NEWPORT BEACH : Mall Intruder Found Just Hanging Around

Fashion Island security guards found an unlikely intruder in a dark hallway near the shopping center’s food court early Friday morning: a California brown bat.

The two-inch-long flying mammal was discovered about 8 a.m. in an employees-only area sleeping upside down, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

“It was apparently looking for bugs and found its way in there,” Gonis said. “They are fairly common in the county but are extremely rare for Newport Beach and certainly rare for Fashion Island.”

Animal Control Officer Jamye Rogers, who was called to the scene to capture the tiny nocturnal creature, described the hallway that the bat picked for its slumber as “very cave-like.”

“His little claws were in the stucco and he was hanging upside down,” Rogers said. “I used a stick to pry him loose and put him in a pickle jar. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper when he woke up.”

Rogers, an animal control officer for eight years, the last three in Newport Beach, said that although she spends most of her time dealing with dogs and cats, capturing a bat wasn’t really that big of a deal.

“This is my sixth bat, but my first in Newport,” she said. “You have to use extreme caution because they are high-risk rabies suspects. The idea is to never touch them with your hands.”

So far, Gonis said 24 such bats have been found in the county. The one found Friday was later released into the wild.