Protect Yourself and Your Pet from Rabies…

So, as everyone heads out-of-doors to enjoy the spring weather they should think about how they will protect themselves and their pets from health threats, one of these being rabies. In some areas of the country rabid bats are showing up on the radar (pun intended) which is a real concern to both pets and people.

If you are familiar with bats, you may (like me) think they are cute, interesting, great to watch when they fly around and very helpful as they eat mosquitoes, moths, locusts and grasshoppers. Nothing much to worry about, right?

We recently had a couple of instances of baby bats coming into our house. It was a novelty. We had just moved in and had a lot of lovely trees in the garden. The first time a bat came in it visited with us in our bedroom. Seeing the slow-flying, swooping bat circle the room was, despite the early hour, quite fascinating. We’d never had this experience before. With some fussing with a large towel I was able to persuade this little night-rider to exit through the front door.

We laughed and wondered how this little creature got into our home.Joked about Dracula, Batman and our batroom. Felt rather proud of coping with this intruder which we figured had come in through the garage when the lights came. Tricky bats! Next night we had another visitor… now not so funny! Exhausted, we managed to get this other baby bat out of our bedroom and closed the door… with the thought of getting it out of the house in the morning. Was there a nest of these flying rats in the house somewhere? Was this going to be a nightly routine in our house?  Wakened again very soon after falling asleep. Does his baby bat want to play? Is it looking for its mom? What is going on and how did it get back in here? Chased it back out and threw towel across bottom of the door. Peace at last.

Next day we did some serious research. Did you know that bats are heat-seeking, that they can enter holes as small as 3/4″ in diameter and and can be rabies-on-the-wing (flying rabies).

We’d never given rabies a lot of thought… don’t expect to meet a rabid dog, skunk or wolf on any of our travels near and far and also figure a quick rabies shot is always close at hand. What we did not really hoist in is that rabies disease which causes major nerve damage is usually fatal!  This sure got our attention.

If you ever wake up and find a bat (dead or alive) in the room with you, contact the closest health unit. Bats have very small bites that can go undetected.

As did the fact that one does not have to be bitten by a rabid animal to get the rabies disease. Pets or people can possibly (though rarely) be infected by infectious material from a rabid animal gets into eyes, nose, mouth or an open wound… say from just touching a wounded or dead bat that has rabies.

Hint: rabid bats fly in the daytime or may be found lying on the ground.
If you find a bat do not handle it. 
If your pet has caught a bat, keep a watch on the pet. If it becomes ill or starts to show signs of nervousness or exhibits unusual behavior, get to the vet right away.

Rabies is a disease primarily of animals. Most wild and domesticated dog-species (including foxes, coyotes, wolves and jackals) are susceptible to infection. Infected dogs remain the highest risk source for human transmission. Other species include skunks, raccoons and bats…

Rabies vaccinations for pets are highly recommended by public health departments and people should avoid contact with bats. While we understand that few deaths are caused by rabid bats, we certainly have a new respect for this potential danger. We have done major checking around the place to close all possible entrances into our house and paid special attention when sitting outside late at night in our garden; better safe than sorry…

While bats may not be a major concern it is good to know about them so that we can protect ourselves and our pets.

For more information about bats and rabies disease please check these resources;

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA)

Organization for bat Conservation (USA)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK)

University of Waterloo - Health  (CAN)

State Government of Victoria (AU)  - Of note to travelers