Don’t Go Batty
This summer, several states have seen an alarming increase in rabies cases, including a couple of rabid raccoons in a neighborhood near me. Still, human cases of rabies are very rare, and it’s best to keep it that way. Without treatment rabies is virtually 100 percent fatal. With treatment, it’s 100 percent curable. The vaccine always works (even after you’ve been bitten), but you have to get it in time. Once the symptoms start, it’s too late. You’re a goner.
Although raccoons are common carriers, they aren’t the animal most people think of when they think of rabies. That would be bats. And indeed, bats are a common source of rabies infection in humans. It’s not that bats are more likely to get rabies than are other wild animals; they’re just more likely to give it to humans. One reason is that bats frequently roost in attics and occasionally find their way into your living room.
Surprisingly, rodents, which also tend to turn up in houses, aren’t often carriers of rabies. One possible reason is that if a rabid animal were to bite a mouse or rat, it would probably just eat the whole rodent, and not leave an infected animal to pass the virus on to you. Also, rodents don’t fight with each other much, so if one animal were to get infected, it wouldn’t be as likely to spread the infection to the rest of the rodent community.
Bats, on the other hand, need to be treated with caution. It’s important to realize, however, that while bats (like any mammal) can carry rabies, they’re an important part of our ecosystem. We need bats. For one thing, they eat lots and lots and lots of mosquitoes. And remember, mosquitoes are the insects that transmit malaria, West Nile virus, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika — serious, sometimes fatal diseases.
So yes, we should be careful to keep bats out of our houses and not risk being bitten by one, but we shouldn’t get carried away and try to eliminate them. Stay safe, but give bats a little respect. (But you can dis on raccoons if you want. I won’t judge.)
Stay curious,
Avery
Image courtesy xiSerge via Pixabay