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Okay, so just one, but it was pretty big…
I was sitting on my couch in my living room and noticed a little bit of motion on my front porch. There’s a bat on my porch! I live by a river, so I don’t mind bats really, I just don’t like them in my domicile.
I thought about trying to catch the thing, or shoo it outside, but it just made me go, “ick, bleah, eewww” and I couldn’t do it.
So I called my local humane society, just because it seemed like a logical place to call. They gave me 3 numbers, two of which were not in service. The third number was to Animals in Need. This little guy probably has needs, so good place to call.
Animals in Need told me that if the bat didn’t get inside he would likely die, as he’s supposed to be hibernating. They weren’t sure any of their volunteers would be able to help though, since it is middle of the day during the week.
So now I feel guilty. I’m probably going to be responsible for the death of a bat. And he really is kind of cute in a “ick, bleah, eewww” sort of way.
I went to the internet (my dear friend) and found Bat Conservation of Wisconsin, and called them. Believe it or not, the guy on the phone actually convinced me to capture the bat (with a box and a piece of cardboard). I’m sure he really enjoyed my shrieks and screams as I did it too.
And so now I have this little critter, in his new box home, sitting in the basement waiting to be “rescued” tomorrow. There’s a heavy cookie sheet on top of the box in case the thing decides to break out. Oh yeah, and the bat guy even got me to put a washcloth inside the box so the bat to have something to snuggle.
Just wanted to share a little of my daily drama. Ye gads!
Bec
awwwweee aint that cute. Congrats on your first bat capture….
you should have kept him. they make great mosquito eaters. we have some at the camp i go to in summer. they swoop around at night and make everyone scream, but they really don’t do any harm and every mosquito that gets eaten is one less to bite me.
Good for you. You did the right thing in saving it. If you decide to keep it you could name it Bela.
😆@decdogg wrote:
Good for you. You did the right thing in saving it. If you decide to keep it you could name it Bela.
😆Damn Pat your FUNNY!
Just out of curiosity I did a quick check in one of my books, and found there to be at least eight bat species in Wisconsin.One of the most common bats is the Little brown Bat which is found throughout the state. It is only about 1 1/2-2″ long and weighs a whopping 1/10-1/2 oz. They normally eat about half of their body weight in insects every night. However, a lactating female will eat up to 110% of her weight every night. And this bat will live 15-20 years. now that’s a lot of mosquitoes.
I wonder if one can even slap and kill that many mosquitoes in one night during one’s normal activities. And every night at that.
Here is an interesting site about bats in Dodge county.
You all have to come to Green Bay and find “Cache an Insect” GC12CQ3. Then you will really appreciate bats!
There have been many reports of bats with rabies in Dane County. A co-worker had to go through the series of painful rabies shots just because she was sleeping in a room where a bat was found later that night. The local health department said she needed the series “in case” she was bitten, as sleeping people do not always know when then have been bitten.
Because of this I would never try to “rescue” a bat. Just MHO.@rubeeslpr wrote:
There have been many reports of bats with rabies in Dane County. A co-worker had to go through the series of painful rabies shots just because she was sleeping in a room where a bat was found later that night. The local health department said she needed the series “in case” she was bitten, as sleeping people do not always know when then have been bitten.
Because of this I would never try to “rescue” a bat. Just MHO.That was my concern as well. The bat expert guy assured me that the bat didn’t have rabies (perhaps he could communicate with the bat, or had its medical records, or something.) He also said that due to the cold, the bat would be sort of slow moving and not actually all that responsive (sort of like sleep walking maybe).
Bec
Here is an article from the Health Dept City of Madison. It recommends actions DIRECTLY opposite of what that other person told you.
Glad you are OK….. but I stand my my opinion……hands off bats!The health recommendations are pretty specific. Minimal contact with bats qualifies for rabies prophylaxis (partially because their bites tend to be so small that some people don’t even realize they were bitten). There have been extremely rare fatal cases of rabies associated with merely sleeping in a room with a bat flying around.
The only rabid animal of any species identified in Burnett County during the past 16 years (as long as I have been the medical adviser for our county) was a bat (just last year). That animal bit one of my patients and learned to regret it.
While I am aware of these recommendations, I have rescued bats myself (wearing gloves) and have never used prophylaxis for myself as I believe the recommendations are probably too conservative and not particularly realistic to rural living. Otherwise, nearly everyone in this county should have to get vaccinated.
This is also a very unusual time for rabies (which tends to be most common during the late summer).
While I was reading the first post I thought this thread was going to degenerate into a discussion about how to cook a bat! 😆
Ask and you shall receive.
What did you name the bat? I think there is a rule somewhere that states “…..any animal captured and placed in a box, must be assigned an appropriate name and that name must be clearly written on said box.”
Isn’t the percentage of bats WITH rabies higher than that of bats WITHOUT rabies?
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