Dead Bats

Please, for all the bats’ sakes, before you think of touching an injured bat or a bat in or around your house, get and wear GLOVES!

The treatment isn’t traumatic like the old days, just an injection of immunoglobulin, a vaccination & then re-vaccination at 3,7 & 14 days.

Recently some lovely caring Denmanites rescued a bat – they are now getting the rabies vaccinations.   The bat died and will be sent for rabies testing.

A very tiny percentage of bats have rabies, but ANY wild mammal that has possibly spent time on mainland North America could have rabies. Bats found in the day are not behaving normally. They may just have got trapped inside a house or be sleeping in what they thought was a good crevice BUT it is wise to Think Rabies First and be prepared if you consider handling wildlife.

Dead bats are important to Science!  Most bats found-dead are sent to the Provincial Animal Lab in Abbotsford.  Bat autopsies reveal important information about diseases affecting BC’s bat populations.  From Nov 1 to the end of May, dead bats are sampled for White Nose Disease.  This disease, caused by a fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is responsible for wiping out bats all across North America.  Information on White Nose will be constantly updated on the web.

Bats have their own set of diseases just like other animals.  As we sample dead bats we may begin to learn what affects them.  Outside the “White Nose sampling window”, the government is particularly concerned with dead bats if:

• More than 2 bats are found dead.
• Dead bats are found associated with a bat house.
• The dead bat is an unusual species.
• If the dead bat is in really good condition and may be of interest to the Royal BC Museum

Other dead bats we will collect, and store frozen in case they are of interest at a later date.

Contact the Denman Bat Project dhbatproject@gmail.com to pick up any bats injured or found dead.