Rabies - Never touch a bat

[SnowwDubb]

One time there was a outbreak of rabid bats in our area. People were dropping them off in boxes because so many were coming in contact with em. One time my dad had the back door open and he was like I seen something fly in but it left. Well I was playing a video game and I looked down and there was a bat in my lap screaming flapping his wings. I slapped it out of my lap and pulling my dog in the other room cuz she was going nuts. My dad caught it with a net and it was all gargling lol.

[landroversrs1]

Very sound advice that goes not just for the US but anywhere in the world now including the UK now.

I had 5 shots of vaccine after coming into contact with the remains of a dead bat on an aircraft after my disposable gloves broke exposing me to the neural remians & its other body fluids.

Bats are very important creatures for our environment they consume many thousands of insects every night which would threaten farm crops which otherwise need use of pescticides to control the insects.

[rabiesaware]

@lilnastiaaa More dead people? Less to get infected? Think about what you're saying. Do you really mean that?

[carpediem081]

@rabiesaware then again, more dead bats is a good thing, because there are less out there to infect you.

[miggymoggs]

@carpediem081 No, bats do way more good than you realise. Brown bats can consume up to six hundred mosquitoes per hour. Other species of bats like the North American Brown Bat feed on around 3,000 insects a night. Without them, crops would need more pesticides. Seba bats will eat 60,000 seeds per night, helping to disperse the seeds of bananas, cashews, cloves, dates, figs, mangoes, peaches, cactus etc.

This is not my research, I just read it in Bill Bryson's excellent, At Home.

[rabiesaware]

@miggymoggs Bats are wonderful creatures! 

[rabiesaware]

@carpediem081 Not true - living, thriving bats keep insect populations down. We need them!

[rabiesaware]

@carpediem081 Not true - we need bats. Check out the comment by @carpediem081 - he's right.

[lilnastiaaa]

@carpediem081 how dumb. bats never attack you. dont fuckin touch animals if u hate them so much, killer.

[lilnastiaaa]

@carpediem081 actually, more dead ppl, is a good thing,less to get infected.

[HellaKoolaE]

@kobidobidog i guess that's true but the problem is that not all of us are going to spend time becoming bat experts, so its normal for those people to panic.

[HellaKoolaE]

@kobidobidog i get ur point but still u have to be cautious.not all animal are unpredictable

[rabiesaware]

@HellaKoolaE Yes, wild animals are unpredictable. Respect wild animals and stay clear of them.

[rabiesaware]

@rabiesaware You're right! The best practice around wild animals is to stay away. 

[HellaKoolaE]

@kobidobidog some do have rabies, but not all.

[rabiesaware]

@HellaKoolaE you're right - only a small percentage of bats have rabies.

[rabiesaware]

@HellaKoolaE You are correct - some bats do have rabies, but not all. And, keep in mind, that any mammal can contract rabies.

[GoreyPsycopath]

Thanks for the sound advice.

What's scary is the fact that my best friend lived arounds wild bats for four years. They were in charge of a summer camp and her older brother had a dead bat he called Nicholas on top of his tv. They threw him out after a couple of days, but it's still scary my friend or I could have died from rabies if a bat got in the house, and bit us in our sleep. I feel for all thoe who have lost loved ones from rabies, it's a sad world we live in.

[rabiesaware]

@GoreyPsycopath Rabies has been around for a very long time - it's a virus. The best thing to do around bats is leave them alone.

[cazer97]

Thanks I now know my bat touch up career is over , no I'm messing bout that bat was creepy

[rabiesaware]

@cazer97 You know, at first, I thought bats were really creepy, but now I like them. The problem is that some of them, not all, have rabies. If you want to learn more about bats google Bat Conservation. But, you are 100% correct - don't mess with bats.

[JumbaFan]

Very sound advice!

I've always loved bats...always loved them from a distance, that is.

[rabiesaware]

@JumbaFan

Many thanks! Bats are wonderful creatures, but you're right - from a distance. What's really horrible right now is that so many bats are dying from white nose syndrome. It's really wiping them out in the North East.

[mikethesailor908]

@rabiesaware what is white nose syndrome, i heard for bats, its not a good way to go for them, they really suffer, what is white nose syndrome

[Things108]

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[EmmaBeelah]

Thank you for that basic, rational advice.