Bat flying around our bedroom.

That's great that it was caught and is being tested. I think there are a lot of bats around here this year. My neighbor has had 2 or 3 bats this season and was told that the bats think that particular house is their bat house. Yikes. I think the key is just to stay away from them if you see one.

I'm sure bats go in and out undetected a lot. The first bat we had came very late at night, and it was a coincidence that my daughter and wife were awake at the time.

Is the fear of bats and rabies in proportion to the danger they present?

Tom_Reingold said:
I'm sure bats go in and out undetected a lot. The first bat we had came very late at night, and it was a coincidence that my daughter and wife were awake at the time.
Is the fear of bats and rabies in proportion to the danger they present?

http://news.rutgers.edu/issue.2012-02-29.4815209454/article.2012-02-29.0386990433#.VcO6Sor3bCQ

But then we read stories like this about a woman who died after getting rabies from a bat in her house.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3763283

Tom_Reingold said:
I'm sure bats go in and out undetected a lot. The first bat we had came very late at night, and it was a coincidence that my daughter and wife were awake at the time.
Is the fear of bats and rabies in proportion to the danger they present?

Depends on who you ask. Professor Google says that less than half a percent of bats in the wild have rabies. The professor also estimates of bats captured and tested as a result of possible human contact it jumps up to 6% since the ones captured under those circumstances are much more likely to be sick. In my mind thats a 3 in 50 chance of dying a horrible death. If mine comes back positive I will definitely be getting the shots. I may do it even if it isnt positive.

GGartrell said:
Also wanted to mention of the three service calls I made last night (that weren't to animal control) the only guy that got back me was Jerry Buckingham. SOMA is lucky to have that guy.

Gerry is a great, great guy. A couple of years ago, a baby squirrel had missed his mark and somehow got down our chimney and was stuck and injured behind the fireplace gate. Ugh. The dogs were freaking out as was I because I didn't know what the hell had landed and I didn't want to go poking around the fireplace. I remember hearing squeals and scratching and dogs barking. It was terrible. I called Gerry and he came out and humanely removed the animal. He told me it was dying and in bad shape. I remember him carrying it out in a cage and that was that. Poor thing.

GGartrell said:

Tom_Reingold said:
I'm sure bats go in and out undetected a lot. The first bat we had came very late at night, and it was a coincidence that my daughter and wife were awake at the time.
Is the fear of bats and rabies in proportion to the danger they present?

Depends on who you ask. Professor Google says that less than half a percent of bats in the wild have rabies. The professor also estimates of bats captured and tested as a result of possible human contact it jumps up to 6% since the ones captured under those circumstances are much more likely to be sick. In my mind thats a 3 in 50 chance of dying a horrible death. If mine comes back positive I will definitely be getting the shots. I may do it even if it isnt positive.

I wonder how much that percentage rises when the bat is getting a tan in the midday sun. Anyhoo, thought that there was a maximum time for getting the shots? We were told not to wait, and got them next day (I think)... the test would only cut off the shot cycle if found negative.

ctrzaska said:
Ctrzbat part deux, taken at approximately 7,862,549 frames per second...

Holy Mother of God

ctrzaska said:
........Anyhoo, thought that there was a maximum time for getting the shots? We were told not to wait, and got them next day (I think)... the test would only cut off the shot cycle if found negative.

Doc says a few days to a week is fine but better sooner than later.

Thank you, RobinM2. That Rutgers article is excellent, and it reinforces my viewpoint. But with that said, I can't criticize ctrzaska's decision to get shots for his family.

I don't wash my fruit, either.

BAT TESTED NEGATIVE!!!!! I'M GONNA LIVE!!!!!!! Now I'm off to spend my youngest's college tuition on bat proofing my house.

GGartrell said:
BAT TESTED NEGATIVE!!!!! I'M GONNA LIVE!!!!!!! Now I'm off to spend my youngest's college tuition on bat proofing my house.

Hurray!

Good news!

Phew!

I had gotwildlifepro.com out today to do an inspection. They didn't find any evidence of bats in the attic or garage. They did a through investigation of the attic, roof, chimney and eaves finding a hand-full of locations a bat could enter but none of the tell tail signs that any had done so recently. The tech was very professional and seemed to know his stuff. He did offer me a bat proofing package but didn't push it much based on my description of what happened. Hopefully this is the end of my bat experience.