WINTER PARK, Fla. -- A bat infestation inside a Winter Park home has led to a showdown in court. Deborah St. Charles has refused to get rabies shots for her and her children after bats invaded her apartment.

Now the Department of Children and Families is trying to force her to get the treatment and, Monday night, they removed her two boys from her home.

St. Charles must appear in court at the juvenile justice center Tuesday afternoon. The state must justify to a judge why DCF felt it was within its legal boundaries to remove St. Charles' kids from her home.

However, since time is of the essence, the state may also take the opportunity to try to explain in detail to St. Charles why she and her children are essentially being forced to take the rabies shots.

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St. Charles had bats flying inside her apartment in The Meadows subsidized housing in Winter Park until an expert came in and sealed off the vents the creepy creatures used to get in from the attic.

Still, the Health Department fears St. Charles and her young boys may have unknowingly been bitten and scratched.

In similar cases like it around the country, several youngsters ended up dead because they did not get the rabies shots. That's why DCF removed the children and, as required by law, there is an emergency hearing Tuesday relating to alleged medical neglect. St. Charles has refused the shots, fearing her youngest, who was very sick years ago, would have a bad reaction.

DCF said it could not speak directly to the case, but said, in alleged medical neglect cases, they make every effort to work with the family and educate them about treatment to try to resolve the matter and do what's in the best interests of the child.

St. Charles, who said she only has her children's best interests in mind, said she may consider getting the shots if she can be assured her kids would never have to take them again.

If the kids get the shots, they'll be returned to her.