Handle With Care - Big Brown Bat - WILLIAM WISE PHOTOGRAPHY

Handle with Care...

1/9/2018

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the wonders of God’s creation. Deuteronomy 15:10-11 The way you handle matters like this triggers God’s blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures.

Note: When I first posted this specimen, I believed it to be a Little Brown Bat, Myotis lucifugus. But the concensus on iNaturalist is that the correct identification is Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/17865393

Brown Bat teeth and fangs, Georgia USA Picture

Brown Bat picked up by animal control for rabies fear. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia. Little Brown Bat, Myotis lucifugus, and Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus, are common bats of North America.

Tuesday, 11:34 AM – Working with animal control gives me front row seats to some great critter encounters. On January 8, a resident of Davis Street in Monroe, Georgia called 911 when she found a bat in her bathroom sink. Upon arrival, the officer found the bat just where the caller said. It apparently couldn’t fly and was unsuccessfully trying to climb up the porcelain walls to freedom. Knowing I love this kind of stuff, the officer brought the bat back to the office.

The following day took this Brown Bat out for a photo shoot. He was quite alert and spunky, constantly baring his teeth and making those high-pitched squeaks typical of bats. He didn’t appear ill, but didn’t try to fly off. Using the 40 MM macro lens, some very sharp teeth were revealed in the photos.

Brown Bat teeth and fangs, Georgia Picture

Big Brown Bat picked up by animal control for rabies fear. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia. Little Brown Bat, Myotis lucifugus, and Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus, are common bats of North America.

Just six days later, another bat story made national news. A 6-year-old boy in Orlando, Florida died shortly after being scratched or bitten by a bat. His father had reportedly found the bat and placed it in a bucket. Although he was warned not to, the child reached in and was bitten or scratched. Unfortunately, the boy was not taken for rabies post-exposure treatment until it was too late and he succumbed to the fatal virus.

Over my twenty years in animal control, we have sent many bats for rabies testing. The percentage that come back positive has been very low. So I was shocked to read this story. Of course, I used Kevlar lined gloves during my bat photo session, but perhaps I should have been just a little more cautious. Sometimes we can get a little too comfortable with the familiar.