BATS ARE IN THE NEWS - Now this has nothing to do with baseball. It seems there has been a bit of a spike in calls to Longview Animal Control as some residents in this East Texas town have reported seeing these winged mammals at different locations causing concern. Now it’s normal to see bats flying around in the evening as that’s when they typically come out to feed on insects, which is a good thing. But so far, Longview Animal Control has responded to at least 17 calls so far this year which is a little more than usual.
Bats generally don’t come into contact with humans so there is no reason to be afraid of the winged mammals as they avoid human contact. But Animal Control Officials do want you to take precautions if you encounter bats. Longview Animal Services Supervisor, Chris Kemper fills us in on the details.
KEMPER: "First of all, bats are a very important indigenous specie that we have here in the southern United States. Bats are our number one protector against things like zoonotic disease such as west Nile virus, because they eat a lot of insects, they eat a lot of mosquitoes specifically. So we want to protect our bats, we want bats to be here. The problem occurs is when bats end up in places where they come in contact with people. Now healthy bats very rarely put themselves in a position to come into contact with people. So the ones that end up in a position that they come in contact with a pet or a person, are the ones we're most concerned with. Bats are known carriers of rabies. Nearly all human deaths in the United States from rabies come with exposure to bats. And that's because bats come into contact with people when people aren't aware of it."
WHAT ARE SOME THINGS PEOPLE SHOULD DO IF THEY COME IN CONTACT WITH A BAT. WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND?
KEMPER "When you have an animal that comes in with a bat in its mouth; recently we had a bat that was on the floor as the dog was licking it, those are situations that healthy bats do not put themselves in. So what we remind people is if you come in contact with a bat, you never, ever want to touch it, never want to handle it. We've had a couple of cases where people have caught the bat and put it outside before they called, and the bat flies away and we have no way to test the bat to know if it was healthy or whether it was not healthy. So our advice to people is first and foremost, if you see a bat, if you have one in your house, contain it in a room and stay away from it. And call the appropriate authorities, let them come out and let them assess the risk, let them come and remove the animal."
IF SOMEONE HAS BEEN SCRATCHED OR BITTEN BY A BAT, SHOULD THEY SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION?
KEMPER: At minimum they should have a conversation with their doctor. That goes with coming in contact with any animal, especially with one that may have bitten you whether it's a domestic dog or a cat, or any other type of wildlife. If you come in contact with something that may have bit you, then you should report it to the proper authorities."
