May 17

Riverton, Wyo. -- Catching a bat in a school basement and keeping it as a classroom pet is a great way to learn - about rabies.

Two staff members at Trinity Lutheran School are getting a weekslong series of rabies shots after a bat kept in a locked terrarium tested positive for the disease.

On May 9, a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher used a stick and a bucket to capture the bat, which died two days later.

The bat had been displayed in classrooms and students gave it crickets, but the head teacher at the central Wyoming school, said they made sure students did not handle the animal.

State and county health officials on Tuesday interviewed all 95 staff members and students at the school and decided that the teacher and a teaching assistant who cleaned the cage after the bat died needed to be treated as a precaution.

Vaccine was also available in case parents wanted their children to get the roughly $3,500 series of shots.

Rabies is a viral disease most often transmitted through the bite of an infected animal. It attacks the central nervous system and, if untreated, can lead to anxiety, confusion, paralysis, hypersalivation, difficulty swallowing and fear of water. Death usually occurs within a week after symptoms begin.

The disease has been discovered in skunks, raccoons and a horse in that county over the past few years.

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That is scary. You can get bitten by a bat and not even know it. There was a boy near here that died of rabies from a bat his father gave him. He neverknew he had been bitten. By the time the symptoms showe up it was to late for the shots.




Clicky

I remember when I was camping with some relatives and my younger cousins found a bat that couldn't fly and wanted to keep it as a pet. I hacked it up with an axe saying it could have rabies, but truth was I did it cause it creeped me out.

But I seriously hate bats. They are sick looking, they get in peoples hair and they carry rabies.

fear of water?.... what is that?

Fear of water?

That's this:

HYDROPHOBIA! I REMEMBER BACK IN THE DAY, THE THREE STOOGES DOING ONE OF THEIR SHOWS, CURLY KEPT SHOUTING "HYDROPHOBIA" . HOW, EXACTLY, DOES THIS FEAR MANIFEST ITSELF?? AFRAID TO DRINK WATER? BATHE? WASH DISHES???

Well thats a stupid thing to do....totally lacking common sense....capture a bat and keep it as a pet.

Yes, such an intelligent thing for a teacherto do. Maybe they can turn it into a lesson. See kids now you know why you dont catch and keep wild animals as pets. Seriously though poor bat. If they had just chased it outside it would still be alive.

You are a sick and terrible person.
I hope you die a horrible and painfull death.
Bats are just cute little creatures who want to live out their lives without being attacked by axe murderers just because they think they are "creepy" looking.

How about I take an axe and go around chopping up the oldest people I can find just because they can look a bit "creepy". Or how about some one's wrinkly pet dog? Or maybe I should just go around attacking the homeless and poor. Does that sound good to you?

That would answer my question! Thats funny!

you are very cruel person, why dont just leave it ??? i like bat especially giant fruit bat. they are cute.. bit

No, it had rabies. It would have eventually died.

Yeah thats true

But they didnt know it had rabies at the time.
But I suppose their catching it was good, that way it couldnt infect other bats/animals.

Calm down there. No reason to flame me. It was just a rodent, no different than killing a gopher or a mouse.


Chances are if it couldn't fly it was sick.

Well, it's good they caught the bat before it could infect other animals (including people, since people are animals too).
But I'm perturbed by someone who proclaims a hate for any animal. And I'm not a tree-hugging vegetarian, I've just grown mellower in my 52 years.
I used to hunt. I don't have a problem with hunting today. I'd still hunt grouse if any were here in the remote Utah desert.
I don't hate any animal. Animals are merely programmed to do what they do. If a bear attacks a human it's because he's protecting his territory, his or her mate or young 'uns, or out of fear.
But I don't hate bears any more than I would hate a virus for giving me the common cold.
Bats are actually interesting critters, and quite beneficial when you consider how many insects they eat. Now, if I find 100 bats roosting in my closet I'm going to do something about it, that may include killing them as a last resort.
But I'm not going to kill any animal merely because I don't like its looks.
That attitude shows immaturity and a mean streak, if not evil.
As for people, I can hate certain ones for good reason. They have proven their evil or cruelty. In fact, there's more than a few folks I'd like to see get a bullet in the brainpan, to make the world a better place.
But hate an animal because of its looks?
How irrational.

And the only thing I have left that can back that wonderful set of sentences up is this:



Bats are one of the cutest things out there, even the vampire one and their little pug-noses. How one could even bare to chop one up (or anything for that matter) alive is just unthinkable.
(and I suppose I was a bit rash about that, I tend to get that way when I am angry about somehting)

Oh they are so cute.