scared about bat bite

[scaredhelpplease]

Hello everyone, i am concerned i have been bitten by a bat. I was outside one night and i heard noises in the sky. Then i felt a pain in my shoulder. Like a little prick pain. Im afraid that could have been a bat biting me. There was no bleeding, or no visible bite marks, but there usually isnt with bat bites anyways. My mom says that if a bat did bite me, i would have heard it fly up to my shoulder and it would have bumped into me or something instead of just biting me and flying away. What do you guys think? Could that prick pain i felt be a bat bite? I did not feel anything else on my shoulder, the only thing i felt was a little sharp pain that felt like i got pricked by a toothpick. I also didnt see anything fly by me, or hear anything fly up to me. Would i hear a bat if it were to fly up and bite me? Would a bat land on my shoulder first and bite or would it just bite me without even landing? Also, i read that bat bites feel like you were jabbed by a needle. But there was no lingering pain. All i felt was a prick and that was it. No pain immediately afterwards. What do you guys think?

it also seems my muscles are twitching periodically all over my body and it also feels like they are vibrating.... its very strange. my muscle movement isnt smooth either. its feels kinda jittery when i move my arms and legs...

[MyNameIsTerry]

As far as I know, bats tend to hunt whilst flying but thats when they are eating flying insects. They will sometimes eat larger prey hanging up. Well, they do in the UK anyway. Some species of bat eat fruit or nectar in which case they will land.

To do that with a human being, they are either going to have to fly into you or land on you. There are vampire bats and if my memory serves me, they have to land on larger prey to suck but please don't worry, there are none in the US, the nearest are in Mexico as far as I know.

So, its going to be the insect, nectar or fruit ones that could be the one you are thinking of. They really don't want to eat us anyway so I don't think its likely.

You can hear them using eccolocation to navigate and they do call to hunt their prey, or they do in the varieties I know of in the UK, but this is to detect the location of their prey and zoom in on them.

Many varieties have a sort of sucking noise to their eccolocation. If they fly overhead making their calls, you would hear them as they are in our range. Otherwise you would need a bat detector tuned to the frequency of the species and range is limited even then!

Do you think it could be an insect bite? If you live in an area with bats, its could always be an insect and the bats are just around hunting...in which case they are doing you a favour because they will be most likely eating any flying insects for you.

Your last sentence is also a symptom of anxiety. Do you suffer from an anxiety or panic disorder? If so, this is the likely cause.

[scaredhelpplease]

As far as I know, bats tend to hunt whilst flying but thats when they are eating flying insects. They will sometimes eat larger prey hanging up. Well, they do in the UK anyway. Some species of bat eat fruit or nectar in which case they will land.

To do that with a human being, they are either going to have to fly into you or land on you. There are vampire bats and if my memory serves me, they have to land on larger prey to suck but please don't worry, there are none in the US, the nearest are in Mexico as far as I know.

So, its going to be the insect, nectar or fruit ones that could be the one you are thinking of. They really don't want to eat us anyway so I don't think its likely.

You can hear them using eccolocation to navigate and they do call to hunt their prey, or they do in the varieties I know of in the UK, but this is to detect the location of their prey and zoom in on them.

Many varieties have a sort of sucking noise to their eccolocation. If they fly overhead making their calls, you would hear them as they are in our range. Otherwise you would need a bat detector tuned to the frequency of the species and range is limited even then!

Do you think it could be an insect bite? If you live in an area with bats, its could always be an insect and the bats are just around hunting...in which case they are doing you a favour because they will be most likely eating any flying insects for you.

Your last sentence is also a symptom of anxiety. Do you suffer from an anxiety or panic disorder? If so, this is the likely cause.

thanks for the reply. Yes I do suffer from anxiety, it's really bad :( I live in the usa and we have never seen a bat where we live and we have lived here for years. Also I don't think there were any insects outside... Could it just be a random pain? Sometimes I get random pains... Do you personally think based off of that scenario I came into contact with a bat?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Its a possibility yes, we seem to get all sorts of random things like jerks.

Insects are not always easily visible, there are everywhere outside. If it was something like a gnat (if you have those?), then you usually see them but they are nothing to worry about.

I can't say for sure but my opinion is that it is very unlikely as they just aren't interested in us. We have bat houses at zoo's over here where they are flying all around you in the dark and they avoid you at the last minute in search of some yummy insect.

[scaredhelpplease]

Its a possibility yes, we seem to get all sorts of random things like jerks.

Insects are not always easily visible, there are everywhere outside. If it was something like a gnat (if you have those?), then you usually see them but they are nothing to worry about.

I can't say for sure but my opinion is that it is very unlikely as they just aren't interested in us. We have bat houses at zoo's over here where they are flying all around you in the dark and they avoid you at the last minute in search of some yummy insect.

Thanks, so from that scenario I described, do you think I'll be ok?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Have you got multiple puncture marks?

I think its very likely you will be ok.

[Munchlet]

Please don't worry yourself about this, your post reminds me so much of myself a couple of years ago. We went on holiday to Majorca and we used to see bats flying overhead in the evenings. Because I read the stories about how some people didn't know that they had been bitten by bats I went into a complete meltdown and came home convinced I was dying of Rabies.

I went to my GP and he said "seriously you would know if you had been bitten by a bat, their teeth are like needles and you would have two puncture wounds very close together." So although you felt a pain unless you can actually see two puncture wounds you really don't need to worry.

Besides you were fully concious so you would have noticed a bat flying into you. My hubby used to laugh at me and to this day still does, he tells everyone that the bats in Majorca are ninja bats that managed to sneak up and bite me without me seeing them or having any marks!

So you are not alone in your fear as I can completely relate but honestly this is just HA playing tricks with your mind nothing else, you really don't need to worry about this.

Take Care