4 ms·

I've had bats slip into my house late at night several times. They're cute little fuzzballs when I see them outside flapping around far away from me, but hearin

by fiblye 8y ago

I've had bats slip into my house late at night several times. They're cute little fuzzballs when I see them outside flapping around far away from me, but hearing a "pittpittpittpattpatt" whirling above your head at night is terrifying. My first assumption was always rabies, because why else would a tiny animal get so close to a huge and dangerous animal like me? A large number of stories I've heard involving people playing with small wild mammals end with rabies. When it comes to bats, raccoons, and possums, I was always taught to treat them as rabid because healthy ones won't ever get close to random humans if they can help it. That this guy was letting them lick his fingers is unimaginable to me.

enceladus_ice 8y ago
Luckily, it's extremely rare for opossums to contract rabies, so keep snuggling those scary beasts to your heart's content.
- bryanrasmussen 8y ago
  what's the rate for opossums who get close to humans though?
  - braythwayt 8y ago
    This! It's related to the assertion that fewer than 1 in 100 programmers is unable to write "FizzBuz" in the programming language of their choice. The rate may be statistically insignificant amongst all programmers, but what is the rate amongst programmers looking for a job? Different question :-)
    - MRD85 8y ago
      I really struggle with the concept that some programmers cannot write FizzBuzz. I'd expect it from someone who has finished their first programming unit.
      - bryanrasmussen 8y ago
        I've known some programmers that I expect might not be able to write FizzBuzz in the time allotted within an interview, based on how long it has taken them to produce code 5-6 times as verbose as needed given the simplicity of the task at hand.
  - tomjen3 8y ago
    As I recall, their defense mechanism is to play dead, and they look cute, so I am going with not unusual.
    - justjash 8y ago
      I think we have very different definitions of cute... However, I have had many more run ins with opossums than bats.
jartelt 8y ago
Bats are tricky because you can often not see the bite marks and it can be hard to tell if you were bitten or not. It is sometime recommended to get the rabies vaccine if you find a bat in your house in the morning after sleeping all night. Same applies if you are camping and a bat gets in your tent.
- LinuxBender 8y ago
  This also depends where you live and what types of bats live around you. I have little brown bats around my home all the time. They get in my ceiling and sometimes get confused and end up in the house. They will not bite a human unless picked up by one. They eat moths and mosquitoes, which is why I try to avoid hurting them when I release them outside. I just wear gloves and wash everything afterwards.
  - fiblye 8y ago
    >They will not bite a human unless picked up by one The scary thing is that's pretty much how you know that an animal is rabid: animals that would avoid people completely will now bite them.
    - LinuxBender 8y ago
      In the case of my little brown bats, they detest being picked up. The screech and scream like it's the end of the world. I usually have to follow them around the house until they get themselves into a corner. The exception to this in my case was a little pup that was scared and confused due to a forest fire outside. The smoke drove it into the house and it only screeched a little bit when I picked it up. It's doing fine now.
pontifier 8y ago
I was also taught to treat animals like this as rabid. When a bat came in my house a few weeks ago, I trapped it in a plastic tub, and took it outside. Here's a video of the release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zwt71GMe5M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zwt71GMe5M I also live in Utah and it's strange to think that this man was likely already infected, but didn't know it, at the time I dealt with my bat.
meowface 8y ago
Opossums are nearly immune to rabies. Their body temperature is lower than most other mammals', which makes them immune to many diseases that affect mammals like raccoons.

by fiblye 8y ago

enceladus_ice 8y ago

Luckily, it's extremely rare for opossums to contract rabies, so keep snuggling those scary beasts to your heart's content.

bryanrasmussen 8y ago
what's the rate for opossums who get close to humans though?
- braythwayt 8y ago
  This! It's related to the assertion that fewer than 1 in 100 programmers is unable to write "FizzBuz" in the programming language of their choice. The rate may be statistically insignificant amongst all programmers, but what is the rate amongst programmers looking for a job? Different question :-)
  - MRD85 8y ago
    I really struggle with the concept that some programmers cannot write FizzBuzz. I'd expect it from someone who has finished their first programming unit.
    - bryanrasmussen 8y ago
      I've known some programmers that I expect might not be able to write FizzBuzz in the time allotted within an interview, based on how long it has taken them to produce code 5-6 times as verbose as needed given the simplicity of the task at hand.
- tomjen3 8y ago
  As I recall, their defense mechanism is to play dead, and they look cute, so I am going with not unusual.
  - justjash 8y ago
    I think we have very different definitions of cute... However, I have had many more run ins with opossums than bats.

jartelt 8y ago

Bats are tricky because you can often not see the bite marks and it can be hard to tell if you were bitten or not. It is sometime recommended to get the rabies vaccine if you find a bat in your house in the morning after sleeping all night. Same applies if you are camping and a bat gets in your tent.

LinuxBender 8y ago
This also depends where you live and what types of bats live around you. I have little brown bats around my home all the time. They get in my ceiling and sometimes get confused and end up in the house. They will not bite a human unless picked up by one. They eat moths and mosquitoes, which is why I try to avoid hurting them when I release them outside. I just wear gloves and wash everything afterwards.
- fiblye 8y ago
  >They will not bite a human unless picked up by one The scary thing is that's pretty much how you know that an animal is rabid: animals that would avoid people completely will now bite them.
  - LinuxBender 8y ago
    In the case of my little brown bats, they detest being picked up. The screech and scream like it's the end of the world. I usually have to follow them around the house until they get themselves into a corner. The exception to this in my case was a little pup that was scared and confused due to a forest fire outside. The smoke drove it into the house and it only screeched a little bit when I picked it up. It's doing fine now.

pontifier 8y ago

I was also taught to treat animals like this as rabid. When a bat came in my house a few weeks ago, I trapped it in a plastic tub, and took it outside. Here's a video of the release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zwt71GMe5M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zwt71GMe5M I also live in Utah and it's strange to think that this man was likely already infected, but didn't know it, at the time I dealt with my bat.

meowface 8y ago

Opossums are nearly immune to rabies. Their body temperature is lower than most other mammals', which makes them immune to many diseases that affect mammals like raccoons.