down a small Seminole County health-care space and turned one office suite into a wildlife and business interruption case.

The timing made the response far more difficult. Florida’s bat maternity season runs from April 16 through Aug. 14, and state wildlife officials say April 15 is the last day bats can be legally excluded from buildings without a permit before the seasonal restriction begins. During maternity season, blocking bats from returning to a roost is illegal because mothers can be separated from flightless pups.

That rule matters in places like Lake Mary, where bats do not just roost in trees or caves. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the state has 13 native bat species and that they can take up residence in man-made structures, including commercial buildings. In this case, the counselor’s office became unusable quickly enough that relocation was the only practical step while the building’s next move remained constrained by wildlife law.

The disruption also underscores a wider challenge for landlords and tenants in older office buildings and wooded parts of Seminole County. When protected wildlife enters an occupied space, the collision between property management, code compliance and environmental rules can leave a small business waiting for the right legal window instead of returning to normal operations right away. For a mental-health practice, that delay can be especially disruptive because appointments, records and continuity of care all depend on a functioning office.

Lake Mary Counseling said it is a group practice with more than 25 clinicians across several locations. Even with that larger footprint, losing access to one location can force patients and staff to adjust schedules, travel and care routines on short notice. The practice’s size may help absorb the blow, but it does not erase the interruption caused by dozens of bats inside a treatment space.

The episode shows a distinctly Florida problem: protected bats, occupied buildings and business owners caught in the middle. In Lake Mary, the immediate issue was getting clients back on track; the larger lesson was that a small infestation can become a legal and operational headache as soon as it crosses into maternity season.