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Try this with a Swiffer
By adamg on Sat, 08/07/2010 - 2:49pm
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Comments
Jerk
Bats will probably be extinct in 15 years or so, but I guess this guy couldn't wait that long or try to humanely catch the poor thing. I'll never understand why people can't simply throw a towel over something that weighs a 1/2 ounce and then release it outside. Totally, totally pathetic.
Rabies.
The post in question implies that the poster woke up to find the bat flapping around the room. That means he could have been bitten in his sleep without being aware of it. The bat therefore needs to be destroyed and its brain examined for signs of rabies. If the bat isn't available because it either escaped or it was caught and released, or if the bat's brain was destroyed when it was killed, then anyone who had contact with the bat should seek medical attention immediately to determine whether post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies is warranted.
Usually doctors will administer rabies shots because "better safe than sorry". It's impossible to determine whether someone has rabies until they start showing symptoms, and when they show symptoms, they're pretty much done, and it's a horrible way to go, whereas the survival rate for those who are given rabies shots after exposure is 100%.
Bats do get an unfair rap for rabies. Very few of them actually carry rabies but the risk is there. And a bat is one of the few animals that can bite a human while the person is asleep and the person won't notice.
wrong
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/index.html
"When people think about bats, they often imagine things that are not true. Bats are not blind. They aren’t rodents and they aren’t birds. They will not suck your blood -- and most bats do not have rabies. Because bats are mammals, they can develop rabies, but most do not have the disease."
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/contact/index.html
Also, go read the wikipedia article about Rabies. It's possible to test a living subject (human or otherwise) just fine, and you don't have to "wait until they start to show symptoms."
Without being aware of it?
It sounds like you probably know more about bats than I do, but I'm thinking I'd notice if I had a bat bite. I'm the sort of person who notices (and makes sure to thoroughly annoy everyone around me with the grring and poking at it) every single mosquito bite, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to notice if something with actual teeth bit me.
A couple times we've had bats in the house. I looked at wildlife sites, which said the cats would be acting really weird if they'd gotten bitten, and I assumed the humans would know if we had, so I caught them and put them outside. They're easy to catch; they are gliders rather than actual fliers, so they can't take off upwards, but rather have to climb and launch off of something high. So you get a pillowcase or something and chase the bat down to the ground with it, then put the pillowcase over the bat, hold it shut, and dump the bat out the window.
folks are not always aware of a bat bite...
...bats have tiny little teeth, and bat bites often appear more like a small scratch than a dracula puncture wound. my neighbor, when i was a kid, was bitten by a bat in her sleep. we weren't as worried about rabid bats back then, but she still had to get the full rabies treatment. back in the good ol' days, rabies treatments sucked. they're pretty mild now.
we had extensive experience with bats when i was young, our barn and silo was full of 'em. we would watch them swoop around at night, and see them eat bugs. then we started seeing them in the daylight, which was weird. and they started dropping dead. the cats kept bringing them in. dead bats were everywhere. we finally had to call the CDC, who assured us that our bats weren't rabid, but sent people out anyway. we had men in big white space suits crawling through our barn with big nets for days. as a kid, i thought this was pretty epic. cujo just came out, so rabies was a hot topic.
turned out that not only were all of our bats rabid, but they thought we had the largest private bat colony in massachusetts. suddenly watching the bats wasn't so cool, and we weren't allowed to go out in the evening.
sadly, all the bats needed to be killed. we had to move out while the specialists exterminated an estimated 20 thousand bats on our property. one of our cats died from eating the bats. it was a very stressful and upsetting time.
i am happy to see, when i go outside in the evening, that the bats have returned to the barn and the silo. they are healthy and happy little bug eaters, and we have a more reasonably sized colony. i don't fear them, as most bats are *not* rabid. i protect these animals any way that i can, and i would certainly find a humane way to let a small frightened one get outside safely. bats don't want to be in your house. they don't belong there. if one bites you, by all means catch it any way you can. but otherwise, folks should just let them be. your method, eeka, is much like ours is, and it's quite effective.
Bats going extinct because of
Bats going extinct because of "white nose syndrome"? In humans, that actually makes them copulate MORE.
Appalling
This guy is BRAGGING about killing a useful, harmless creature that probably flew in through a chimney or open window and just wanted out? Might as well take the next logical step and start voting Republican -- he certainly thinks like one already.
almost as appalling as your
almost as appalling as your lack of reading comprehension, when the post doesn't say the bat was "killed". It sounds more like the bat was hurt enough to be sent out the window. The broom was the casualty of the fight.
Lack of writing comprehension
The article says it was "too much for both bat and broom, which snapped. Literally." It becomes clear he's talking about the broom, but it could as well have referred to the bat.
Bats are endangered species, and killing them's a crime; wounding might also be a crime, but Wikipedia's not really the best source for legal advice. There are companies that specialize in humane bat removal. They don't use brooms.
If you think it's possible to
If you think it's possible to break a Swiffer on a creature that weight 1/2 oz and fits in the palm of your hand without doing it grievous harm, then I don't know what to tell you. This isn't a pit bull or something- it's a tiny mammal.