# Bat Bite Question



## Tea Path (Sep 5, 2012)

Whippit said:


> In my considerable experience with normal, non vampiric bats, they aren't interested in biting humans, and I wouldn't imagine even a rabid bat being interested in biting a sleeping human .(oops, just noticed this wasn't a sleeping thing.) You would notice a bat bite you and fly past, there's a kind of rustle that you hear while they fly by, and they're bigger than mosquitoes so the bite would actually have more physical interaction than something specifically evolved to suck blood without you noticing.


even when you're drunk or a heavy sleeper? 

I had a car door closed on my hand and didn't wake up. If I'm sick and snoring, my hubby has to leave the room cause it takes too long to wake me. 

Just saying your own experience may not be comparable to everyone's.

But, yes, non-rabid, non-blood-sucking bats are not going to bite you. They're cute, even.


----------



## Whippit (Jun 15, 2012)

Tea Path said:


> even when you're drunk or a heavy sleeper?
> 
> I had a car door closed on my hand and didn't wake up. If I'm sick and snoring, my hubby has to leave the room cause it takes too long to wake me.
> 
> ...


I really don't see a rabid bat seeking a person out who's just sleeping, it's just highly unlikely. May as well be a rabid hamster, or a mad titmouse, or pissed possum. Titmouse.


----------



## Tea Path (Sep 5, 2012)

Whippit said:


> I really don't see a rabid bat seeking a person out who's just sleeping, it's just highly unlikely. May as well be a rabid hamster, or a mad titmouse, or pissed possum. Titmouse.


so, if a rabid bat doesn't seek a person out who is sleeping, how do you propose that people who are in their homes are bitten by bats during the night?


----------



## Whippit (Jun 15, 2012)

Tea Path said:


> so, if a rabid bat doesn't seek a person out who is sleeping, how do you propose that people who are in their homes are bitten by bats during the night?



From: Bats and Rabies | Colorado Parks and Wildlife


> Dogs, cats, and other carnivores often become aggressive and try to attack humans and other animals, but bats are typically passive. Bats normally bite only in self-defense if handled, and aggressive behavior is rare, even when rabid."


From: Bats



> It should be noted that newspapers, television, and other mass media some-times misrepresent the role of rabid bats as a risk to humans. ... Many rabies exposures could be avoided if people simply refrained from handling bats. Adults and children should be strongly cautioned never to touch bats with bare hands.


There were some cases of people bitten by rabid bats in their sleep, by some, I mean 4 between 1997 and 2006, this is a total of less than half a person a year in the whole population of the U.S. It's a totally freak statistic.


----------



## Zombie Devil Duckie (Apr 11, 2012)

@RobynC, your friend could actually be lucky!!

In the book "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson, the main character is bitten by a bat while in Panama and later in life develops an immunity to the virus that wipes out all of humanity.


:tongue:


(I know.. you hate it when I try to bring humor into your threads, lol)


-ZDD


----------



## Tea Path (Sep 5, 2012)

Whippit said:


> From: Bats and Rabies | Colorado Parks and Wildlife
> 
> 
> From: Bats
> ...


K, just confirming that it isn't none. 
Thanks.


----------



## RobynC (Jun 10, 2011)

The person in question was my nephew... he got shots immediately. I was simply curious if his reaction was correct.


----------



## Tea Path (Sep 5, 2012)

RobynC said:


> The person in question was my nephew... he got shots immediately. I was simply curious if his reaction was correct.


Glad to hear he got good quick treatment. I hope he's doing well.


----------

