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August 7, 2008
August Bat Month for Humane Wildlife Control
(reprinted from the St. Catharines Standard)
Disoriented young bats more often find themselves in homes during the
month of August
Bill Dowd calls August by a
different name: Bat Month.
It has nothing to do with the
popular superhero swooping into theatres.
It's more about Batman's less
popular winged brethren squeezing into attics.
"This is the time of year when
we start getting dozens of panicked calls about
bats in the home," said Dowd, president of
Hamiltonbased Humane Wildlife Control. "We're
probably dealing with about 20 calls a day in
Niagara."
In summer, disoriented young
bats tend to get stuck in people's homes, Dowd
said.
St. Catharines and Fort Erie are
great urban bat habitats, because so many old
homes have cracks and crevices. You'll also find
bats in newer homes, as some can crawl through a
dime-sized hole.
A bat invasion can be a health
problem.
Brown bats can spread bedbugs,
and their guano can cause serious respiratory
diseases if inhaled.
But the most serious potential
risk is rabies.
A few bats test positive for
rabies every year, though the majority don't
carry the deadly virus.
But bats have tiny, sharp teeth,
so a bite can go unnoticed by a sleeping person,
said Dave Young, manager of environmental health
at Niagara Region's public health department.
He said about 30 people received
the rabies vaccine last summer as a result of
potential exposure to bats.
"This is the time of year we
hear from people," Young said.
If you wake up in a room and see
a bat flying around, the best thing to do is
call the humane society to try and capture the
animal, Young said.
A captured bat can be tested for
rabies, potentially eliminating the need for a
rabies shot.
If the indoor bat escapes, call
your doctor or the public health department to
assess the risk, Young advised.
If the guest settles in for the long haul, don't
touch it if you don't have to.
"I get calls from residents
whose first reaction is to dig up that old
tennis racket," Dowd said. "Don't do that."
Bats can be safely "excluded"
from human homes without bloodshed, Dowd said.
It may be as simple as isolating
the animal in one room with an open window, or
it may require professional help. And if the
bats are just flitting about outside?
Leave them be and say thanks,
Dowd said.
Bats can devour thousands of
insects in a single night, including pesky
mosquitoes.
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