While my son was out in the yard playing wiffle ball Thursday night a bat ran into the side of his face and clamped onto his eyebrow/eyelid, and he had to pull it off, at witch time it clamped onto his hand as he tried to throw it. After finally flinging it off, he and his two brothers frantically ran into the house. We couldn't find any bite marks, but there were scratches on his eyelid. After talking to his pediatrician and the county health department, they said he would need rabies shots. They sucked, but nothing like the old ones in the stomach. I obviously did alot of research on rabies in the past two days and it was very eye opening. Due to the amount of time we all spend outside around wild animals I recommend you all do a little research on rabies, it is a 100% deadly disease if not treated quickly. I'm 99.9999% sure that bat wasn't rabid, but there is no room for error with this stuff!
Rabies FYI
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wy-tex
Veteran member
You couldn't find the bat and have it tested?
State G&F lab in Laramie does rabies tests for free and results are fast. We had a dead bat tested we found in the back yard.
Hope he's ok.
State G&F lab in Laramie does rabies tests for free and results are fast. We had a dead bat tested we found in the back yard.
Hope he's ok.
I'm glad you didn't waste any time getting your son to the doctor, rabies is nothing to fool around with.
The last time I went to Africa I was at the doctors office getting shots and he told me about a woman who was scratched by a bat in Kenya (if I remember right). She did nothing about it and died shortly after. I also know of a trapper back in the '80's who was bitten by a fox he caught. Fortunately he had the sense to send the fox's head in to the lab and it tested positive for rabies so he got the shots and is still alive today. With an exposure you only have 5 days after which there's no cure and you will die.
The last time I went to Africa I was at the doctors office getting shots and he told me about a woman who was scratched by a bat in Kenya (if I remember right). She did nothing about it and died shortly after. I also know of a trapper back in the '80's who was bitten by a fox he caught. Fortunately he had the sense to send the fox's head in to the lab and it tested positive for rabies so he got the shots and is still alive today. With an exposure you only have 5 days after which there's no cure and you will die.
bullofthewoodsjr
Member
- May 16, 2015
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Thanks for the story and wisely treatment was sought. Most people associate skunks and bats with rabies. A significant reservoir for the virus, at least in the Midwestern U.S., is raccoons.
Here's a link to CDC for more info.
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/transmission/index.html
One thing to add, there actually have been a few survivors of rabies now thanks to a daring treatment of a girl in the upper Midwest in 2004... http://abcnews.go.com/Health/california-girl-us-survive-rabies/story?id=13830407
JimP
Administrator
I am always leery of animals out in the wild when they appear to be doing something that isn't natural.
I remember one year down in Arizona hunting javelina when we talked to a G&F officer and he told us to be careful around foxes since a few of them had turned up being rabid. A couple of days later as I hiked up one side of a ravine and a friend hiked up the other I saw a fox following him about 10 feet behind him. I hollered at my friend but the fox didn't do a thing, my friend couldn't see him but I still could. I was wondering if I should try a shot at the fox with my friend so close. About that time the fox decided that he had better places to go and was off.
I remember one year down in Arizona hunting javelina when we talked to a G&F officer and he told us to be careful around foxes since a few of them had turned up being rabid. A couple of days later as I hiked up one side of a ravine and a friend hiked up the other I saw a fox following him about 10 feet behind him. I hollered at my friend but the fox didn't do a thing, my friend couldn't see him but I still could. I was wondering if I should try a shot at the fox with my friend so close. About that time the fox decided that he had better places to go and was off.
Horsenhike
Very Active Member
Any wild animal that acts odd or is out in daylight hours earns a bullet around here.
I gain no satisfaction in killing just to kill, but a raccoon or skunk wandering around homes during the day can only mean bad things.
I gain no satisfaction in killing just to kill, but a raccoon or skunk wandering around homes during the day can only mean bad things.
mallardsx2
Veteran member
- Jul 8, 2015
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I was told at a young age to shoot any raccoons/possums/skunks wandering around during daylight hours.
I would never diminish the seriousness of rabies. That said I use to buy fur and we handled hundreds of thousands of 'coons without incident. Add in all the other buyers and the coon hunters, trappers around the country who never got rabies I'd say the chance of infection is infinitely small. If an animal acts odd, don't handle it. As far as a coon or skunk in the daylight...that means nothing.