Halloween may still be a few months away, but many Rhode Island residents are already facing a spooky situation: an “unprecedented” bat season.
On social media, officials with the Rhode Island Department of Health recently said that a relatively large number of residents have been exposed to bats this year, and offered tips on how to deal with them inside a home.
About 200 people in Rhode Island have received rabies postexposure prophylaxis recently. This treatment consists of doses of human rabies immune globulin and the rabies vaccine. It is given on the day of exposure to people not previously vaccinated. People who have been exposed must then take vaccine doses three, seven, and 14 days after exposure.
Bats are one of the most commonly reported rabid animals in the country, according to the CDC, and they are the leading cause of rabies deaths in people in the U.S. Rabid bats have been found in 49 states, with only Hawaii being exempt.
Although the idea of rabid animals may evoke images of crazed eyes and foaming at the mouth, it is not possible to tell if a bat has rabies simply by looking at it. Their behavior can offer a clue, as sick bats could be active during the day or found in places they shouldn’t be in homes or on lawns.
It is not clear why Rhode Island is experiencing such a significant amount of bat activity, but the animals are typically more active during this time of the year. Big brown bats and little brown bats are the most common bat varieties found in man-made structures in Rhode Island. They form maternal colonies in late spring, with mothers giving birth and raising their young together. Warm attics are a particularly appealing place for the creatures. Females typically only have one pup per year.
The young bats are born blind during the second week of June in Rhode Island, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Management. Adult females leave their roosts at dusk every night to feed on insects, but return frequently to check on their pups. Between four and six weeks later, the pups start learning how to fly.
In late July, the pups start to go out with their mothers to feed nightly, and later in the summer the mothers and pups begin to leave their warm-weather roosts entirely to find a place to hibernate.
Due to this activity, bats can frequently find themselves in close contact with humans during the late summer. The fangs of a bat can be so small that people can be bitten without realizing it.
Rhode Island officials offered instructions on how to deal with a bat in the home:
Residents who find a bat in their home and do not know if they were exposed to rabies should close all windows and doors, leaving the bat where it is found. They should don protective eyewear, heavy gloves, and long sleeves, as bats should not be handled with bare hands.
Residents should not chase bats. Instead, they should wait until it lands and place a small container over it. Ideally, the container should be transparent. They should then slip a piece of cardboard or the lid of the container underneath, trapping the animal. Residents should then flip the container over, being careful not to release the animal. It should not be airtight, and small holes should be made for ventilation, if possible.
Rhode Island residents should then call the state’s Rabies Hotline at 401-222-2577 for testing instructions.
Massachusetts officials also say that, if residents are sure they have not been exposed to the bat, they can simply seal off the room it is found in. If a window is left open and lights are dimmed, the bat should want to fly out on its own as long as the weather is not too cold.
The bat populations of New England have been devastated by a condition known as white-nose syndrome, which was first observed in a cave near Albany, N.Y. in February 2006. This disease is caused by a fungus that is thought to have come from Europe. Infected bats look like they have a white powdery substance on their faces, forearms, and wings. The fungus disrupts the metabolism of bats, causing them to lose vital fat reserves that help them last through the winter.
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