Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Encounter with a Bat (the flying mammal, not the sports equipment)

 My husband and I spent a wonderful week in Santa Fe, going to concerts, eating delicious food, and hanging out with two new friends. We flew back to Chicago on Sunday and almost immediately got a message from our son, who lives a few miles from us with his wife and preschooler son.

"A bat got into our apartment and we all had to get rabies shots. We feel awful. Can you buy us some food?"

No, none of them got bitten by the bat, thank God. Ben caught the bat in a towel and threw it outside. Animal Control then informed him that you are supposed to trap the bat and call animal control, who will come get the bat and test it for rabies (killing the bat in the process).

It was obviously too late for that, so all three of them had to get rabies shots. That was not fun. Our local hospital only had two shots in house and had to send for another from a different hospital. So, as is often the case, they spent several hours in the ER waiting for more shots to arrive. Really not fun with a three year old.

 Ben did save the bat's life, though, and when they aren't flying around in your apartment, they are a valuable part of nature, eating lots of mosquitos.