Bats and Rabies

Good that the critter is being tested, but at this time of year when the air is full of insects, I'd worry only slightly.

Sleeping people don't look much like gnats or mosquitoes.

Thanks for that bit of sanity, Noddy. I can't imagine why the bat would even fly into the living quarters in the first place, but I really don't think we were bitten.

Still, I read some of these horror stories and I get the willies. How long has the bat been in the house (I'm pretty sure it was living in the attic and wandered down)? How many times did it come down at night while we were sleeping? What if it bit one of us months ago and we didn't notice and now we have rabies, aaaaaah!

You know the drill.

If it bit you months ago, and you had rabies, you'd have died a while ago - pretty noticeably.

Lots of homes/neighbourhoods have bats. Few bats are interested in people snacks when there are so many more palatable offerings.

Region posted about one in his house last week I think.

Few people want them in the house - but there are a lot of bat houses around in gardens in the burbs - protecting people from bugs.

I shouldn't laugh, but when I just googled bats in house - I got tons of hits on how to build a bat house - not so much on bats in your house.

Even the govt bat-proofing link leads to how to build a house for housebats ... http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/1998/housebat/housebat.htm

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/1998/housebat/public.htm

Yeah, I saw those and am considering it. We had a bat before, but it didn't come down from the attic. One of our cats ended up killing it and dragging it down, but it never came down on its own.

Truthfully, I've known we had them up there but figured they wouldn't come down. It's only in the summer that we leave the attic door open to let the hot air up -- otherwise they'd have no way to get down. So I am definitely thinking long term -- a bat house would be cool. It might keep the mosquitoes down. We're also planning to finish the attic.

If it were just me and my husband in the house, I don't even think I would've had it tested. But kids, dammit. I'd never forgive myself if one of my kids died such a sickeningly horrible death because I thought bats were harmless.

I kind of feel sorry for the little thing. They're kind of cute really.

I think this post is exhibiting signs of rabies.

I've got bats--they've learned to turn on the motion sensor lights for more concentrated hunting.

Well, it turned out to be negative for rabies, thank goodness. I think I let the paranoia of the public health people infect me.

The type of bat it was is known to be a carrier, so there's that. I wouldn't have thought it would have bitten us, but there's always the slim possibility.

Hee hee. I used to be an extremely rational person, really. Then I had a kid...

It's that whole "But what if I thought it would be fine and I don't do anything and then something happens to my child and I COULD have prevented it and I didn't and it will haunt me for the rest of my life" thing that gets me every time.

Even if I actually think it will be fine.

E.G. always tells me not to look up anything on the internet as it just freaks me out. Remember when I was wigging out about sozlet's toenail? ("Germs!!! Infection!!!") (She's totally fine and back to normal.)

That is exactly it. I shouldn't have looked it up at all. All I could imagine was how horrible it would be if my son ended up with rabies because I didn't take the necessary precautions. Usually I'm very laid back about risk. This seems to change when, even though the risk is actually low, the consequences are extremely high. Ack! Glad it's over.

Poor bat.

This thread reminded me of an incident that happened to my brother a few years back.

He was in a deep sleep and a scratching sensation on his chest caused him to wake up. He opened his eyes and in the filtered light from the moon saw a bat crawling on his chest toward his head.

He let out a scream, grabbed the bat, and threw it across the room. He then fell promptly back asleep.

The next morning he woke up, headed for the bathroom, and was momentarily puzzled when he saw his daughter's hamster, dead at the base of the wall.

With children, Good Parents worry.