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Bats definitely have rabies
🕑 Added 2025-07-31 01:36:47 +0000 UTCI attended a lecture about bats tonight at my local public library.
Sorry, SORRY! I should have advised those of you with heart conditions and the elderly to please be seated before I dropped such thrilling, shocking news.
Anyway, the bat enthusiast giving the lecture confirmed that yes, bats DO have rabies, and that if you encounter a sick bat you should absolutely go and get a preventative rabies vaccine and that everyone who works with bats gets this as well. He presented the figure that only 6% of bats have rabies as if this was a low, comforting figure. Imagine if six percent of the dogs you encountered had rabies. You'd never leave the house.
He also confirmed that the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat of Austin, TX fame has started being sighted in Virginia in recent years. It is rare, so I choose to believe it is just Keonig and Lamar scouting locations and reporting back to the rest of the group.
There was time for audience questions, but I did not want to ask if he'd read Bridge to Bat City, mainly because I enjoy library access and didn't want it revoked if anyone over heard me. After the talk, he led us on a bat walk using a microphone device he repeatedly referred to as a 'rig'.
So there you have it, just to let you know how much doing this podcast has poisoned the well of even the most mundane daily encounters I have.
Rig pic:
Comments
John
I didn’t know where else to share this… but I _must_ share this: https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/08/bat-colony-checks-in-to-hotel-200-guests-check-out-unaware-of-rabies-scare/
S6P
I was just out at the Leesburg library last weekend. We went on a regional library tour to pick up as many library cards as possible. As long as we’re sharing fascinating anecdotes about library trips!
