Eagle County is on the lookout for rabid bats

VA IL» With winter looming, bats in Eagle County are starting to go into hibernation for the fall and winter, and while Colorado has plenty of natural places for the flying critters to call home, now is the time of year that bats might start looking at your home.

“At this time of year, we often see a spike in our calls for bats in weird places like on sidewalks, popping into living rooms,” said Daniel Newbaum, regional bat expert with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Bats consume thousands of tons of nightflying insects annually and are beneficial to a healthy ecosystem.

Newbaum said bats showing up near humans are usually just young, naive fliers still learning how to navigate, although as mammals, bats can carry the rabies virus. Rabies can infect any mammal and is transmitted through saliva. Rabies in bats is very rare, but it’s taken very seriously because it’s fatal to humans.

While being in the vicinity of a bat without contact is not a risk, bat teeth are small and bites can go unnoticed. Contact with bats can happen in areas of sleeping adults, unattended children or unvaccinated pets.

Rebecca Larson, deputy director of Eagle County Public Health, says there’s about one or two rabid bats found in Eagle County each year. This year, there was one discovered in August.

To protect yourself and your pets, tips to avoid exposure to bats include:

• Never touch a bat, or any other wild animal, with bare hands. Teach kids to leave animals they encounter alone.

• Keep doors and windows covered with screens to keep bats out of your home. If you have bats in your home, try to find the source of their entry and seal it. Bats can get into small crevices.

• If you are bitten by a bat or if you suspect you have been exposed to its saliva, safely contain the bat in a cardboard box without touching it and contact Eagle County Animal Services at 9703283647 so the bat can be tested for rabies. If there is no possibility of contact, open a door or window and let the bat fly out.

• Vaccinate your pets against rabies.

Treatment for rabies is effective, but it’s not fun.

“Four shots in two weeks is never fun,” Larson said. “They can be really expensive too.”

Bats across the U.S. are being decimated by whitenose syndrome, starting on the East Coast in 2006 and now in states surrounding Colorado.