Bats...

[Iowa Roo Mom]

Quote:
Actually, that is not true. Most bats do not actually have rabies, and this myth is a big reason for the near demise of servral species.

http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/index.html

 

[KDbeads]

Quote:
Actually, that is not true. Most bats do not actually have rabies, and this myth is a big reason for the near demise of servral species.

http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/index.html

Exactly, Thank you!

FYI, if a bat is roaming around in the daytime hours or having big trouble flying (and it's not raining or you are not near the cave nest at baby first flight time) that's when you need to be wary. Even so you really shouldn't handle bats, in many areas, like here, it's illegal.
Only an estimated 1/2% (that's .5%)of the bats in a cave population are rabies positive and unlike normal mammals, they die within hours of contraction, not weeks, and usually fall to the cave floor where the flesh eating beetles take care of the problem. Unlike popular lore, THEY ARE NOT CARRIERS. Once they get it they die. Period, end of story.
http://www.batworld.org/myths_facts/myths_facts.html

And eventually on Discovery and Animal Planet and possibly Mythbusters there will be bats specials that deal with the Eckert James River Bat Cave System out here. Adam and Jamie have already been out here once and are supposed to come back out to finish filming.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/texas/preserves/art25179.html

 

[mom'sfolly]

I live in the Austin area. People really like their bats around here. There are about 1.5 million under a bridge in downtown Austin, and another 3/4 million here in Round Rock. They are mommy/baby colonies of Mexican Freetail Bats. Round here in the summer you take your guests to the nearest bat bridge, sip a cold one, and watch clouds of bats fly away in the night. They always go out in the same order and the same direction.

That being said, I hate bats in the house. They fly around dodging everything and scare the bejammers out of ya...just ain't fair that something so small can scare a big girl like me

 

[EweSheep]

For the third time, a bat entered in our home of 7 and half years. We certainly do not know HOW they got in but guessing maybe the chimney which it was covered with the cap with wire or daughter coming in around six pm but didn't think bats would come out that early.

It flew around and around, trying to find a way out. Such a graceful animal. I put a blanket over me, don't want it to crap on me by mistake LOL! Then I took a peek, something wet splat on my eye and my forehead. I do not know what it was but thought it came from a bat doing his midflight crap. However it was clear, not smelly and I wiped my eyes off and think nothing of it. Later on, it dawned on me, could I have gotten anything from the bat?

Hubby caught it with a plastic bin and released it outside. It crawled out and continued his flight in a straight direction to the west. My eye is OK but I can not help but just feeling "could it be rabies?" and get the itching thought going on. It is possible that my shingles are acting up on part of my face. I hate to jump to conclusions. Hubby said it did not appear to be sick at all, healthy as it looked and did alot of high pitched echos.

So do I need to get a hold of the doctor? Or just let the doctor know and take it from there?

 

[dustyroad]

Bats do not commonly carry rabies, however they are reported as the most common cause of human rabies transmissions. So everybody is kinda correct. It's always best to be careful around wildlife period. Most symptomatic animals are the "dumb" form and not the "rabid" type, so maybe concerned people get infected that way, IDK. BTW- cats can transmit rabies through a scratch, if they have the recently killed/consumed a rabid animal.

It's still a cool photo. I always appreciate a forced perspective image that makes something that's merely big, look extremely huge. Thumbs up!

 

[Chick Norris]

From the CDC website.

"In all instances of potential human exposures involving bats, the bat in question should be safely collected, if possible, and submitted for rabies diagnosis. Rabies postexposure prophylaxis is recommended for all persons with bite, scratch, or mucous membrane exposure to a bat, unless the bat is available for testing and is negative for evidence of rabies.
Postexposure prophylaxis should be considered when direct contact between a human and a bat has occurred, unless the exposed person can be certain a bite, scratch, or mucous membrane exposure did not occur.
In instances in which a bat is found indoors and there is no history of bat-human contact, the likely effectiveness of postexposure prophylaxis must be balanced against the low risk such exposures appear to present. Postexposure prophylaxis can be considered for persons who were in the same room as a bat and who might be unaware that a bite or direct contact had occurred (e.g., a sleeping person awakens to find a bat in the room or an adult witnesses a bat in the room with a previously unattended child, mentally disabled person, or intoxicated person) and rabies cannot be ruled out by testing the bat. Postexposure prophylaxis would not be warranted for other household members."

If you believe there is a chance you had a mucous membrane exposure, you should see your doctor. PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is relatively pain free nowadays.​

For the third time, a bat entered in our home of 7 and half years. We certainly do not know HOW they got in but guessing maybe the chimney which it was covered with the cap with wire or daughter coming in around six pm but didn't think bats would come out that early.

It flew around and around, trying to find a way out. Such a graceful animal. I put a blanket over me, don't want it to crap on me by mistake LOL! Then I took a peek, something wet splat on my eye and my forehead. I do not know what it was but thought it came from a bat doing his midflight crap. However it was clear, not smelly and I wiped my eyes off and think nothing of it. Later on, it dawned on me, could I have gotten anything from the bat?

Hubby caught it with a plastic bin and released it outside. It crawled out and continued his flight in a straight direction to the west. My eye is OK but I can not help but just feeling "could it be rabies?" and get the itching thought going on. It is possible that my shingles are acting up on part of my face. I hate to jump to conclusions. Hubby said it did not appear to be sick at all, healthy as it looked and did alot of high pitched echos.

So do I need to get a hold of the doctor? Or just let the doctor know and take it from there?

 

[EweSheep]

Went to the doctor today as a precaution. She gave me some antibotics because it was so dry and itchy. Didn't know if I had a reaction to that 'splash' but rather err in the side of caution. Other than that, she thinks it is such a very small number of bats that did but no deaths so far after the people went in for treatments. So she just did the eye exam, the blue light for scratches and so forth. Nada! And signs to watch out for. I told her if I come in here all foaming in the mouth and howling at the moon, we know that we have to put me down LOL. just made her day by laughing.

Better go than be too late. I'm glad I went.

 

[Stacykins]

I LOVE bats, even though because of one I had to get the whole rabies prophylaxis done.

A bat was in the house one evening and flying about. This is a no biggie for me, so I went about opening windows so it could echolocate its way out. Well, after I got a few windows open, the bat must've decided it was tired of flying in circles or something, because it landed...on ME! My instant reaction (and not even a frightened one) was to brush it off, which resulted in tiny teeth chomping on a finger. Hindsight, I should have kept still and walked outside. After it bit me, it launched into the air and went strait out a window!

The awesome nurse gals at the ER were all a twitter (it was a slow ER day, yay for me) when I went in to get the HRIG and the first rabies vaccine I needed. HRIG is the consistency of cold syrup, and not only must be injected into a large muscle group (such as the thigh), but it also has to be injected at the site of the wound. So my hand got injected with it, and boy that wasn't fun! The nurse who did it was shocked at how cool and collected I stayed (even though I was yelling in my head OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!!!!!!) and told me she'd likely have been a horrible patient if in my shoes!

Oh well, at least I'm vaccinated against rabies now! I got a total of five vaccinations (one on day of exposure, one four days later, one a week later, and one two weeks later, one a month later) during the course of the post exposure package. Now if I am ever exposed, all I have to do is get a single rabies vaccination booster, a simple deltoid injection, rather than HRIG and the whole series.

 

[zazouse]

It looks like it is eating marshmallows

 

[kari_dawn]

that looks like a flying fox or a dog faced bat (giant fruit bat maybe?). We worked with them in Thailand. He is eatting bananas slices

As an Animal Services Officer, I can tell you bats ARE handled as rabies carriers in my state, but not because they are all rabid, but because generally humans come in contact with bats when they are on the ground. A grounded bat is a bad thing, and should be handled with caution. Period.

In Texas Bats, Raccoons, Foxes Coyotes, and Skunks are the top five rabies suspects. Bats are handled with more caution than any of the other four simply for the reason I stated previously. There is nothing good about a bat on the ground (or generally within arms reach). The problem with many bats is their needle sharp teeth. They have the potential to break skin (and therefore potentially spread the rabies virus) without leaving a noticable mark (therefore the person who was potentially infected would not even know to seek post exposure treatment). So, a blending of the two extremes in this case, a good middle ground stance is wise. Handle downed/sick or otherwise odd acting bats (though it is amazing how little people really know about wildlife behavior) with caution.

As a wildlife rehabber, I can tell you that NO bat that enters our facility gets handled without gloves, and for good reason. Rehabbers generally deal with animals that are NOT healthy, or more commonly, those that are injured. They generally come to us some sort of broken (ie-a bat someone found where? on the GROUND).