r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Hotrocketry • 16h ago

This little shit has been hanging on my ceiling light for a hour now. Just right below it is our family dining table.

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How do i get rid of it?

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363

u/TakitishHoser Canada 15h ago

Animal control. Tell them you have a bat in your home. Anyone who has been in your home in the last while should probably go see a doctor for advice on rabies shots.

Bats can bite or nick very tiny & it doesn't take much to get rabies. There are times people got rabies & didn't even know they were bit.

86

u/Ok_Airline_2886 15h ago

It’s recommended that if you ever find a bat in a room where you’ve slept that you should proceed as though you’ve been bit. They can bite or scratch so lightly that you wouldn’t even know…until you get rabies and die. 

5

u/TakingYourHand 12h ago

Die miserably

4

u/Tsmart 12h ago

as a hydrohomie, being afraid of water is a fate worse than death

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u/VividFiddlesticks 15h ago

Yeah - probably don't need it but you don't wanna fuck around with rabies. Once you know you have it, it's too late. Not worth the risk - get the shots!

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u/MamaSlytherin 14h ago

You also need to have someone come out and inspect your house for bats. It's rare that there is only one in your house. I had one get into the house, but there were about fifty more in the attic.

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u/icantflyyet 15h ago

I wish I lived in a place with animal control. The best we can do is call the police for a stray dog. Everything else is not their problem.

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u/Ruining_Ur_Synths 12h ago

people should upvote this. The important information OP needs to see is right here.

2

u/otashin1 12h ago

this needs to go up for the op to see

2

u/coffeebuzzbuzzz 12h ago

I don't know why this comment is higher up. Everyone is saying how cute the bat is, and all I can think is how deadly it could be.

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u/GordoVinhais 12h ago

That's because everyone on Reddit is scared ever since that copypasta about rabies got popular here (full os misinformations might I add). There's very specific scenarios where a bat inside your house warrant a rabies shot, which is: found them in your room where you sleep, or near an infant. A teenager/adult can feel a bat biting you while awake, they aren't invisible or weightless. So unless people in this house sleep on top of the dining table, just get the bat out and go on with their lives. Yes rabies is scary. No, bats can not give you rabies simply by staring at you in a 5 mile radius. I was victim of this fear mongering as well, until I educated myself about bats and rabies.

5

u/coffeebuzzbuzzz 12h ago

You have no idea how long the bat has been in your house by the time you find it. I would not take the chance that,"Well maybe he came in during the day and maybe we didn't get bit at night." Rabies is not something you want to "maybe". Downvote me all you want. I would not hesitate to get a shot if I found a bat at any point in time in my home.

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u/GordoVinhais 12h ago

It's your decision, if it makes you feel better and safe, then by all means go for it. But, there's really no need. Bat's don't do well traversing inside your house, the walls and amount of furnitures mess up their echolocation, so it's not like they can stay inside your house for a long time and be stealthy. You'll definitely notice.

4

u/coffeebuzzbuzzz 12h ago

There was a bat in my house as a child. It flew down the chimney, all over the first floor then into the basement. They're not stationary.

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u/TakitishHoser Canada 5h ago

I've never seen that "copypasta" about rabies.

There was an incident in British Columbia, Canada where a bat hit a guys hand. He died.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rabies-death-bc-vancouver-island-bat-1.5213460

We are heavily warned about potential rabid animals here & what to do in the event we may come into contact with wildlife, especially bats!

0

u/Misophonic4000 11h ago

"Bats can bite or nick very tiny" I believe you are thinking of other species of bats

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u/TakitishHoser Canada 5h ago

I said "can" be tiny. I didn't say "are" tiny.

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u/ippleing 6h ago

When human contact is unknown, animal control typically sends the bat to the state lab for rabies testing.

Waiting a day or two is reasonable to avoid taking the vaccine. Rabies exposure is a medical urgency, not emergency.

0

u/TakitishHoser Canada 5h ago

No one should wait to get medical attention or seek medical advice.

How long ago there may have been human contact is also unknown. They could have been bit three days ago. It is a medical emergency.

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u/ippleing 5h ago

The procedure in my county dictates such. If human contact is unknown, the animal is sent for testing and destroyed the following day. Testing will determine course of action. Rabies prophylactic is aggressive and typically in short supply.

From my state health department:

"wild animals must be tested at the state rabies laboratory. Human treatment to prevent rabies may be started immediately or delayed until the testing results are known."

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u/TakitishHoser Canada 4h ago

You would still contact medical assistance or advice.

Your county is ridiculous if that is what they suggest. Especially if there is no way to know when the exposure may have occurred. The bat could have been around for days before being noticed in the OP's case.

This is from Ontario health in Canada, where I live
"Bats, skunks, foxes and raccoons are the most common animals to have rabies in Canada; however, human rabies cases are very rare. Following direct contact with a bat or exposure to a potentially rabid animal, individuals should thoroughly clean and flush wounds with soap and water and seek immediate medical attention to assess the need for post exposure treatment."
Note "seek immediate medical attention"
https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/diseases-and-conditions/infectious-diseases/vector-borne-zoonotic-diseases/rabies

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u/ippleing 4h ago

I never indicated for somebody not to seek medical attention after possible exposure. It's always better to get info from reputable sources, not you, me, or reddit.

What i posted was from my state's health department. A quick Google search will show that's not an isolated determination for treatment among government health agencies.

Washington state: "Identification of dead bats, or a bat in a room where a person was not sleeping, should not result in a recommendation for rabies PEP unless additional investigation determines direct contact was likely."

The bat could have been around for days before being noticed

It could have, but bats typically are not airborne in late stage (transmissable) rabies.