!!! Hey everyoone!!!
Be careful out there , summer recreation or just playing in your own back yard..... I just got hit in the head with a bat last week ( FLYING: not baseball)
You know, rodent, with wings. Flew into my face as I was having a stroll around my ( Ogden) neighborhood . Next thing I know, I was in the emergency room, receiving rabies immunoblobulin and my first rabies vaccine shot ( one of four.) POINT:
1) Be VERY aware of any animals -or rodents- acting oddly in your vacinity. Rabies IS in the uptick in the wild. Example: ONE IN FIVE BATS IN UTAH IS RABID ( higher percentage in southern Utah.)
2) If you have ANY contact with a bat- even if ,or especially if, you find one in your house- GET THE SHOTS.
3) They are relatively painless ( not as bad as tetanus or typhoid shot) and are now safee, not as in the old days. You get them in the arm, and the globulin shots in arm, butt, or leg, that's just the first day.

4) most insurance will cover. Even if not, YOU STILL WILL GET THE SHOTS.
5) Go to your local ER: that is where you get the shots. You should call the health dept to report the event first, though, and that will help you with favor to obtain the shots.
CORE POINT: BETTER TO ACCESS INTUITION THAN ACCESS RABIES. I felt in my spirit not to talk home anymore and I did so anyway, against best judgement/ internal sense. This was dusk on the cusp of evening and it was an urban quiet neighborhood- not a cave or the wilderness! Physicians' assist at hospital told me SHE ALONE had already presribed three previous rounds of rabies shots for bat exposure THAT WEEK: JUST IN SALT LAKE CITY!
7) university of utah hosp rocks. Very polite, kind, and professional esp ER staff
SO BE CAREFUL. LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION. AND IF IIN ANY DOUBT AT ALL, GET THE SHOTS. RADAR BETTER THAN RABIES! thanks for reading



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2013 06:04PM by hungryheart.

I got the shots at the UU rather than in Ogden because I trusted their staff and they accepted all my insurance without incident. I figured, in a case like this, go with the best. You get a second shot on the third day after the first, and another on the seventh, and then one on the fourteenth ( hospital will advise.)

* NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY ! I dont even normally go to to doctors
and am actually a RABID ( ha ha ha) anti-vaccination activist normally!
That fact alone will underscore the importance and validity of this message.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2013 05:25PM by hungryheart.

I have a friend who spent last week in the hospital. She was swimming in a lake in Idaho and was attacked by an otter.

She had some major damage on her arm and was covered with deep bite marks and a lot of torn skin.

The ER doctors said it was one of the worst attacks they've ever seen.

It has never occurred to me to be on the watch for otters.

No this is NOT a joke. A guy I work with lost his father when he did not go to the ER after an encounter with a bat. Almost every bat is rabid.

MIA: so sorry to hear about your friend! How horrid! That otter had to be rabid for sure.I certainly hope the ER has ordered the shots and globulin, i would think for sure they did, if not,make sure your friend gets them!


Yes, formerly gentle OTTERS and BEAVERS are coming down with rabies a lot lately. No question, whether it is ELF, haarp, environmental changes, earth warming, stress, RABIES IS ON THE UPTICK amongst mammals and rodents, and also, from what I am learning, encounters with sick animals is very much on the rise! I have read several stories about rabid beavers attacking people violently lately!
When I got hit in the face with the bat, I thought what, God hates me now, its because i left the church? lol But i spent the whole night online and was astonished to find a huge number of similar stories online. Thankfully, all the victims got the vaccine!
* a couple of years ago a lady in washington state had to get the shots because there was a dead bat in her coffee filter! Like all of us, she made her morning pot groggilly onto find the unfiltered (lol) situation later on. ICK

WOW SCARY!! Bats were a big problem in san diego too. I was told if u see em in the day time they probably sick. since normally theyre out at dawn or dusk. You did the right things, Bats bumping into people isnt normal. Racoons are also known to carry rabies. An article said if you see one thats having trouble walking thats a bad sign. Anyway I'll keep it in mind. Get well soon.CL.

Shortbobgirl,
Oh gosh. That just gives me chills. I am so sorry for this man who lost his father, and for the poor guy as well. I would say that is probably true, almost all bats now are probably rabid. Dont throw the dice with rabies, you can't win.

Sorry for changing title- wanting to make sure this gets the due attention it needs. Pass the info. Thanks.

What is this babbling about radar and intuition?

If you get bit by an animal, you go to a doctor, who will tell you to get rabies shots, even if you don't ask. But ask. Tell them you have an animal bite, and they will get you into an appointment somewhere, immediately.

I thought everyone knew this. No?


BTW, not all bats are rabid, but if one is flying around biting people, not a good sign. They don't normally bang into things the size of people, unless something is seriously wrong.

Jerry,
I was just making a lame comparison between our own internal "radar" and that of bats. Thought it was alliterative.
I am surprised to find a lot of people DONT know that any contact with an animal acting oddly, or biting one, or even scratching one, AND ESPECIALLY bats, neccesitates visit to doctor, report,and shots.
Definitely one flying around running into people is not ordinary behavior.
Raccoons are also a serious concern lately.

Ah, I see you changed it. Not a big deal. I was genuinely puzzled about what Radar had to do with rabies, and it was pretty far down in the post before the connection was made.

And don't get me started on raccoons. How could something so cute be so destructive, even without rabies?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2013 06:11PM by Brother Of Jerry.

Because he was petting it. It got onto our balcony. I tried to shoo it out our front door, but it wouldn't budge. He decided it was a great idea to pet it and was bit pretty bad. Sadly, the raccoon had to be captured and killed to test it's brain for rabies.

I've had the rabies injections.

They suck something awful. There's even a church link (I was participating in the Scouting program, which was the catalyst for it). You can read about it here:

http://www.kernvalleysun.com/news/article_742b5fe8-a0a0-5918-a1ed-6c3f6f58b579.html

"Eight years ago, members of a Boy Scout troop entered a mine in the Keyesville Recreational Area, handled, killed, and disposed of a bat. Since the bat could not be found, several members of the troop had to undergo rabies shots as a precaution At that time, this mine was unknown to the BLM. Since then, a gate has been installed."

The article was published in 2006; I couldn't find any sources direct from 1998.

So, yeah... don't play with rabid animals. The consequences may be large needles in the 'hip' filled with hemoglobin fresh out of the freezer.

Alpiner,
yup.However, I want to make sure folks know THEY DONT GIVE THEM IN THE STOMACH anymore and they are neither dangerous nor agonizing, DONT AVOID THE SHOTS. Yes, the five globulin shots hurt a bit but not beyond painful.
Sorry you had to go through that! I think this probably scarier and more painful for kids than for adults. Thank you for posting the link!
I would even go so far to say, this time of year, think twice about a sstroll at dusk/ dark if you live in utah. Bat population is quite high and as I said, 20% (at least) are rabid, meaning huge growth of the virus within the species/ and other affected species.

We got offered a choice of the old ARS (anti-rabies serum) or the newer vaccine. ARS went into the stomach. The vaccine is one or two shots in the hip (hemoglobin balanced by weight and size), then 5? (if memory serves) shots in the shoulder.

All things considered, better the shots than the potential alternatives.

Back in 03 I was attacked in the face by a bat in Iraq while taking a nap in a strip club on the same couch that Uday, the son of Saddam Hussain, used to masturbate on. No joke.

On a side note, here is a video taken by the victom of a fatal beaver attack showing his attacker before his death in Belorus last spring.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq_BEh1dhEw
s



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2013 06:04PM by homoerectus.

Homoerectus,
what a wild story! Obviously you got the shots?
thanks for the vid link! Horrible story, but it drives the point home-- beware in the wild ! Terrible story poor guy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2013 06:11PM by hungryheart.

The only place in the world without rabies is Hawaii, and even THAT may have changed, dont count on it.

Yup, I got them beforehand. When you have to deal with carnarge during war, its kind of important. One night outside of Faluja I was walking out to Lake Habinaya to wash to wash my clothes and bath in the lake, but fell into pit on top of decaying corpses. I was real glad that I recieved all the vaccines I had, and brought my soap with me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2013 07:10PM by homoerectus.

England does not have rabies

From wildlife experts?

All I could find was information that was 5 years and older on Google.

I don't doubt your story because all mammals can carry rabies, but your numbers sound a little high. Overall, bats are beneficial and not terribly dangerous. I'm a huge fan of bats and they are often maligned.

That being said, any animal acting strangely should be avoided and the local wildlife experts called in.

Mia, otters do attack! I was surprised to find that out, but they will bite people, just like seals!

Otters can be very mean. My brother works at an aquarium with an otter display and the husbandry staff have to be very careful around the otters. Plus apparently in captivity they smell something awful :)

Wow, that sucks. Sorry you had to go through that!

Thanks.

As kids on a farm near Ogden, we used to toss sticks at bats in the early evening sky. We'd liked to watch them dart out of the way using their built-in radar.

Once in Mexico while out waking with my husband a bat flew out from under a building and smacked his chest, then stayed flattened to his shirt. DH had to feel it off and shoo it away. Thankfully, it didn't bite.

Bat bites CAN be painless. This is why the precaution of rabies shots for all contact.
They aren't always painless, but it is common to not even realize you have been bitten.

Caution should be used around all animals, especially wild ones. Petting zoos may take the fear out of kids unnecessarily. Kids shouldn't be comfortable walking up to anything just because it's fuzzy.

A little girl caught the bubonic plague recently when she touched a dead squirrel and was subsequently bitten by its fleas.

No rabies in Australia, only Hendra virus, named after the Brisbane suburb where many racehorses and a vet died from it.

Again, spread by bats (flying foxes) when deflecting or urinating in horse water positioned under trees.

Yet another good reason for Ben Affleck to pass up the role of batman. Wish he would.

If there is an uptick in rabies cases, it is probably because we are not doing as much to control its spread as we once did. There is an oral rabies vaccine that is great for wildlife, but you generally have to spread bait that has been treated with the vaccine over a very wide area. That costs money, and when government and wildlife officials are looking for areas to cut back on in the budget...