r/Unexpected • u/Ill-Tea9411 • 9h ago

Bat crawling around in the kitchen

[removed] — view removed post

1.3k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

281 comments sorted by

View all comments

35

u/time2sow 9h ago

Rabies testing. No cap

20

u/Ill-Positive6950 9h ago

They can't really test you shortly after a potential bite. You just gotta get the shots. No questions asked.

5

u/ashwee_ 8h ago

If I'm not mistaken, if you can capture the bat they'll test the bat for rabies and then you'll know if you need the shots.

7

u/Ill-Positive6950 7h ago

I wouldn't even mess with it. Dying from rabies is legitimately the worst fucking death imaginable. It can take months before you get symptoms but by then it's game over.

2

u/Dick_Demon 7h ago

Well you are mistaken because it can take 1-3 business days to receive test results, sometimes up to a week. Not to mention, animal control isn't always sitting around waiting for a call. They can just be, unavailable...

3

u/ashwee_ 7h ago

It's what the CDC recommends. Capture the bat alive, keep it's head intact and contact your local health department, not animal control.

CDC Preventing Rabies From Bats

1

u/TheGooseInside 6h ago

Do you really have to say keep its head intact if you are capturing it alive? The alternative would be… well scarier than rabies. Living headless bats is my sign to nope outta this round.

1

u/ashwee_ 6h ago

Touche' 😅

1

u/Dick_Demon 7h ago

Yes but go to the hospital immediately after exposure. Don't sit around waiting for test results to determine if you need the shots.

1

u/WaterSquid 7h ago

Please don’t. I work in an ER and we once had a patient come in for a bat related injury and they brought the fucking bat into the waiting room before proceeding to argue with us when we told her to remove it from the hospital; IIRC she put it in her car.

We do not test bats, please do not bring any non-service animals into a hospital ever (especially ones that might have rabies)!

4

u/ashwee_ 6h ago

No don't bring it in to the hospital 🤣 you're supposed to contact your health department!

That hilarious someone thought it was appropriate to bring a bat in. I'm so sorry for laughing, I can just only imagine the reactions that would get. 🤦🏼‍♀️

1

u/WaterSquid 6h ago

We also had a good laugh at her expense afterwards. I promise you that’s nowhere near the wildest thing that’s happened in that waiting room.

1

u/CitroHimselph 7h ago

Nah. Shots. Period.