Some people... just... er...

[den]

Most readers know I'm a bat rescuer/rehabber, and long-lime readers know one of my licence requirements is that I have to be innoculated against rabies. Now, Australia is the only continent that is rabies-free but bats can carry a similar disease called lyssavirus. The percentage of bats with this disease is minute; much less than the half of 1% of bats with rabies in other countries. The problem is you can't tell which bats carry lyssavirus so all bats have to be treated as though they have it,

Last Thursday I had a call from a lady in Eugowra. Her 16 y.o daughter had rescued an injured flying-fox, and in the process the bat scratched the young lady and drew blood. The mother wanted my advice. I explained about Lyssavirus, and how it had killed two people in the last 5 years, and that it's not as virulent as Rabies so the daughter won't collapse in slobbering fits tomorrow. Lyssavirus has a very long incubation, about 2 years, but when symptoms present it's too late. Encephalitus, coma and death are like that. It's time to start planning the young lady's post-exposure shots now.

The bat will have to be tested, too. The vets will have to take brain tissue from the animal to test it for infection, and since it has a broken wing and will be euthanased anyway...

Today I had a call from National Parks in Forbes. A lady from Eugowra has handed in a little red flying fox. I asked if it was the one that had scratched the daughter, and it was. Nola from NPWS wanted to know what to do. Apparently they had a bloke driving up to Dubbo, so I told her to get him to take the bat to the zoovets at Western Plains Zoo. I then rang the vets to let them know it was coming. The woman who brought the bat in didn't want it euthanased, and Nola said she seemed unconcerned about the injury to her daughter.

I am a greenie conservationist environmentalist. What we have here is a very real threat to human life. Even if the bat was totally uninjured I would still euthanase it myself even if it was a rare species, and the little red flying foxes are not rare. The bat must be tested for lyssavirus. Besides, it has a broken wing and there is no place for warm fuzzies here. Maybe it can go in the zoo with the one-legged wallabies to live its life while a kind-hearted young lady dies. NPWS and the zoovets are monitoring the situation and will keep me updated. I know that if something bad happens I'll really feel like crap even though it won't be my fault.

...

I finally got Friday's bat from Trangie. It was very dead. It's "injured leg" had been amputated, plus being stuck to the front of the car for two days, plus being shoved in a box for 4 days had been too much for it. Poor little forest bat.

Comments

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Good god.

If that had been Agent Weasel we'd have been down to A+E so fast it would make a person's head spin!

I hope the little girl's parents wake up soon and take her in for treatment.

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

Overly kind idiots make me angry. There's a fine line between compassion and conservationism and cruelty through ignorance. Most people don't want to remove the ignorance because it would take away some of the "warm fuzzies" they get for being environmental.

Here in my county we have a "no kill" shelter. The shelter handles anything from stray dogs and cats to injured wildlife. I found the place by mistake when we were looking to adopt a dog and actually fled the premises. The cages, while well designed, are still full of animals who should have been euthanized --- dogs who lunge or cringe at shadows, cats who run around in circles oblivious to all else, three legged deer, foxes, and boars....

It's no way to live for an animal used to being free. And I'm just as eco-conservative as you are.

[kurtbatz.livejournal.com]

I hate to think of a bat with a broken wing. It's no way for a wild animal to live.

That said, you're a stronger person than me, for being able to euthanise bats where necessary. Putting down a bat would absolutely destroy me.

(The in-built tendancy to anthropomorphise the animal's emotions towards an injury plus the sheer amount of love I have for them would prevent me from doing what might be necessary in a given circumstance. You're a very strong person for being able to do what is right for the animal in all situations)

Very much hope the little girl is alright!

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

The day killing a bat doesn't affect me is the day I will stop rescuing animals.

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

God in heaven.

My sympathies for the bat, and I hope the girl is okay. You guys probably don't have the mechanisms to be making follow-up calls of the "Have you checked for lyssavirus yet?!" type, but sheesh. Do you have something like child services you can call?

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

National Parks might have the authority, but the group I rescue for don't.

[jenny_evergreen]

I understand both sides in these sorts of things. Sad all 'round.

[hespa.livejournal.com]

I'm asking this in ignorance, because it's something I should know: why would the bat need to be euthanased and tested even if it was rare and/or in good health? Given that the girl ought to be innoculated anyway to be sure...

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

I would assume because you need brain tissue to test for the virus, which is kinda invasive to say the least. Also, if the symptoms take a long time to show, the bat can appear to be in perfect health even when it's a carrier.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

It's a virus of the central nervous system, so a sample of brain tissue has to be taken. It's related to rabies and has the same effect on aimals, in that they can carry it without showing symptoms.

Lyssavirus follows the rabies exposure protocols: the human gets innoculated and the animal is euthanased to be tested. The time to innoculation isn't as important as it is with rabies due to the long incubation period.

If the bat was rare they might try to sample nerve tissue from a not-so-vital area, but there's been bugger all research on bats here. Only the cute animals get the research funding.

[hespa.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I can understand where all this is coming from, but it still makes me sad. What I can't help thinking (and this was the thought behind the initial question) is: if the girl should be innoculated *anyway*, why do we need to know whether or not the bat's a carrier?

On the one hand, what're the odds that that one bat will ever be in a position to bite anyone again (well, OK, innoculated rehabbers aside)? And on the other hand, if we're going to euthanase and test *just in case*, what's our reasoning behind leaving all those other possibly-infected bats flying around alive and untested just because they haven't bitten anyone *yet*?

That's how it looks to me, anyway. {:=8/

(And what do you mean bats aren't cute animals?! Bah humbug!)

[weyrdbird.livejournal.com]

Oh... My....Grrrrrr.....

I would be contacting the child welfare folks myself.....it may seem over reactionary but we're talking about the *life* of a child! Yes bats are beneficial but in this situation I think a child should matter first. At the very least she should be examined for possible exposure........one instance does not make a panic.It can save a life.

[avenginglioness.livejournal.com]

stupid people. :(

[beki.livejournal.com]

Those parents need to be thwacked upside the head to beat some sense into them. I feel bad for the bat mind you, but they should have the common sense to take their kid to the doc, regardless of what sort of animal it was. Idjits.

[tigermorph.livejournal.com]

Hey Den - maybe you remember me from AC as TBird....

But anyhoo... I thought I would share this with you:

Brown Bat at work (http://tigermorph.livejournal.com/481128.html). We named her Adrienne. (We don't care if she's a he. She's too cute!)

Thank you for teaching me to love bats instead of being scared of them.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Good grief! It's YOU!

What a cute little bat. I hope she can get outside easily.

[tigermorph.livejournal.com]

We're in a small airplane hangar. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a lot of bats comng and going. But the hangar doors are open at both ends of the building all day long.

She has since wedged herself between a pegboard where we hang big tools, and the wall. (Which is how I got to pet her little suede wing. (I was very light and gentle, she didn't react much at all. I just couldn't resist. I'm bad.)(I washed my hands, but the real Adrienne didn't know that, so I made her squeal by pointing my "bat finger" at her. God I'm evil!)

If she starts showing signs of not being healthy and fluffy, I'll coax her back into that box (oranges? water?) and put her outside so she is certainly free to hunt. The guys want to build her a bat house.

I kinda want to bring her home to my barn where she is totally free to fly in and out. God knows there's bugs to be had around a barn!

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Bat House info:
http://www.batcon.org/bhra/economyhouse.html
http://www.batconservation.org/content/bathouse/bathouse.htm

Brown bats are insectivores, so oranges won't tempt them unless fruit fly is involved. 8) Your hangar is in her territory, so transplanting her will be too stressy. I bet you have bats in your barn, anyway.

She should be fat and glossy. All bats have mites, but unhealthy bats don't groom properly so if she has a visible mite infestation she might need some asisstance.

If she feels safe there she may settle in for the winter. And she will bring friends. 8)

[(Anonymous)]

COOL!

I will pass that along to the guys, because they are serious about building a bat house.

She's covered in sawdust, but she didn't appear to have a mite or grooming problem. I stared at her a lot, longing to pet her little neck.

Thanks!