Tag Archives: bats

How to capture a bat and avoid getting rabies

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, Pets/Animals, , ,

By Jodi Miesen
WKTV Contributor

To date, the Kent County Health Department has received and tested double the number of bats than it did in 2021, which has local officials reminding residents about the dangers of bats and rabies.

The Kent County Health Department has received and tested 82 bats so far this season. (Courtesy, Kent County Health Department)

August through October are the busiest months for the department’s bat program as the mammals moved indoors to breed. The latest count for this year stands at 82 bats. In 2021, the department saw 41 bats which was about 20 less than 2020, which was 61.

Steve Kelso, a spokesperson for the Kent County Health Department, said county officials are not sure if the increase means there actually has been an uptick in numbers.

 

“It may just mean that people are more aware of the program and are bringing them in here,” Kelso said.

Bites and scratches from bats can go undetected

The concern over bats centers on the fact that they can transmit rabies to other animals and humans. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, rabies are mostly found in wild animals such as bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes. The Kent County Health Department and the Kent County Animal Shelter work with the State of Michigan to perform necropsies – autopsies on animals – to identify and track the  number of infected bats. This year, of the 82 bats brought to the Health Department, only five tested positive for rabies.

“I don’t know the status of those cases. If those people were bitten or scratched by that bat but there are five lives that we potentially saved through that program,” Kelso said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases of human rabies in the United States is rare with about one to three reported annually. From 2009-2018, there have been 25 reported cases of human rabies in the United States. In Kent County, the last reported case of human rabies was in 1983.

While cases of rabies have been declining since the 1970s due to animal control and vacation programs as well as public outreach, the disease can be fatal if not detected.

Rabies is transmitted through bites or scratches. Because a bat’s teeth are very small, the animal’s bites can go undetected.

 

“You walk in the room and you see it for the first time, you likely haven’t been bitten or scratched, but if you wake up in the room and the bat’s in there, you don’t really know,” Kelso said, adding that if there’s even the slightest chance that you’ve been bitten, take it seriously.

 

What to do if you find a bat in your home

Guidelines from the Kent County Health Department recommend that if you find a bat in your home, you should try to capture it to get it tested, unless you are 100 percent sure you have not been bitten.

If you wake up and find a bat in your bedroom, it is recommended that you get the bat tested for rabies and you contact your health provider. (Courtesy, The Kent County Health Department)

To capture a bat, officials recommend wearing a layer of protective clothing, including leather gloves, to avoid being bit. Once you are prepared, place a box or coffee can over the bat and slide a piece of cardboard under the container. Kelso acknowledged he’s no expert at catching bats but he said the important thing is to take it seriously and limit possible exposure.

“If there were a bat in my house, I would be putting on an extra layer,  coat, jacket, something,” he said. “I’d be doing anything I could to not come in contact with that bat.“

Adding with a laugh that “…if it were in my house, I’d probably put on a full face motorcycle helmet just because I have one handy.”

Prevention is the key, but there is a treatment as well

When capturing a bat, it is important to not damage the bat’s head as that is what is needed to do the testing. Also, if the bat is dead, keep it cool but don’t freeze it.

“It’s really important that you do not smash the head of the bat…That you don’t crush the brain because that brain is what has to be tested in necropsy.” Kelso said.

If you’ve been exposed to rabies, it’s important to contact a doctor immediately, Kelso said, adding the earlier the treatment, the better. The CDC noted that there has been less than 20 documented cases of people surviving rabies.

 

The treatment for rabies is Post Exposure Prophylaxis which is a series of four shots. The shots are usually given in the arm for adults and in the thigh for children. A welcome change from the days when the shots were administered in the stomach.

 

To contact the Kent County Health Department, call 616-632-7200 during regular business hours, which are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Captured bats should be taken to the Kent County Animal Shelter, located at 740 Fuller NE. The shelter is open from 1 – 7 p.m. Monday – Thursday and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Friday.

Last month to see ‘Bats’, ‘POPnology’ at Grand Rapids Public Museum

Entertainment, Local Entertainment, , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

This alien statue is part of the “POPnology” exhibit at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. (Supplied)

Two exhibits at the Grand Rapids Art Museum will be coming to a close at the end of the month, “Bats; Masters of the Night” and “POPnology” as the Museum makes way for two new exhibits to open in the spring.

“Bats,” which is included with admission, works to dispel the myths about these creatures of the night with interactive displays that demonstrate how to hear like a bat, learn about pollination, bat diets, and sonar ability. The “POPnology,” is a sci-fi experience as it looks at how pop culture meets technology with the exhibit including the DeLorean Time Machine, R2D2, E.T. and more. The “POPnology” exhibit is $5 per person in addition to admission.

Also closing on Jan. 23 is the “Windows GR” paintings. The Museum purchased the paintings by local artists of color as part of the Windows GR activation project. Five of these works are now part of the GRPM’s permanent Collections and can be viewed at grpmcollections.org.

Opening in the spring will be “Prerosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs,” which will feature life-size models, casts of rare fossils and other interactive activities. Also opening will be the GRPM original exhibit “Fashion + Nature,” which will explore the complex relationship between the fashion industry and the natural environment.

 

For more information about the Grand Rapids Public Museum, visit www.grpm.org. The Museum is located at 272 Pearl St. NW. Residents in Kent County receive reduce admission rates and free parking. 

Going Batty: John Ball Zoo official offers insight into often misunderstood creature

3-bottom, Community Health, Education, Environment, Recreation, Upcoming Events, , ,
The Grand Rapids Public Museum’s “Bats: Masters of the Night” features hands-on exhibits. (Supplied)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

From carrying diseases to being the source of COVID,  bats have gotten a bad rap.

“I think it is just popular opinion because of all the advertising around bats being spooky thieves.” said Jamie Racalla, an animal care supervisor with John Ball Zoo. “When in truth, half of them are pollinators, take care of those pesky bugs like mosquitoes, and don’t really carry all those diseases.”

Jaime Racalla is an animal care specialist at John Ball Zoo. (Supplied)

It is why such exhibits as the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s current “Bats: Masters of the Night” are so important, Racalla said, because it helps to dispel some of the myths around these very difficult to study and often misunderstood creatures.

“We really don’t know that much about bats,” said Racalla, who recently participated in a study on bats in Michigan hosted by the Detroit Zoo. “Think about when they are out, at night, which makes them difficult to study because it has to be dark.”

For a while, researchers would study bats during the day while they slept in bat houses or when they hibernated during the winter. Unfortunately, White-Nose Syndrome developed among North American bats, which is a fungus call Pseudogymnoascus destructans, that invades and ingests the skin of hibernating bats, causing them to wake up more frequently in the winter and use up their limited fat reserves. First found in North America in 2006, it is estimated that by 2012 more than 6.7 million bats in North America have died from the disease.

To help reduce the spread of the fungus, researchers have discontinued visiting bats in their homes, but instead are using sonar to help track the bat population in the United States, This past summer, Racalla drove around parts of Greater Grand Rapids using equipment to hear bat calls which helped determine what type of bats could be in the area.

Through her research, Racalla said she found several bat types such as the little brown bat, eastern red bat, big brown bat, and the silver-haired bat, all of which eat insects such as mosquitoes, beetles, flies, ants, and spiders.

   

Through the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s exhibit, residents can make their own discoveries about the creatures of the night. While there are blood-sucking bats — vampire bats live in Central and South America — a majority of the bats are gentle and much like the bats found in Michigan, beneficial to the ecosystem.

Bats are important to the environment in that they help to pollinate plants and eat pesky bugs such as mosquitoes. (Supplied)

Visitors can learn more about diet and flight of various bats around the world (The only place without bats are Arctic, Antarctic and a few isolated Oceanic islands). The exhibit includes lifelike models, multi-sensory interactive displays and environmentally lifelike settings. There also is a hands-on display showcasing the evening activities of bats, such as echolocation (sonar ability). In a demonstration of echolocation, visitors can use a joystick to maneuver a bat model in search of food using a laser to simulate sonar. In a visit to a bat nursery, visitors learn how caring bat mothers are by using sound to help the mother bat find her baby.

“I personally can’t wait to see the exhibit,” Racalla said. “I hope people go and it helps them have a greater understanding of just how misunderstood and unique they are.”

Also the importance of preservation of the bat community. Because of the White-Nosed Syndrome, most Michigan bat species are considered threatened or endangered. Because of state and federal productions, it is illegal to kill certain species of bats, according to the USDA Forest Service.

“Bats: Masters of the Night” will be up through January 2022 at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW. Hours are 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.Monday – Friday and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. “The Bats: Masters of the Night” is included in the museum’s general admission. General admission for Kent County residents is $5/adults, $3/seniors, and free/children 17 & under. For more information

Bats in the belfry — er, attic? Tips to keep the wildlife out of your home

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Non-Profits, Pets/Animals, , , , ,

Adorable chickadee

By Blandford Nature Center and Victoria Mullen

 

Ah, wildlife. Who doesn’t enjoy watching birds eat from a feeder or squirrels chasing each other around the backyard trees?

 

Yes, wildlife can be just ducky — until some poor, little critter gets into your garbage or finds his or her way into your house. It’s amazing how destructive these little beasties can be. To be fair, it’s not their fault.

 

Here are some measures you can take to make sure the wild stays wild — outside:

  1. For porches or spaces under buildings like garages and sheds, bury chicken wire a foot down in the dirt and affix it to the bottom side of the structure to prevent animals from living under there.
  2. Cover laundry vents with mesh or chicken wire to prevent birds and other animals from getting in or nesting there.
  3. Cap chimneys to prevent wildlife from coming in the chimney. Many types of wildlife, including bats, owls and raccoons think it’s a cozy place to stay or investigate. Don’t worry — Santa can still get through.
  4. Secure all garbage, recycling and compost containers or bins. You may not be feeding wildlife directly, however, if the lids of your waste containers aren’t firmly shut, wildlife could be encouraged to return to an easy-to-access food source.
  5. Don’t feed animals (bird feeders, etc.) if you don’t want to encourage them to be around or possibly inside your home.

So far, so good, right?

 

But what if you happen across an injured or baby animal that can’t survive on its own? Try calling a wildlife rehabilitator.

 

Gray squirrel

The following are the main rehabbers in the Grand Rapids area:

  • Peg & Roger Markle of Wildlife Rehab Center LTD  616-361-6109
  • Sjana Gordon of Michigan Wildlife Center 616-885-4223
  • Sue Stamy of Braveheart Raptor Rehab Center 231-821-9125
  • Buck DeRiuscher for lost banded pigeons 616-897-8206 (Can call to figure out where the bird came from, also look online at www.pigeon.org. The owners often don’t want the banded pigeons back, as they see them as defective. These pigeons can be kept as pets or you can see if the animal shelter will take them in.)

It is illegal to rehab skunks, bats, and raccoons in Michigan, so there are no wildlife rehabilitators that can take them in.

 

The following pest removal services will charge a removal fee:
  • Advantage Wildlife Management 616.460.3966
  • Mike’s Wild Animal Control 616.340.4263
  • Mike Roberts 616.738.8565 (Will relocate animals, euthanize if injured only)
  • Critter Control 616.245.4680
  • Chimney Sweeps 616.774.0027
  • Grand Rapids Pest (Insects) Control 616.784.2288
  • Bee Movers G&S 616.364.7736
  • Organization for Bat Conservation 1.800.276.7074 (Located in Bloomfield Hills, they can answer questions about bats [removal, housing, etc.])

List of other Licensed Michigan Wildlife Rehabbers.

Live trapping

Before you decide to live trap an animal…

  1. You need to figure out where you will relocate it. To decrease the possible spread of diseases, mammals cannot be relocated outside of their original county. You need to have the permission of the property owner whose land you’re releasing the animals on, as they may not want your nuisance animal to become theirs. Blandford doesn’t allow animal dumping on the property because we already have established animals and adding outside animals can put stress on our flora and fauna populations. It also increases people vs animal incidents on the property.
  2. Once you remove an animal from your property, you need to find out how to exclude that animal or another animal from coming right back to that area, such as under your porch, inside your attic, etc. Otherwise, you can be dealing with the problem again.
  3. It is recommended to cover the live trap with a towel or tarp, because if you trap a skunk, on purpose or not, if it’s covered it will not spray you.

Don’t use rat poison!

Many rodent poisons do not kill the rodent right away; they cause the animal to slowly bleed out. This slow death allows other animals to eat that rodent, causing you to poison that animal as well. Pets and children can get into those poisons too, so it’s not worth the risk of losing a love one. Using a snap trap is the better way to go.

 

If you are still having problems with pest wildlife, please contact one of the wildlife management services listed in the contacts above.