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August 17, 2007
Bats can be beneficial and dangerous
Marie Zettler
(reprinted from The Pembroke Daily Observer)
Some people have been
conditioned to be repulsed by snakes, toads and
a variety of other creepy crawlies they may
encounter. Even considerable education about the
beneficial side of some of these creatures
doesn't totally eliminate that primal fear. Bats
have had more than their share of bad press over
the years. We know now that they don't get in
your hair, for example.
However, in the rush to
rehabilitate the public perception of bats,
caution should not be thrown to the wind.
A Hamilton-based company that
advertises human urban wildlife control recently
sounded the alarm about the potential danger
posed by bats.
"Most people who find a bat
flying around their house believe the bat just
flew in an open window or door," said a press
release.
The release suggested that,
since bats live in colonies, the one bat that
makes its presence known probably has lots of
company - all living in your house.
"This time of year, baby bats
are beginning to leave their roosting area,
often in attics, roofs, or walls, and are still
disoriented," the release continued. "They will
get into the living area and fly around trying
to find an exit."
The president of Humane Wildlife
Control, Bill Dowd, cautions against shooing
bats out with a broom or attempting to grab
them.
"This increases the risk of a
bat bite and health units advise extra caution
when it comes to bats and rabies," he said.
The release further suggested
that even finding a bat in a home's sleeping
area might indicate that someone may have
already been put in danger of contracting
rabies.
"Bats have very small teeth and
can bite without you noticing it, especially
when sleeping," said the release. "Health units
advise anyone finding a bat in their living
space in the morning, or who have come into
contact with a bat, to seek immediate medical
attention. Rabies can cause severe illness and
death if not treated promptly, and health units
err on the side of caution."
Bob Schreader, of the Renfrew
County and District Health Unit's environmental
health department, confirmed that this
information is correct.
"Under existing protocol, if a
bat is found in a bedroom where a small child
has been sleeping, rabies vaccine should be
administered," he said. "There was a case in
Saskatchewan recently where a child contracted
rabies from a bat bite."
He said it can be extremely
difficult to determine conclusively that a child
found in a room with a bat has not been bitten.
"I have a two-year-old
granddaughter, and at any time she has a lot of
little nicks and scratches in her skin," he
said.
Rabies vaccine for humans is not
the ordeal it was at one time.
"There's a series of five
injections given over 21 days," he said. "It's
not very painful - sort of like getting a flu
shot. If there is an obvious wound, an immune
globulin is also given in the vicinity of the
wound."
He added that, if the bat can be
collected and analyzed, and it can be determined
that the animal was not infected, the rabies
vaccination program can be discontinued.
To put the magnitude of the
threat into perspective, Mr. Schreader said that
over the past five or six years one bat which
has been sent to the Health of Animals
laboratory has tested positive for rabies.
Michael Street, animal control
and bylaw enforcement officer for Pembroke and
Laurentian Valley, concurs that caution is
advised where bats and children are concerned.
"You and I would probably notice
if we were bitten by a bat when we were
sleeping," he said. "An infant or small child
might not."
He said there's nothing to worry
about with 99.9 per cent of bats.
"What's more, the brown bat is
indigenous to Ontario and is a protected
species, even though it is one of the main
carriers of rabies," he said. "However, the
Ministry of Natural Resources takes a proactive
approach to rabies control and distributes
rabies serum in bait which immunizes wildlife,"
he said. "If you rely on statistics, you will
see that rabies is managed well by them."
He added that all warm-blooded
animals, including foxes, raccoons, skunks, and
pet cats and dogs, can carry rabies.
"Interestingly, there has never
been a confirmed case of a groundhog with
rabies," he said.
The press release also raises
concerns about the potential for bats to spread
bedbugs.
Neither Mr. Street nor Mr.
Schreader are aware of a situation where the
animals have been implicated in this problem.
"How many bedbugs could be on
one bat at one time and end up on your chair or
couch?" asked Mr. Street.
"Bats can carry certain
diseases, but bed bugs are not among those that
have ever been brought to our attention," said
Mr. Schreader.
However, histoplasmosis, an
incurable respiratory disease which can be found
in deposits of bat, bird, or other animal feces,
is another matter. Mr. Street advises wearing a
C32 mask, which can be purchased at a drug
store, or a breathing apparatus when cleaning up
a concentrated amount of bat dung.
"People are encouraged to
eliminate bats out of dwellings, because they
certainly can make a mess," said Mr. Schreader.
"The fecal material is a concern and you have to
be careful when you clean it up."
Mr. Street said winter is a
great time to remove bats from homes.
"They hibernate, so they just
hang there and sleep and are easy to pick up,"
he said.
If you don't want to wait until
winter, Mr. Street advises sealing all openings
but one into the attic or whatever space is
inhabited by the bats. That takes some care.
"They can get through a hole
smaller than a dime," he said.
He advises inserting a length of
ABS pipe large enough for bats to get through
into the remaining hole and putting a milk jug
at the other end.
"When they go out to feed, they
will fall into the jug," he said. "You can then
take them and relocate them."
Because one end of the pipe is
in the jug, bats can't re-enter.
The process may take several
days, because some bats go up to 48 hours
without feeding.
"Anybody with a ladder and some
common sense can do this," said Mr. Street. "If
people won't do it, I recommend that they get a
pest control service to get them live and
relocate them."
He said he gets about half a
dozen calls about problem bats in a year.
No one knows how many lives they
have saved by eating mosquitoes, which carry
West Nile disease.
"There are certainly pluses and
minuses, although estimates of how many
mosquitoes bats actually eat are somewhat
exaggerated," he said. "We still advise people
to use personal protection (against mosquitoes)
of some kind, such as repellents or light
clothing with long sleeves."
As an aside, no human cases of
West Nile disease have been seen so far this
season.
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