We had very heavy rain yesterday during the day and then it cleared in the evening. The phone was ringing off the hook last night and today with people that had bat flying around in their houses. Does anyone else ever see this correlation and if so what is the theory behind it? Or was it just coincidence?

Must be happening in New England because Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have been ringing off the hook according to our phone logs since noon yesterday too.

This study suggests bats burn more energy flying in the rain. when wet, bats are using twice as much energy to fly and may explain why bats seek shelter during heavy rainfall.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2011-05-grounded.html#jCp and
http://www.zmescience.com/research/studies/why-bats-cant-fly-rain-4523532/

Cooler air makes people open doors and windows too, often with bad screens, no screens or other things that allow bat entry. If bats were on a home already in a roost, most roosts won't allow rain to be a bother.

We are getting our seasonal monsoon rain and many many folks open the house up to let things air out after it blows through each night, typical for us to get more "I've got a bat in the house" calls.

First question for me on single bat in house is "did you have your doors or windows open and are your screens tight."

Lowers the panic when many folks realize thats all that happened.

Justin

(Though I completely agree that bats flying in rain is costly energy wise, but can't see it blowing them out of the roost and into the house)

It looks to me that at least on two of these calls, a poorly sealed air conditioner may have been the culprit but those units were poorly sealed all summer.

They just started flying here 2 nights ago, up till then no midnight calls. Last night had 3 before midnight, and 7 more calls before sunrise. A few of us that are friendly competitors have a referral service, and know who doesn't mind getting up at certain hours and chasing them. I am good up till maybe 11:00pm....after that there's other guys that I trust that run all night long through August, till it ends. Been working pretty well for a bunch of years like that. Every bat we take that is in a home is required to go to the local health dept. for rabies testing also.

I don't think it is required here in RI but it definitely recommended. I take all that I catch to dept of health. It puts the customers mind at ease and give them a little extra for their money.

Steve and Albert, we have started taking the advice of bat guys on here and keeping them in a dated bottles in the downstairs freezer for a few weeks. This way, if the customer changes their mind, the health department comes right to the house and picks them up. No cost involved and the lady from the health department is always nice to talk to.

Last night was not so bad with calls for me, I have had 4 calls in the last 20 min. I have more work than I can handle so did not answer. One voice mail was hilarious they forgot to hang up. Sounded like they hit everything but the bat. I think a lamp got taken out by the sounds of it and the screaming. The lady of the house took over, and heard one last whack and a loud "I got it!" would love to put this call online:)

This year seems a little weird to me with the bat in house calls. Used to be I get a flurry of calls for a week or two, then all would go pretty quiet. Been getting the bat in the house calls for a month now.

I need to start the jobs I have already, but am concerned that it still may be early. Knocked out two small jobs today, but am still holding on the jobs that I know are maternal colonies.

Thunder is like a dinner bell...

My bat in house calls as a whole are down this year. i found out from looking in the refrigerator at the dept of health that the game wardens have been doing alot of these calls this year. Last year they wouldn't take a bat job!!!

Sounds like you have some compitition.

Perhaps....but it has been a much cooler summer in the North.

How many of you still live for that 3 am call in the middle of your night?

I bet a lot of them freezers got full while you guys were sleeping and they were on duty.

I am not talking about just Rhode Island but in the US & Canada . Do your calls go to voice mail in the middle of the night?

I would offer try to figure out how to go behind them and work with them better Steve.

The rabies protocols across the nation are always interesting to hear. I'm sure everyone on here knows that any policy on rabies is a CYA type policy, some states don't cover theirs as much, while others have full coverage but then accept more liability if they are wrong or make the wrong call.

What I find endlessly curious about bats in houses and the rabies testing aspects is that even when a bat came in through a door, the folks saw it fly in and it landed on a ceiling and never touched a soul, somehow in some states those bats still get tested which on the states end is a waste of money, time and stress.

I understand any NWCO's who have their own CYA policy regardless of the states policy or mandates, so don't believe I can't see why anyone on here wouldn't want to be sure they are covered just in case.

With any wildlife disease it is better to let an authority assume the liability, but many states don't have these policies as NY and others do.

Many have a common sense approach which states as most of us know that certain conditions should be met before euthanasia and testing is conducted.

1) bat was in a sleeping quarters

2) bat was found in proximity to person or persons who are unable to communicate or lack mental faculties due to illness

3) bat was found near young children, either those too young to communicate whether they were bitten or not, or those in the age
bracket where their answer might be based on not getting in trouble.

Outside of these many states don't test. So the bat flying in at a summer party, or windows open during warm summer nights are released outside.

What is more interesting is when you think of comparing bats and rabies to any other wildlife vector of rabies, raccoon, skunk, coyote, fox...

I've had calls where folks were bitten by squirrels and thought they needed to kill the animal and bring in the carcass for testing. The state wanted certain questions answered. Did the individual chase the squirrel, what was the circumstance.

Many folks get bitten by animals as we know (including a few on this site) and are not protected by gloves at the time or any other barrier and don't have shots, so in the end many thousands are spent on the what if...

But with bats, we aren't talking about the mobile and aggressive strain of rabies I saw growing up in fox and raccoon in upstate NY near our farm, we are talking, I can't fly, I drop from the roost and ultimately I die.

Don't pick me up without gloves on, don't chase me around the house and swat at me with a variety of implements and likely you have 0% risk of contracting this issue.

****

Disclaimer *** My rant is a general rant, again, I believe in CYA and it is important when you are on your own and no policy exists especially. Just think folks in public health have lost their heads over bat rabies when a skunk in the yard doesn't illicit the same level of psychosis as this little 2-3" long winged mammal.

***

A fine example I had a call the other day that was a referral. "I've got a bat on my porch and it hasn't left in two days and when I approach it, it seems aggressive. I used to work as a public health educator and I know an animal out during the daytime is a sick one and not right."

This was literally the call. Thankfully I too worked in a vein of public health related to wildlife specifically so we had a nice chat and I agreed to stop and look on my way home.

The bat on her porch was doing what bats do in our area, when things get too hot, they move down a bit or into the open for more airflow. Nothing special about this one, but a different person answering the phone and this bat was dead and as she desired, it would have been heading to the DOH with no need whatsoever.

It would be nice if public health would take a broad stroke at this policy and get a more collective nationwide and sensible approach to bats and come out of the era that existed from 1940-1970 where all bats have rabies, period...

Okay, enough Sunday morning pleasantry...

(Oh and I hope everyone who has a CYA policy for bat rabies saw multiple times I said, I understand and agree you must do what you need to do)

Justin

Well let's see; I've been bitten by raccoons at least seven times, foxes at least twice, one woodchuck bite, one mink bite, couple of dogs, one cat, a handful of squirrels, and if you're counting young raccoons, at least 200. Of course I'm only counting bites that drew blood. On the bright side, I haven't gotten bitten really good yet this year.

P.S. If the animal hasn't died within twenty minutes of biting me, I figure it's really healthy. I don't think after all this time that I can get any animal diseases but I sure must be a carrier.

Got bit by a cat last year. It died of acute lead poisoning shortly thereafter.

Wink, you're not big enough for all those animals to have taken a bite out of you!
Justin -regarding your point: gal called me today, bat in house, can you remove etc., etc.

I began with the line of questioning about how long the bat was in the house, had people slept there last night - all that ACIP stuff. She said, "This is getting annoying." I started to explain to her that, as a professional, I was looking out for her safety and that rabies was nothing...
She hung up. Loudly.
Guess it was too late for her - she'd already gone mad!

Here's Ohios guidelines:

http://www.odh.ohio.gov/~/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/dis/rabies/batsrabiesrisk.ashx

While the health department definitions are good to know, here is the Ohio law to be followed with bats,
http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/1501:31-15-03 Section (H) Species specific limitations:

(5) Bats
(a) It shall be unlawful to euthanize or kill a bat unless a bite or potential exposure to zoonotic diseases has occurred. Any bat killed or euthanized must be reported to the local health department by the affected landowner or their designated agent by the end of the next business day.