this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2024
383 points (99.7% liked)
Bats
1395 readers
17 users here now
Bats are cool
Bats are the only true flying mammals. There are over 1,400 species of bats, and they can be found on nearly every part of the planet. Not only are they cute, they are also important...
Studying how bats use echolocation has helped scientists develop navigational aids for the blind. Without bats’ pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control we wouldn’t have bananas, avocados, mangoes, agave, or cacao… that’s right, bats bring us tequila and chocolate!
Found a bat in need of help?
-
Do not handle it with bare hands! Bats can carry rabies.
-
Here's a map of worldwide rescues and temporary care instructions.
-
Bats should never be kept as pets: Here's why.
Celebrate bats with us!
Our community's mascot is Baxter. Baxter is an Egyptian fruit bat that was cruelly kept alone and confined to a small cage for 12 years before being rescued by a bat sanctuary. You can read the full story by clicking on his name.
Our rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:
- Be respectful and inclusive
Everyone should feel welcome here. Hateful or bigoted language will not be tolerated.
- No illegal or NSFW or NSFL content
Don’t post anything a fruit bat would not approve of.
- No bat hate
Please don't hate on bats in this community (this includes all of your edgy covid humor).
- No advertisement or spam
Bats don’t like spam.
Related Communities
Community Feedback and Moderation
For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, please send a message to the current moderators. Any feedback on the community should also be sent to the moderators.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I ask this only with good intentions and as someone who is not super educated on the subject:
Is this a health concern if they startled the bat and risk getting scratched? Would it be better to try to relocate the creature?
I often encounter bats on my front door several times a year and do my best to safely move them, but I’m wondering if I could do better.
Bats are indeed a bit famous for carrying rabies, I think I would have animal control relocate the little guy.
Edit: I'm not at all suggesting that this bat in particular has rabies, or that people should be afraid of bats. What you should be afraid of is rabies, because that's fucking terrifying. Due caution is required.
Fuck rabies, man. Fortunately, a bat won't transmit via scratch. But even The smallest bite or transfer of saliva on an open wound can transmit it. If you encounter a bat and are 100% sure it didn't bite you, it's fine. But if you're only 99% sure, you're in for a world of hurt with the rabies series. That's why people who wake up with a bat in their room have to go through the series.
Bats can carry all sorts of diseases some of which can affect humans like rabies. However most of them don't, and they're protected species anyway so you're not allowed to touch them. If it does have a disease the best thing to do would be to stay as far away from it as possible and hope it goes away on its own. Either way the best advice is not to touch it.
I went spelunking with some friends once, and we were crawling through this section of the cave that was only about 4' tall. There were around 100 bats sleeping on the ceiling above us as we cautiously crawled past. Well, my crazy idiot friend thought it would be hilarious to wake them all up and started screeching like a banshee. All of the bats dropped down from the ceiling and started flying back and forth, inches from our faces. I was thinking that I'd kill my friend if any of us got bitten, but thankfully the bats completely ignored us and eventually flew off to who knows where. That same idiot went back to the cave a couple weeks later and caught one of the bats. We forced him to return it to the cave and release it. He was a fun guy, but prone to unpredictable, dangerous behavior.
Everyone's got that one friend. People get hurt when he's around, but somehow he never does.
His luck ran out when he hit middle age, and he has seriously injured himself a couple of times now.