HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Absolutely terrified of bat bite share opinion please

Support Forums
>
Anxiety & Panic Disorders
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 2/25/2015 9:56 PM (GMT 0)
about 11 days ago, i went outside, at nighttime, and i felt a pain in my right shoulder blade, in the corner of my back. It felt like i got poked with a toothpick. Straight away I assumed a bat bit me. however I didnt see any bats, but It was very dark at night, so i wouldnt be able to see them anyways. Also, i didnt hear any bats fly up to me, but from what i read, bats are nearly dead silent when flying. Also, i didnt feel anything land on my back shoulder. Now the logical part of me, tells me that since i didnt feel anything land on me, then it definitely wasnt a bat. But the irrational part of me dismisses that for some reason. Also, there were no visible bite marks, or blood, but from what i read, bats teeth are so small, you wouldnt see blood or bite marks from a bat bite anyways. Now bats are very small, with their wingspand in mind, they are about the size of a playing card. My shirt was covering where i felt the pain, so part of me thinks a bat landed on me and bit me, and i didnt feel the bat land on me because my shirt was in the way. Do guys thing it would have been possible for a bite to bite me without it landing on my shoulder or without me feeling it land on my shoulder? The reason why i am concerned about a bat biting me is because they are known rabies carriers. Also, if it wasnt a bat bite, what could have caused that pain on my shoulder? A pinched nerve? im not sure... But basically from the scenario i described, i think a bat bit me on my right shoulder, without me feeling the actual bat land on my shoulder. I just felt the pain. Is that likely? What are your guys thoughts? I really need some opinions...
Posted 2/25/2015 10:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hi SA and welcome!

I do not think you were bitten at all.

I have a similar story (and the same fears as you are having!)

... but I am currently pressed for time...so I will post back later with the details.

...but for now wanted to reassure you that it it so very, very highly unlikely you were bitten...that you should rest assured you will be fine.:)

Will.talk.soon,

S.C.
Posted 2/25/2015 11:14 PM (GMT 0)
ok sounds great :) thank you!
Posted 2/26/2015 12:19 AM (GMT 0)
I literally am terrified of bats, my apartment is near a wooded area, and about dusk the bats come out to play, they fly so erratic, I would surely think that you would have seen one by you, I mean these creatures have no sense of what they are doing or maybe they do, but fly like they are drunk.

I've never witnessed a bat flying with grace and ease and being able to be sneaky to where you wouldn't know one was near you. They dart and fly up and down and all around, they are crazy. I will watch them outside and have many times had to run inside because they will be flying one way and all of the sudden come towards me, then make a loopsy loop around to some other place.

In other words, Bats don't seem to be the sneaky types, you know they are coming.
Posted 2/26/2015 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
Apart from snakes and crocodiles, I also fear bats. Based on my encounter with a few bats, they won't attack until you disturb or hurt them. And you can hear their flapping wings, even the small ones.

If you were bitten, it might be insects or bugs flying in the night that landed on your shoulder.
Posted 2/26/2015 12:43 AM (GMT 0)
Lets try this, did you have a injury on your skin, did it bleed, be sure of this, if no blood no bite, Peace

Larry ***
Posted 2/26/2015 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
SA.,

Sorry for the late response...my afternoon and evening were non-stop until bedtime!

So here is my bat story:

My cat catches bats...as in, out of thin air! ;/ Before I knew this fact...my daughters were playing outside one warm Summer evening. I was just about to call them in as it was getting dark...when they come flying in yelling that our cat Molly had just caught a HUGE bug!

I went outside to find it was in fact, a bat.....

Let's pause: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Okay, on with the story.

I go over to where the cat has the bat pinned to the ground. I 'calmly' shoo her away, and trap it under a bucket.

I call animal control and they come over. Meanwhile I have sequestered our cat in the bathroom.

The man with animal control informs me that there is over a 90% chance that the bat is rabid...and that our cat will be taken and quarantined by the county.

Another pause: At this points BOTH my kids are bawling.

Okay...this is not good...but I 'calmly' sign the paperwork to release our cat, and off she and the bat and Animal Control go...

Well, the next day, I notice some little bumps on my youngest daughter's leg. When I looked closer, they appeared to be two bug bites, close together...wait a minute...two bug bites close together...or FANG marks!!!

Again I say: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I call the county, I call our doctor, I call our therapist...I call a priest...no, not really the last one....but I was completely drama at this point, thinking she had been bit.

I was seriously agonizing...thinking about rabies shots...do I wait and get the test on 'our' bat back from the county first? Or do I take her in and get started on the shots now?

The person at the county assured me...and this is where my story starts to apply to YOU! :)

...that a bat can NOT do a 'fly by' biting! It has to land....and it usually crawls around a lot, and has to be provoked to even bite in the first place.

Hence, you would KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that a bat had landed on you...crawled around, and thought about it a while before biting. It simply would not be a fleeting encounter between you and the bat.:)

Long story short...the necropsy of the bat turned out negative. Apparently I have the only bat catching cat...she did not find it aready dying on the ground...but indeed caught a perfectly healthy one out of the air...thanks Molly.

We got her back...in fact she is sleeping on my bed at the moment...too old now (thank God) to hunt too many flying creatures these days.

I hope my story gave you a laugh and some reassurance! (it is a funny story NOW)

Post with us anytime for anxiety support.:)

Scaredy Cat
Posted 2/27/2015 2:14 AM (GMT 0)

Scaredy Cat said...
SA.,

Sorry for the late response...my afternoon and evening were non-stop until bedtime!

So here is my bat story:

My cat catches bats...as in, out of thin air! ;/ Before I knew this fact...my daughters were playing outside one warm Summer evening. I was just about to call them in as it was getting dark...when they come flying in yelling that our cat Molly had just caught a HUGE bug!

I went outside to find it was in fact, a bat.....

Let's pause: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Okay, on with the story.

I go over to where the cat has the bat pinned to the ground. I 'calmly' shoo her away, and trap it under a bucket.

I call animal control and they come over. Meanwhile I have sequestered our cat in the bathroom.

The man with animal control informs me that there is over a 90% chance that the bat is rabid...and that our cat will be taken and quarantined by the county.

Another pause: At this points BOTH my kids are bawling.

Okay...this is not good...but I 'calmly' sign the paperwork to release our cat, and off she and the bat and Animal Control go...

Well, the next day, I notice some little bumps on my youngest daughter's leg. When I looked closer, they appeared to be two bug bites, close together...wait a minute...two bug bites close together...or FANG marks!!!

Again I say: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I call the county, I call our doctor, I call our therapist...I call a priest...no, not really the last one....but I was completely drama at this point, thinking she had been bit.

I was seriously agonizing...thinking about rabies shots...do I wait and get the test on 'our' bat back from the county first? Or do I take her in and get started on the shots now?

The person at the county assured me...and this is where my story starts to apply to YOU! :)

...that a bat can NOT do a 'fly by' biting! It has to land....and it usually crawls around a lot, and has to be provoked to even bite in the first place.

Hence, you would KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that a bat had landed on you...crawled around, and thought about it a while before biting. It simply would not be a fleeting encounter between you and the bat.:)

Long story short...the necropsy of the bat turned out negative. Apparently I have the only bat catching cat...she did not find it aready dying on the ground...but indeed caught a perfectly healthy one out of the air...thanks Molly.

We got her back...in fact she is sleeping on my bed at the moment...too old now (thank God) to hunt too many flying creatures these days.

I hope my story gave you a laugh and some reassurance! (it is a funny story NOW)

Post with us anytime for anxiety support.:)

Scaredy Cat


Thank you so much for the post, it did make me smile :) and I'm glad your cat and daughter are ok :) so do you think I didn't get bit? I would like to add that I have been afraid of rabies before this situation and we haven't seen a single bat in all of the 5 years we have lived here. So based on my situation do you think I'll be ok?
Posted 2/27/2015 4:10 AM (GMT 0)
I absolutely without a shadow of a doubt believe that you are completely safe...and had no encounter with a bat.:)

From what the experts at the my county agency told me...you would have been totally aware that a bat was on your body.

They don't do quick, stealthy bites at all!

You are in the clear!! :)

S.C.
Posted 2/28/2015 9:55 PM (GMT 0)
Bats use sonar to catch mosquitoes (they're favorite meal)...that's why they fly in crazy directions and it looks like they're drunk when flying. Therefore too, they sense a human when using their sonar and would NOT land on a person intentionally. You have little to NO chance of a bat deliberately landing on you. When I lived on a farm we had bats in the attic and in the barn and saw them flying all around at dusk....never ONCE did a bat come anywhere near me. And I do not believe what the animal control officer said that 90% of bats are rabid. I have known of quite a few bats that have been caught and tested and not one of them had rabies....a raccoon would probably have more chance of having rabies than a bat. it's an old wives' tale just like the one that says bats will get caught in your hair. You have much more chance of getting hit by lightening than being bitten by a rabid bat.
Posted 2/28/2015 10:07 PM (GMT 0)
Andwes,

The reason the animal control officer made this statement was because our cat had caught the bat...

He said in these cases, usually the bat is sick, and therefore already on the ground when the opportunistic cat finds it.

He was not stating that over 90% of the general bat population has rabies...just that those that a cat could catch were likely to be sick....and not up in the sky where a healthy bat would be.


...but nope! Our cat caught a perfectly healthy, airborne one!

Go figure, right?!? ;p ;p ;p

S.C.

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply