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Thread: Am i at risk of rabies?

  1. #1

    Am i at risk of rabies?

    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

  2. #2
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    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    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.
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    Nicola

    “Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.” - Natalie Babbitt

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  3. #3
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    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    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
    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.
    Last edited by Carys; 16-02-18 at 19:59.

  4. #4
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    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    You should come here Carys - they are always flying around the back garden
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    Nicola

    “Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.” - Natalie Babbitt

    Please help keep NMP running and donate to the running costs: http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/donate




  5. #5
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    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    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

  6. #6

    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    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

  7. #7
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    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    That has reassured me somewhat.
    Ey what ? 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?

    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.

  8. #8

    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    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!

  9. #9
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    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    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.

  10. #10
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    Re: Am i at risk of rabies?

    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?
    __________________
    Nicola

    “Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.” - Natalie Babbitt

    Please help keep NMP running and donate to the running costs: http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/donate




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