Encounters with bats can be fatal

[LoriNJ]

Originally Posted by dizzybint

Not just rabies , these things are dangerous ... Take Caution When Bats Are Near | Features | CDC

No need to fear monger. "Those things" play a very important ecological role. If all the bats in the world were to disappear, we would be inundated with lots more insects, including our latest Dreaded Pest, the mosquito. And many plants would lose important pollinators. The fact that bats, and lots of other animals, can pass diseases on in certain circumstances isn't new and doesn't change their importance. Being cautious around wild animals is always a good idea. Being fearful of them can lead people to kill them for no reason. Rabies in the developed world is still rare. So is Marburg fever and everything else mentioned in the CDC article.

[fisheye]

We belong to a hunting camp and up until rather recently it was infested with bats. Now we have them pretty much contained to the outside looking in.

However, years ago, it was not like that. We have pull string lights in the old farmhouse. I went in one night and pulled the string to turn on the lights and I felt something move under my fingers. Here I had a bat by the feet that had been hanging from the end of the cord! My wife used the bathroom one time and as she started to get up; she spotted something black under the toilet seat. She lifted the toilet seat to find that two bats were hiding under the seat! My wife was hysterical - but she made out better than the bats. When she picked up the seat they fell into the flushing toilet. Fortunately for us we never contracted any disease. It was one major concern when our camp members decided to clean up the cabin and the old bat manure.