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anxiousgirl02
16-02-18, 19:33
I know this is probably going to sound ridiculous but my anxiety is getting the better of me and I need reassurance.
Last night I was on my phone in bed before I went to sleep and I thought I saw a bat fly across my room (it was dark so I just saw and outline)
I didn't think anything of it as I was so tired but I've woken up with a mark on my arm that looks like a bat bite. I gave a few questions...
Would I have heard a bat if it was flying around my room?
Would I have been woken by a bat bite whilst sleeping?
Am I at any risk of rabies if I was bitten?
please answer!!
thank you :scared15:

nomorepanic
16-02-18, 19:36
You would know if a bat was in your room cos it would still be there.

We have hundreds posts now about bat bites and rabies so have a search for them and a read to see what people are saying about it.

Carys
16-02-18, 19:44
Last night I was on my phone in bed before I went to sleep and I thought I saw a bat fly across my room (it was dark so I just saw and outline)
I didn't think anything of it as I was so tired but I've woken up with a mark on my arm that looks like a bat bite. I gave a few questions...
Would I have heard a bat if it was flying around my room?
Would I have been woken by a bat bite whilst sleeping?
Am I at any risk of rabies if I was bitten?
please answer!!
thank you :scared15:Now, lets be honest here, you only thought this morning that you thought you saw a bat's shadow. If you honestly thought you saw a bat fly across your room last night, you wouldn't have 'thought nothing of it' and gone to sleep you would have checked and been concerned then. I bet you have woken up with a tiny mark on your arm, and been unable to account for it and your HA has tracked your brain back to 'ahhh but what was that shadow last night?!'

Yes, of COURSE you'd have heard a bat. I had a large one flying round my room on holiday a while ago (in Europe) , you could hear it whirring and whoosing around over the bed and feel the air moving suddenly (a breeze). Yes, if a bat bit you I should think you would have woken up! Thirdly if a bat accidentally got into a room it would still be there, as was said above. I've had them in the house a few times and they can't get back out again, poor things, that easily.The one on holiday took hours to get to fly back out a window.

Bats are currently hibernating, so they wouldn't be out jaunting around looking for food and accidentally going into houses.

And finally.....and this is the BIGGY...you are posting from the UK ! Bats don't have rabies here (well, a few, literally a handful of cases of bats carrying it have been found in recent years, ONE bat in the UK was found to have it in 2017)

The chance of you having rabies IS.....


0.00000000000000000001%

So, if you check your curtains and find a lovely bat there, hanging and waiting, think yourself very lucky to have such a wonderful encounter with nature. I personally track bats through the spring and summer, and have a bat listening device. I've only been lucky enough to hold one a few times though.

nomorepanic
16-02-18, 20:14
You should come here Carys - they are always flying around the back garden :yesyes:

Carys
16-02-18, 20:21
Oh woooooowww you are SO lucky! Went on a bat walk in the Autumn and saw three species and 'heard' their very different squeaks. It was through bats that I became moth obsessed. Oh and IF you do find a bat, do remember they are a protected species :D

anxiousgirl02
16-02-18, 20:26
Thankyou carys. That has reassured me somewhat. Although I'm sure you'll know that anxiety is powerful at can take over the rational part of the brain. I am still worried as I am convinced that I saw a bat out of the corner of my eye. and another question... do bats generally bite unprovoked? Thank-you

Carys
16-02-18, 20:32
That has reassured me somewhat.

Ey what ? :shrug: I gave that my very best 'bat reassurance shot'. How can you not be totally reassured by finding out they are hibernating and basically 1 bat in the whole of the UK had rabies in 2017? :roflmao:

As for biting unprovoked. No. The only people who have a possibility of being bitten are bat handlers, who have a license to find the bats in their locations and move them/tag them etc.

anxiousgirl02
16-02-18, 20:37
Does the fact that they are hybernating mean they would not be in a house? Is there any chance of them hibernating in my house? Sorry, my anxiety is ridiculous I know!

Carys
16-02-18, 20:42
Well, they COULD be in your attic of course (lucky you if they are!) though it is rare to have them in most properties and usually they are older ones where the roosts aren't disturbed. The old empty house opposite us had some for years and when it came to be renovated they had to bring in all the bat experts to check they weren't going to be disturbed. However, they would not crawl down into a room to come into the house... and they would have to fly back out of the attic, however they got in, and accidentally come through an open windwow.

nomorepanic
16-02-18, 20:43
They swoop down at you but do not go near you or bite. I love watching them fly around.

So where is this bat now then anxiousgirl?

Carys
16-02-18, 20:45
Well, yeah, where IS the bat......checked your room ?

(by the way, they don't like people and noise, so wouldn't just be in your standard family home attic.)

anxiousgirl02
16-02-18, 21:01
good point, I'm sorry for being so silly. I just cannot get it out of my head.

Carys
16-02-18, 21:10
Well, its time to now get it out of your head......because this is honestly in the realms of fantasy. Unless you slept walked your way to a cave in . However, IF you do find a bat in your room let your local bat group know - they will be excited, delighted and come an identify it for you! :D Embrace the bats around you, they are part of a healthy environment and are the most fascinating creatures.


Oh lookey, I found this info for you....basically what I said earlier....

I've read lots of stories on the internet about bats flying into bedrooms at night and biting peole. Should I be worried? A lot of the information found on the internet on this subject relates to bats in other parts of the world where things are very different either in terms of the species of bats present (e.g. vampire bats (http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/bats_of_the_world.html) that are only found in central and south America) or the diseases that bats in very different parts of the world may carry.
In the UK all of our bats only feed on insects, they are also very shy creatures and therefore have no interest in humans, in fact where possible they will avoid contact such as roosting in parts of a building that are undisturbed and away from people. Occasionally bats do fly in through open windows but only by accident and if this happens they will try and find their way back out again. This means that they will fly around the room looking for that open window. If, after a while they cannot find their way back out they will tire themselves out and settle somewhere to rest temporarily. This will be somewhere hidden away like behind a curtain or a picture frame, so they feel secure.

anxiousgirl02
16-02-18, 22:51
I've just found two tiny risen spots about a centimeter apart on my neck. does this sound like a bat bite or do the puncture wounds not rise into pimple like spots?

Carys
16-02-18, 22:53
Found the bat yet ?

No, they would not be raised spots. They would look like puncture wounds.

You need to go back and read this thread now, the reassurance that has been stated. Read it many times, and repeat some of those things to yourself. ONE bat with rabies found in the UK in 2017 and that was just found lying dead, it wasn't launching itself at people and vampire like heading for their necks !!! FOr all intents and purposes rabies doesn't exist in our bat populations here.

paranoid-viking
16-02-18, 23:14
I can imagine people being so scare of rabies....I mean it is understandable if someone is concerned in India with its massive stray dog population. But in the UK where rabies does not even exist?
Save your worries to you need them I say!

anxiousgirl02
18-02-18, 12:21
Please someone reply! I was starting to feel a lot better about my rabies fear until I found what looks Exactly like bat droppings on the floor around my room ! ( I googled pictures) what should I do? Do I need to be worried? Could they have mice droppings? Thanks

Carys
18-02-18, 12:49
Of course they could be mice droppings and 99.9999999% are !

Here is the point....have you found the bat in your room yet ? Have you looked for it and checked everywhere it could roost? HOW would it have gotten in and back out ?

Even if one did somehow fly round your room and disappear againg, you are in the UK where rabies isn't a problem.