I went downstairs Sunday night to do some laundry, and was met by a bat sitting in the middle of the floor. EEEEEKKKKK!!! I threw the laundry basket on top of him and called for my husband to come help me. When he got downstairs we started discussing what we should do with the unwanted creature under the basket. I don't know a lot about bats, but remembered reading an article in a parenting magazine recently that made me really scared of them getting in the house because of the risk of rabies. I decided that we should call animal control, so I did.
Animal control was closed and had a recording that instructed those with emergencies to call 911. I really did feel bad about calling 911 about a bat, but I didn't want to let it go and needed to know the proper procedure for handling it. I was quick to tell the 911 operator that I didn't have an emergency, but explained to her that I was worried that the bat might have rabies and wanted to be sure we did the right thing with it.
The operator seemed amused that I was calling about a bat. She informed me that animal control did not handle wild or possibly rabid animals. She told me to let it go. I argued with her and told her that I didn't think that was the right thing to do since it was in MY HOUSE and could have rabies. She laughed and told me that it was getting dark and it was probably hungry and I needed to let it go. Then she told me (as if she thought this was relevant) that she had a bird in her house the other day and she let it go. Well, duh - if I had a bird in my house I'd let it go too. In fact I did have a bird in my screen house, and I handled that without a problem. This is not a bird - it's a bat that has razor sharp little teeth and possibly a disease that could kill us!
My husband, knowing my nature to go overboard with these sorts of things, agreed with the 911 operator and convinced me the only option we had was to put the bat outside. He slid a piece of cardboard under the clothes basket to trap the bat. The bat was not happy about this, and began trying to bite and was making a horrid noise. My husband did get the bat outside and once there, the bat climbed the side of the basket and started spreading his wings as if getting ready to fly.
We all came back upstairs (but not until I saturated the carpet with disinfectant (did I mention my tendency to go overboard?). Once upstairs I began researching bats on the internet. I was very upset to read that if a bat is found in the house and on the floor that it is most always sick and could possibly be rabid. I also read that bat bites are almost undetectable and many people have been bitten or scratched and not known it. The worst thing was a case study on the CDC website about a 4 year old that died after a bat was captured in his bedroom. The child was sleeping, and the family didn't find any sign of bat bites on him so they killed and threw the bat away. The child died of rabies. Later, they recovered the bat and tested it - it was positive for rabies.
At this point I was totally going nuts - I told my husband that we should have never let the bat go, and that he needed to go see if it was still outside because we needed to have it tested for rabies. I knew the chances that any of us had been bitten or scratched by the bat were slim, but when I am downstairs doing laundry the kids play down there, and my daughter would not know to tell me if a bat was flying around her or if it bit her. My husband went outside to check and said that the bat was gone.
AHHHHHHH - I was totally crazy by this point. What in the world was I going to do? From what I read everyone in the house was going to need to get rabies vaccinations. I did not sleep well much at all that night trying to figure out what I should do. On one hand I knew the chance that the bat was rabid was slim and then the chance that anyone had been bitten slimmer, but on the other I knew that I could be risking our lives if the bat was rabid and one of us had been bitten and we didn't get vaccinated. I prayed and prayed and prayed asking that God was help me know the right thing to do.
Monday morning I decided that I should go outside where we released the bat and see if it was by chance still around the area. When I rounded the corner I saw the bat, dead, in the driveway. Apparently it had gone under my husband's car and died and that is why he didn't see it the night before. I can't remember when I have been so happy and relieved at the same time. Finding that bat was the best thing that could have possibly happened. Thank you, Lord!!
I put the bat in a ziploc bag (double bagged it to be exact) and called the health department. The environmental health division representative told me that they would send the bat out for testing, but I had to call animal control to come get it and take it to them. I told her that 911 told me the night before that animal control didn't handle these situations, and she told me that 911 was wrong. GRRRRRRRR (that required a call to the communications supervisor later in the day to ensure the 911 operators were informed of the proper procedure for handling bats in homes).
Animal control came and got the bat, and the health department sent it out for testing. They called on Wednesday afternoon to tell us that it was negative for rabies. HOORAH!! I was literally doing a happy dance when I hung up the phone. The drama was over!!
We still don't know why there was a bat in the basement - there really isn't anywhere one could have come in from except the dog door, and I don't think one would be able to fly through the flap because it's heavy. We think maybe one of the dogs caught it, injured it, and brought it in the basement (where their room is) and it got away and crawled to the room with the washer and dryer. Hopefully that will be the first and last bat that we have in the house!
On a totally different note, today I made some curtains for the kitchen window using some fabric that I got over 4 years ago at a yard sale (for cheap!). I noticed the other day that the fabric matched the new paint color in the kitchen very well, and thought some curtains would be nice. Here is how the curtains turned out:
