While my husband was telling our son a bedtime story, he looked up and did a double take. We had a brown bat in the bedroom. We calmly exited the room, and called animal control. We wanted to release the bat, but since we had a small child in the house and a cat, we were told that the bat had to be tested for rabies. In the last two weeks, eight bats were found in homes in South Orange and Maplewood, NJ. One in Maplewood came back positive.
A few days later, we got a call, and were told the bat tested positive, and that we were the first family living in South Orange to have a rabid bat in our house. I really didn’t believe it. I also didn’t want to go for rabies shots.
First, I took our cat to the vet for a rabies shot. Then it was our turn. Steven and I picked Jordon up from camp, and told him we needed to head to the emergency room.
In addition to a tetanus shot, Jordon and I had to get three rabies shots–one in the arm and two in each butt cheek. Steven had to get two additional shots in his thighs because of his size. The bigger you are, the more vaccine you need.
That marked day zero. Three days later we went back to the hospital for one additional shot. Tonight, we each get one more shot. And on day 14, we get our last shot.
We felt so bad for Jordon, we let him eat dessert for dinner. He ordered an ice cream Sundae.
Bats and Bites
Rabies, a viral disease that affects the central nervous system, can be passed to humans via the bite of a rabid animal, its salvia, or feces. As a rule, bats don’t bite people. They prefer to eat insects and fruit. Chances of infection are slim, but it’s wise being cautious.
Story by Michele C. Hollow. Hollow lives in South Orange and writes the blog Pet News and Views, which focuses on the positive side of animal welfare and the people who work with and for animals.
Bat drawing credit: 1904 drawing by Ernst Haeckel
Note to bats: Stay within the boundaries of North Baristaville.
Too late Nellie. My friend in Glen Ridge had one in her house a couple of weeks ago.
I’ve heard that even being brushed by a rabid bat can transfer the disease. Do you remember the case, either last year or the year before, of a boy in Texas who somehow survived a case of it? A bat came in the window while he was taking a nap and evidently brushed against him slightly, and he became deathly ill.
Kids need to be warned not to touch sick or dead animals they find, in case they are rabid.
My biggest phobias are bats and rats. You would have to peel me off the ceiling if either one made an appearance in my house.
Can you guys send the bats to the Watsessing Heights area? Two of my neighbors have bat houses set up and nary a bat has come. The mosquitos are bad and we need some bats to eat them.
We installed a bat house, too, but no bats have taken up residence. The mosquitoes have moved in en masse, though.
The bat population has actually been dramatically decreasing over the past two years due to white-nose syndrome. Thus, the insect population, notably mosquitoes, are seeing an increase.
Nonetheless, their endangered state certainly wouldn’t endear me to one should it, god forbid, ever enter my home.
Bats are to be expected in NJ. One of America’s very largest, most prized by scientists (and according to them bats are our pals) bat caves is in nearby Rockaway. Apparently, until a special sort of grate was put in it some years ago, it was very popular for folks to gather there at dusk to gawk as the bats departed on their evening rounds.
The one truly interesting point to this story is curiously left unanswered, however. Namely, how the devil did a bat get in the child’s room? Haven’t folks heard of window screens (and their maintenance) in South Orange?
No bats in our house, just lots and lots and lots of ants, the small ones. Tried all sorts of things but we can’t seem to get rid of them. I hate to have the chemicals in the house but it’s time for an extermnator. Any suggestions?
I heard that an old remedy for red ants was to put sage in the afflicted rooms. Don’t know if it will work for non-red ants…but at least it’s natural.
Re ants:
Try salt or talc. Do you know where and how they’re getting in? IF you do, concentrate on those areas. Don’t leave uneaten pet food around.
State, I had the same problem in the spring and just put some of those awful little black ant traps near the kitchen door, and hidden from view on the counter, and in the pantry near that door. It worked. Wipe down the countertops as much as possible. They come in for food so make sure there isn’t even a grain of sugar anywhere.
Thanks Cuppa, we hadn’t tried that one. We’ve used baby powder, which goes a long way toward discouraging them, but they simply find another place to go. We’ve also tried lavendar and peppermint oil, which again works for a short time, but only moves them to another location. I’ve also tried the standard ant spray. It works for a longer period, but not effective enough to keep using it and exposing us all to it over and over.
It seems they got themselves established around the foundation, as they have for all our nearby neighbors. The best thing so far has been the organic ant killer sold at Home Depot that you use with the hose. It has killed or knocked them back, but I can’t seem to get every place from outside, like the crawlspace/foundation on an addition. So now they stage their attacks from there.
I read in a home remedy book that you can sprinkle crushed red pepper around areas they are known to enter the home. Evidently ants walking on the pepper is similar to humans walking across a hot parking lot.
boric acid powder used to work beautifully for cockroaches in city apartments. do you think that would work well for ants as well?
Pete, I believe it has to be GREEN sage…the sage I know and love is usually green, but maybe there are different types/colors out there that I don’t know of. Also, please keep in mind that this sage thing is only hearsay; I haven’t tried it myself. But, I hope it works for you!
Good luck.
Thanks everyone! We couldn’t keep up with all the places they were getting in. We’d get one area and they would just find another place to come in. I’ve been very busy with the caulking gun, but it’s like the boy with his finger in the dike. The black traps made a dent but didn’t get all of them. We’ve heard TAP brand ant traps work well so I’ll be getting some of those.
Fran, apparently boric acid does work for ants so I’ll give it a try. Thanks!!!
I’ve learned that every ant leaves a chemical trail wherever it goes. When one comes back with food the other ants will follow that ant’s scent trail all the way to the food source. So when we find a trail we wash the area with citrus cleaner, whcih kills the ants and destroys the trail.
Wow, rabies shots have changed in the last 15 year.
When I was 16, I was attacked by a dog and had to get six “deep abdomen injections” (read: REALLY long needles in the gut) one after another.
Fortunately(?) I was also on a lot of pain killers at the time since my left arm required a bunch of stitches where the dog did most of its damage.
Pete:
We tried every natural solution buit none worked. Finally this spring we called Terminix and they sprayed around the house and haven’t seen one ant. Once your under contract they will come out (for free) for other thing such as bees or rodents.
What! Just by being brushed??!!
Hm. hafta look this up….
OK: from the CDC website:
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/contact/index.html
“If you are bitten by a bat — or if infectious material (such as saliva or brain material if it is killed) from a bat gets into your eyes, nose, mouth, or a wound — wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water and get medical advice immediately. Whenever possible, the bat should be captured and sent to a laboratory for rabies testing.
People can’t get rabies just from seeing a bat in an attic, in a cave, at summer camp, or from a distance while it is flying. In addition, people can’t get rabies from having contact with bat guano (feces), blood, or urine, or from touching a bat on its fur.”
OK, now I feel a little bit better. I am sorry your little guy had to go thru that!
Scuba, thanks! What does that run if you don’t mind me asking? How long is the commitment? I have the feeling that we’ll eventually go down that road.
Kay, I was wondering about that. If I were in the situation above I don’t think I would have done the shots just from having one bat show up in the house. I’d be curious to know if the shots were recommended by their doctor, animal control, or just them making sure they were safe.
I had to go through a series of rabies shots a few years ago. A stray cat had gotten into the house via a broken basement window. I finally cornered it and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck to immobilize it. This sounded good in theory, but in practice, not so good. The cat scratched and bit my hand and wrist, tore my shirt, scratched my ankle, and for good measure, peed on me. The ER doctor had to inject the vaccine into and around the cuts on my hand and wrist. I had to follow up with two more rounds at my family doctor’s.
I had to go through a series of rabies shots a few years ago. A stray cat had gotten into the house via a broken basement window. I finally cornered it and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck to immobilize it. This sounded good in theory, but in practice, not so good. The cat scratched and bit my hand and wrist, tore my shirt, scratched my ankle, and for good measure, peed on me. The ER doctor had to inject the vaccine into and around the cuts on my hand and wrist. I had to follow up with two more rounds at my family doctor’s.
State Street~ I also had the annoying little ants in my home. Because we have cats, we could not spray in the home. However, I would spray outside the front door. I tried using salt and baking soda in the house, as that is safe for animals. It worked for a little while, but would still come back. We finally hired an exterminator, who is going to spray 2 times a year outside the house, and so far no more ants or other bugs in the house. You may want to hire an exterminator.
As for bats, I would totally FREAK out if there was a bat in my house and I told my husband I would sell the house immediately if there was a bat in the house!!
State St. – I get the ant problem every year. I’ve tried the talcum powder, the cayenne pepper, vinegar. None of it really works for very long. I have found one of those little, plastic ant baits that works very well and now I use them every year, starting around June. And they have worked for all different types of ants. Apparently, the ants walk thru it and carry poison back to the nest .
They are made by RAID and they’re called “extra strength” or something like that. It is 2 kinds of bait encased in a little black plastic disc. The “regular” ones don’t work but the more powerful ones have always done the trick for me.
Good luck!
Just had a bat in our bedroom one week ago. It was black. We just had our second series of rabies vaccinations last night. A friend lives one town over, in a condo, and also had a bat. I’d never seen one before, never mind know they were even in our area!
SSP-try sweet and low. They carry it back to the nest and it paralyzes them. I swear by it. Use it around your foundation first and then use a small water bottle cap with some in it and leave it where you see them. 2-3 days max…all gone. You may have to repeat it if it rains. The rain draws them inside.
They almost always recommend the rabies series for a bat in the house. A bat bite during deep sleep can go undetected, especially on a small child who can’t verbalize their feelings or experiences. I had the series in June, after being bit by a dog. They were hard to find, as doctors don’t nomally stock them. They are also quite expensive. I have insurance, but the hospital bill would have been 8k, and that’s only for the immunoglobulin and the first vaccinne, plus a tetanus. There were three other vaccinnes after. Since rabies is FATAL, it’s better to be safe then sorry after a potential exposure. The vaccinne is practically 100% effective when given in good time (even for post exposure) and there are little to no side effects.
Pete – I think those ants are common in our area. Us, and all our neighbors had them (we’re in the Brookdale Park area). We were told they’e called sidewalk ants (not very realistic though since they seem to like the inside of the house just as much as the sidewalks!!!!!)… luckily ours never got into (or cared about) our food. When ants attack pantries, it’s disgusting! But we did have them for several yrs & tried everything everyone has mentioned on here. I had 2 babies & a cat & a dog, so we really didn’t want anything toxic around, even outside. But none of those other remedies worked for us. SOmetimes the ants would slow down, but still be around. We tried all the natural remedies, plus every product sold by Home Depot. Then we even tried Terminex, who couldn’t get rid of them. And even though Terminex says they’ll keep coming back, good luck trying to get them to – we had terrible service from them. So we finally got a name of an exterminator from a local friend in Glen Ridge, who had the same ant problem. And we had him come out 2 yrs ago & just spray the outside perimeter (I wouldn’t let him inside even though he claimed his spray was safe, just because of my kids & pets)… Well, within 2 wks of him spraying, the ants dissappeared. I mean gone. And I have to tell you, besides an occassional stray one, they were gone. Then just this spring (2 yrs after the initial spraying), we started to see a couple lines of them coming in the house again, so we called him back, he sprayed once & they’ve been gone since. I don’t know what he uses, but it works! And he was cheap – somewhere btwn $150-200 I think, and he said he’d come back for free if we needed him to (but we never did – one spraying did the trick). If you want his name, I’ll get it for you from my husband… let me know. Good luck with the ants though- I know how annoying they are!!!!!
Cathar, bats can collapse their rib cages and slip thru aluminum double hung storms easy as pie.
We had bats in our apt. in Montclair from time to time. We called them Betty & Barney.
We knew they were there in the middle of the night when we heard our cats jumping around! I would knock them out of the air from behind, catch them with a glove and throw them out the window.
They also got into our attic by slipping under the asbestos shingle siding. I would climb up the ladder during the day looking for guano stains then fill the gap at night with a caulking gun while they were out feeding. those were the days!
State Street,
Adding to the suggestions. A few months ago my Mother had the “Annoying Ants” problem. Wherever the ants were, she would wipe the area down with white vinegar and also place some fresh basil (cabinets, closets & etc). She says the ants packed up and did an “Elvis has left the building!” The staycation was interrupted. Whatever you decide to do, good luck.
“Scuba, thanks! What does that run if you don’t mind me asking? How long is the commitment? I have the feeling that we’ll eventually go down that road.”
I believe we paid around $100 for the initial 3 month contract. The second 3 month contract was around $90. Well worth it though. In addition to the ants, they came out and put rat bait stations in the yard. My daughter thought she saw one but I’m guessing it was a possum.
Cathar-
After we found ours, and I did some research, bats need less than an inch to get in anywhere. Trust me-I’d never invite a bat in my house.
Can’t wait to get the insurance bill for our vaccinations. Should be fun.
Thanks a lot for all the help on the ants! I appreciate folks taking the time.
The organic hose spray stuff seems to have killed off the ants around the foundation, but they hung on in two crawl spaces I can’t access and would come in through interior wall. A few days ago I caulked all the open cracks around the floors, the door frame, and corner mouldings in the affected area. We have not seen an ant in five days!!! We did hear a faint squeaky voice last night that sounded like Woody Allen hailing a cab but we’re not letting our guard down yet.
I’ll be following with bait traps again and another spray application outside. I’ll keep the Sweet & Low and the exterminator as my final options