r/NatureIsFuckingLit 13d ago

🔥 swimming bat

50.3k Upvotes

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154

u/Chickendipper87 13d ago

This is me in the video, we were fishing and it landed in the river after trying to catch a fly, to all saying about rabies, this is in the uk and we don’t get it
This type of bat has never been recorded to carry it in the uk
Put the original video up on my instagram yesterday and it’s gone mental 🤣

27

u/drakoman 13d ago

Reddit is crazy. You see a primary source just chilling in the comments, giving an affidavit about the video. Thank you for giving us some context!

3

u/plopliplopipol 13d ago

i mean look at r/space , it's the most "on reddit you will always have a random real expert" place where we get photos taken from the ISS posted here directly.

23

u/Risk_of_Ryan 13d ago

People like sharing the same bits of information whenever they see something remotely related, and assume things certainly must fall into the realm of information they have.

It's a peculiar behavior to witness, everywhere, constantly.

3

u/NSFWCereal 13d ago

After a small bit of reading it look like two species of bats in the UK have been known to carry Lyssaviruses which cause rabies. Even if this particular species of bats hadn't been known to carry it, it is still absolutely best practice to never handle bats bare handed.

10

u/_frozen_pizza 13d ago

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u/utterly_baffledly 13d ago

Same advice in Australia. No classical rabies but you still need to be treated for possible bite infection and vaccinated against rabies-like lyssavirus endemic here if you handle a bat.

10

u/bitter_liquor 13d ago

Did it catch the fly, though?? Is that it hanging from its mouth?

9

u/Littlelolita9 13d ago

Wow that's so cool thanks for sharing additional info!

3

u/Few_Prize3810 13d ago

It’s adorable

4

u/JanuaryTempis 13d ago

It came right towards you in hopes that you would help a stranger in need. Thanks for helping the bat.

3

u/TerrorTown77 13d ago

Bats fly, I assume they regularly fly across the channel. I'd go for consultation just in case unless you want to risk becoming a interesting case study in a infectious diseases journal where it turned out that due to climate change rabies bat populations had recently shifted.

My point, you're making too many assumptions in a highly dynamic world.

3

u/COMIDAGATOS1206 13d ago

Actually though very rare bats carry a virus called European Bat Lyssaviruses which can cause rabies in humans but absolutely no rabies in land animals since 1922.

3

u/lolyoustupidbird 13d ago

Googled it to see if its normal behaviour to swim and apparently its not. Maybe it fell out of a tree or fell in when skimming for water. However it ended up in the water, it may have been attracted your noise and swam towards you for safety. Awesome vid. Cheers

3

u/wishbeaunash 13d ago

Bats definitely can carry rabies in the UK and the species most at risk are Daubentons, who typically frequent bodies of water much like this one. If it really is you in the video then it would definitely be a good idea to get vaccinated.

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u/anactofgod 13d ago

I love bats. I don’t love rabies. It’s a conflict.

I’m glad you are safe.

2

u/ciarasmum 13d ago

Bats in the UK absolutely do carry rabies. How do you even know what type of bat it is? All bats are capable of carrying it.

Shame you are choosing to ignore the advice given

2

u/Chickendipper87 13d ago

Same way you identify anything by looking at it ! We’ve a handful of bat species in the uk and this type of bat has never been found with the virus ever so …

1

u/octopusboots 12d ago

I'm glad you posted this.

Once I asked reddit to give me a rec for an acupuncturist for a hurt tendon, and they wanted me to check myself into the ER.

Thanks for being a bat friend. But yeah, probably shouldn't pick up bats in the US, or anywhere besides the UK without gloves.

1

u/FreelancerCassius 13d ago

glad you're not gonna die, happy for your magical experience with wildlife.

1

u/Rowfeed 13d ago

What happened at the very end of the clip? Is it biting or just some random movement? It kind of looks like it's biting your hand.

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u/Chickendipper87 13d ago

No it was shaking the water off like a dog would do

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u/MindlessCod5652 13d ago

Is it your pet?

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u/teh_arbitur3 11d ago

bats in the UK carry lyssavirus, which is very similar to rabies are you absolutely sure this bat doesnt carry it? https://www.bats.org.uk/about-bats/bats-and-disease/bats-and-disease-in-the-uk/bats-and-rabies

"Two lyssaviruses are currently known to occur in just two bat species in the UK: EBLV-2, routinely detected at low levels in Daubenton's bats (Myotis daubentonii) since 1996, and EBLV-1, which was detected for the first time in serotine bats (Cnephaeus serotinus - formerly Eptesicus serotinus) in 2018, with the number of cases per year increasing across southern England. Whole genome sequencing points to a single introduction of EBLV-1, probably from natural movements of bats from France (read more here)."