Bats freak a lot of people out, and they should. The CDC warns that a bat with rabies can bite a human sleeping without them realizing they were bit. Rabid bats have been documented in 49 of the U.S. states. Hawaii is rabid bats free. The more research we do into rabies, the more we are finding out that bats are a key figure in giving humans rabies. Isn’t that just fantastic! Not only are bats creepy and remind us of shiny, emo vampires, but they can give us a brain swelling, mouth frothing, deathly disease.
Unrecognizable bat bites cause a significant amount of rabies transmissions to humans. Never handle a bat, because it’s pretty likely the little guy has rabies. The CDC advises that if you happen to wake up with a bat in your room to automatically go to the hospital and get a rabies shot immediately. If possible, safely catch the bat and have it tested for rabies. Rabies causes brain swelling, convulsions, loss of muscle function and feeling, and numbness.