Bats - Friend or Foe?

After moving to a new home in rural Thurston County, I noticed several bats roosting above my porch! At first, I was alarmed. Should I call a pest management company? What should I do if a bat enters my home? Aren’t bats dangerous? However, after researching bats, I have learned that they are incredibly beneficial to humans and the advantages of having them around outweigh any problems that you might have with them. Learn more about bats and how you can coexist with such unique creatures by following the tips below.

 Bats: Insect eating machines

            Bats are incredibly valuable animals. They keep your neighborhood ecosystem in balance by feeding on flying insects, like mosquitoes! In fact, a female brown bat can consume her body weight in insects each night during the summer. How do bats locate flying insects so quickly? They use echolocation, which is the process of bats producing high-pitched sound waves that bounce back to the bat when the sound waves reach a flying insect. Bats will then capture insects by scooping them into their tail or wing, and then put the insect into their mouth. You can thank bats for keeping flying insect populations in check.

Keeping your loved ones safe

            While bats keep insects at bay, some bats in the wild carry rabies, a fatal viral disease that affects the central nervous system. Mammals (that includes you, your pet, livestock and wild animals) can be infected by rabies if bitten by a rabid bat, which can spread to others through the transmission of saliva. The most common way the rabies virus is transmitted is through the bite and virus-containing saliva of an infected host.   Human rabies is rare in the United States. Since 1990, the number of reported cases in the US has been one to seven annually. In the past twenty years, there have only been two reported human deaths from rabies in the state of Washington and they were both infected by bats. However, less than 1% of bats in the wild have rabies.

To minimize the risk of rabies exposure, do not handle any wild animals. If a wild animal does bite you, clean the site of the bite with soap and water. Contact your health care provider and Thurston County Public Health (or your local health department if you live outside of the county) to determine the potential for rabies exposure, the need for treatment and to decide whether or not to test the animal for rabies. You can reduce the risk of rabies exposure for children and pets too. Teach your children to never touch or handle wild animals, including dead animals. You can protect your pets by having them routinely vaccinated, which is now required in the state of Washington.

Follow these steps if you ever find a bat inside your home:

• Do not touch the bat.
• If children or pets are in the same room as the bat, move them into a different room away from the bat.
• Close the doors and windows and wait for the bat to land on the floor or a wall. 
• Be sure to wear leather or thick gloves and capture the bat in a box without touching it. 
• Seal the box or container and call Thurston County Public Health (or your local health department) to determine if any people or pets have been exposed and arrange to test the bat for rabies, if needed.

Bat-proof your home

There are many common entry points used by bats to enter a home. The safest way to reduce exposure to bats is to exclude them from your home. If you have an older home, there may be more points of entry for a bat to enter. There are several methods of safely excluding bats, but if there are large numbers of bats roosting in an attic or another area, it is safer for you to hire a professional to do the work. Never trap flightless bats inside a structure. It is cruel to trap the bats inside and can create a serious odor problem.                                            

Bats need our help

Bat populations across North America are in danger. White-nose syndrome, a disease caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus, has killed over six million bats since 2006. This disease was contained to eastern North America for several years, but the first case of white-nose syndrome was confirmed in North Bend, Washington in March 2016. While humans cannot catch white-nose syndrome, it is deadly to bats that catch it. There are several ways we can help reduce the spread of white-nose syndrome so our local bat populations do not suffer. 

By educating yourself on bats and keeping children and pets away from bats, along with bat-proofing your home, bats and humans can coexist. If you would like to learn more about reducing human exposure to bats, bat-proofing your home and white-nose syndrome, please read the resources below.

Reduce your exposure to rabies: http://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/IllnessandDisease/Rabies

Living with wildlife - bats: http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/bats.html

White-nose syndrome: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/white-nose_syndrome/

World Rabies Day

Rabies is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when people think of public health issues. In the United States the threat of the disease has been greatly reduced over the years due to successful public health efforts. However, it is by no means eradicated. Each year about 40,000 Americans receive post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) shots because of possible rabies exposure, and one or two people will die from the disease. Altogether, the disease costs $300 million annually in this country. The good news is that it is entirely preventable and progress is being made each year. World Rabies Day was created in 2007 to draw attention both to the danger of rabies and the progress that has been made in bringing it under control in the United States and around the globe.

In 2013 there was a 4.8% decrease in rabies cases from the previous year and canine rabies has been almost entirely eradicated in the United States. Domestic animals now make up only eight percent of all cases nationwide. Cats are actually the greatest domestic animal threat, making up 53% of all domestic animal cases. Responsible pet owners can continue to help make that number drop by taking a few simple steps to keep their pets safe and healthy.

• Bring your dog or cat to a veterinarian each year to be sure they are up-to-date on their rabies vaccination. Dogs and cats that have potentially been exposed to rabies and are not up-to-date on their vaccination will need to be quarantined for six months or put down, so please vaccinate your pet!

• If your pet is not spayed or neutered, consider doing so. Spaying and neutering helps to reduce the number of stray dogs and cats, which are at high risk of contracting and spreading rabies.

Besides protecting your pets, take steps to protect yourself and your family too. If you have children, teach them to never handle wild or unfamiliar animals, even if the animal looks friendly. Keep food or water inside for your pets since the food and water kept outside could attract wild animals in your area. Always keep your garbage can securely covered as well. The best way to protect yourself might also be the most obvious – stay away from unfamiliar animals, including dogs and cats that you do not know, and do not attempt to feed, pet, or pick them up.

The vast majority of rabies cases involve wildlife, with raccoons, bats, skunks, and foxes being the primary culprits. In Washington, bats have been the only wild animal to carry rabies since the 1920s. Bats are very beneficial to us because they eat many insects. But bats can be a hazard when they mistakenly end up in our homes. If you have a bat in your house, do your best to safely capture or contain it and call your local public health department; we may want to test the bat to make sure you or your family were not exposed to rabies.

Outside of Washington, bats and skunks are responsible for most rabies cases. Many different types of animals can be infected, however, and if you encounter any animal acting strangely or displaying any of the following signs of possible rabies infection, please contact animal control as soon as possible.

• General sickly appearance
• Significant saliva or drooling
• Problems swallowing
• Difficulty moving or paralysis
• Biting at everything
• Appearing more tame than you would expect

When traveling, especially internationally, take any animal bite very seriously and seek medical attention. Talk with your health care provider about travel-related vaccinations before you leave and see if rabies vaccine would be advised.

Together, public health professionals, veterinarians, and YOU can continue to take steps to reduce the threat of rabies and keep ourselves, our pets, and our families healthy and safe!

Keep out unwanted visitors this winter

It’s that time of year where those pesky, unwanted visitors like to make themselves comfortable in your home. No, not the friends or family members who tend to wear out their welcome. Rodents. Now that it is getting cold, rodents will start to look for warmth. There is a lot we can do to prevent a rodent problem in our homes.

Screen them out.

• Regularly check your home for cracks or openings larger than ¼ inch. Anything bigger than that, a mouse can get through. Check around foundation, in attics, around windows, and where pipes or wires enter the building. Repair small cracks and holes with wire mesh and spray foam insulation.

• Look underneath sinks and around plumbing. Seal holes with items available at local hardware stores such as metal pipe collars and metal mesh that has less  than ¼ inch openings.

• Rodents can also get in from underneath doors, so make sure spaces under doors are less than ¼ inch as well.

Don’t invite them to dinner.

• Keep food stored away in glass, metal tins, or hard plastic. They can chew through cardboard, plastic bags and cloth. Put food away every night and wipe up the counters. This is especially important if you know you have a mouse or two as current roommates.

• Pet food can attract rodents. Bring any outdoor pet food dishes in and put the food away at night. Store it in glass, metal tins, or hard plastic.

• Don’t feed the birds. If you feed the birds, you will likely be feeding some rodents too.

It’s your home, not their habitat.

• Keep bushes around the home trimmed up and away from the sides of the building. If there are places to hide right next to your home, rodents can make themselves comfortable in them. From their hiding spots, they can look for ways to invite themselves inside.

• It may be convenient to have firewood stacked up right outside the door, but it is also a convenient little home for rodents. Find another covered area to store firewood.

If you see rodents signs (droppings, holes), take action.

• The longer rodents are allowed to settle into your home or shed, the more damage they will do and the more time and money it will take to clear them back out.

For more information on rodents, check out the US Centers for Disease Control site at: http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/

There's a Mouse in my House! A firsthand account of rodent infestation

By: Elisa Sparkman, Education & Outreach Specialist

I want to share my own experience about mice in my home. But first, let me give you tips on how to keep my experience from happening to you.

Tips for Rodent Prevention

• Seal openings larger than one quarter of an inch using rodent-resistant materials such as wire mesh, concrete, sheet metal, brick, or mortar. Some spray expanding foam may work for really small openings.
• Check your home for cracks and openings. These are likely to occur around the foundation, attic, vents, or places where pipes or cables enter the building.
•  Keep the space under doors less than ¼ of an inch and cover the edges of doors to prevent gnawing.
•  Keep food, including pet food and bird seed, in rodent-proof containers. Do not leave pet food out over night.
•  If you have rodent problems, don’t feed the birds.
•  Rodents love insulation for nesting. Cover or remove fiberglass insulation from areas accessible to rodents.
• Keep shrubs and other vegetation two to three feet away from building walls and keep them trimmed.
• Avoid stacking firewood or other materials against building walls. Rodents and insects find them very appealing.

I was never really afraid of mice. That is, until I was traumatized by a complete infestation. Once upon a time, before I worked for Thurston County Public Health, I had come back to Olympia from working a year in the mountains after college. It was late winter and my mother and I started to pick up on the telltale signs that we had mice in the house.

• The scampering sound on the wood floors and in the walls at night.
• My cat would stare at the bottom of the kitchen counters for hours. She was on “mouse watch.” (She never caught any.)
• We started finding mouse droppings in drawers.

And then the worst sign of all: lentils. Yes, lentils. We started finding dried lentils in drawers and closets. This meant they had chewed through a bag of dried lentils in our pantry and were taking them back to their nest… wherever that was.

We knew we had a problem and needed to get some traps. While we debated what type of trap to use, how many to get, and who would do the trapping, our problem got worse. The mice were no longer invisible creatures leaving traces of their existence. One morning I opened the pantry and for a box of cereal, and mouse jumped out at me. Naturally, I screamed and ran. Another morning, while brushing my teeth, one squeezed out from the tiniest hole at the bottom of the bathroom cabinet! My screams forced it right back into the hole.

I came home one day to find the vacuum out on the front porch and I asked my mom why it was left outside. She answered, “I accidentally vacuumed up a live mouse and it’s still in there.” Guess who had to take the vacuum apart to get it out? 

That was it. We really needed traps. But I didn’t want to kill the little creatures. When they’re not jumping out at you from the pantry, they are kind of cute. So I got live traps. The problem was, my mom and I were too wimpy to pick up the traps with our bare hands after mice were trapped. I decided that I could live with myself if we killed a few of them.

Photo of the lentils that the mice had hoarded

We got down to business with real snap traps. And we started going through and cleaning every closet, every drawer… until the nest was found. I wasn’t home (thank goodness) when my mom and her friend found the nest in a box full of old clothes inside a coat closet that we rarely used. About four mice had scampered out of the box. I arrived home to find the box on the back porch and two big piles of dried lentils. I couldn’t believe how many lentils the mice had hoarded! We continued to go through every room, closet and cupboard to clean up after the mice and we continued to find scattered lentils. We got the house sealed up by professionals and they installed more traps to get the last of them. 

Mice can fit through holes as small as ¼ inch! They can spread disease, destroy things in your home, and chew through electrical wires. Although my story may be humorous and I can look back and laugh now… we are lucky to have had minimal damage and that my mom and I remained healthy throughout the ordeal.

It’s been awhile since that dreadful experience. My husband and I live in a new house and we follow the precautions listed above. My old cat that couldn’t catch a mouse if you dangled it in front of her has passed away and now we have three active young cats that keep the outdoor rodent population down. And I have not bought or cooked lentils since.

For more information visit Thurston County Environmental Health's website on Rodents, Bats, Insects, and other Vectors.