What do you do when a bat lands on you?

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What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby cavemanjonny » Mar 30, 2008 8:57 pm

I had a first this weekend. I was going through a squeeze when I heard a squeaking noise by my right shoulder. I assumed it was a buckle on my pack rubbing against the wall, until I stopped moving but the squeaking did not. Sure enough, there was a bat clinging to my shoulder.

I didn't really know what to do, but I knew that carrying it around until it decided to fly off probably wasn't an option (or was it?). I asked my friend to help me remove it. He tried to gently tug it off my shoulder, but the bat fell to the ground when he tried to do this. I should have gotten as close to the ground as possible before we tried to remove it, as to minimize the height of the potential fall. Next time.

Anyways, once it was on the ground, I picked it up and hung it on the wall, out of the way. When I brushed its feet against the wall, it started feeling around and quickly grabbed on. When we came back by a few hours later, the bat was gone.

Was this the right thing to do?
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby Grandpa Caver » Mar 30, 2008 9:59 pm

Good Question!

I've had a few bats land on me but with one exception the encounters have been brief and they went about thier way with no prodding. The one exception was gently grasped and lifted away by a gloved hand. It was held out at arms length and allowed to simply fly away.

On another occasion we were in a crawlway when one landed on a friends back and remained there for some time untill we reached a place where I could manuver around him and, using the same gentle approach, removed it. This bat was reluctant to be displaced, crawling away at each attempt to grasp it, and took it's time vacating my open palm. It appeared healthy enough but we all wondered about it. Seems unlikely it was just looking for a place to "take a break".

Is there a "proper" way to deal with with this situation?
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby Phil Winkler » Mar 31, 2008 8:07 am

Hmmm..I've never really thought of what is proper or improper in this situation. Several of us were exploring a water filled entrance of a newly discovered cave near Gurley, Al. I was kneeling in the rubber boat and making my way up a narrow passage when the cave exploded with bats coming out. I must have had 40-50 on me, in the boat, in the water, etc., etc. I just wiped them off of me into the boat and they all eventually flew away. Even the ones in the water were able to recover and fly out. They're just like mice, but with wings.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby Ralph E. Powers » Mar 31, 2008 9:02 am

In all the above cases every one of those bats were just plain lucky to have met each of you guys... (and other cavers). Most people would've tried to kill the ones that landed on you then gone to report it as a Bat Attack... :bananabat: in the news or at least to their friends and family.
What you all done sounds like the right/good thing to do. I think Grandpa is probably correct that it was just looking to take a break and just happened to lite on you both. I applaud both of you for keeping your heads and just letting the little fellas have their moments.
I've yet to have a bat land on me per se. I've handled them (out side a cave) while helping a friend who was a sort of bat rehabilitation person, nursing sick or injured bats back to health and then re-releasing them into the wilds again. But in cave... not yet.
Handling them very gently but firmly so they don't hurt themselves is the way to go. Putting it back on the wall is another way... or as Grandpa did... hold out your hand and it'll fly off soon enough. It is after all a wild creature.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby Grandpa Caver » Mar 31, 2008 5:55 pm

Phils post reminded me of an occasion in Sullivan Cave (Indiana). I was on my way out and alone in the Waterfall Room at the bottom of the entrance when bats by the hundreds began thier evening foray from the cave. They were swirling all around me in this small room. I outstreched my arms and they would very briefly land on my arms, up to a dozen at a time, then continue thier journey. This lasted maybe 10 minutes and for me was a "once in a lifetime" experience. I would have given anything for a camera just then!

I've also had a couple experiences with obviously very sick bats. One I suspect was rabid and was actually attacking me allthough it seemed unable to fly. I dispachted it as humanely as possible and buried it in a nearby mud bank. I was just a "newbie" caver at the time. Had I known then what I know now I would have collected it (alive) and turned it in for testing.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby Grandpa Caver » Mar 31, 2008 10:54 pm

Grandpa Caver wrote:I've also had a couple experiences with obviously very sick bats. One I suspect was rabid and was actually attacking me allthough it seemed unable to fly. I dispachted it as humanely as possible and buried it in a nearby mud bank. I was just a "newbie" caver at the time. Had I known then what I know now I would have collected it (alive) and turned it in for testing.


After rereading my post I feel I should justify my action. I had wedged myself into a very tight entrance into a very small room with only one arm free. There was no way to retreat and fend off the bats advances at the same time. It was literally in my face. I would brush it aside but it would continue its attack before I could resume my retreat. Was my reaction right or wrong? I dont know but thats how it happened.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby ArCaver » Apr 1, 2008 7:11 am

Grandpa Caver wrote:
Grandpa Caver wrote:I've also had a couple experiences with obviously very sick bats. One I suspect was rabid and was actually attacking me allthough it seemed unable to fly. I dispachted it as humanely as possible and buried it in a nearby mud bank. I was just a "newbie" caver at the time. Had I known then what I know now I would have collected it (alive) and turned it in for testing.


After rereading my post I feel I should justify my action. I had wedged myself into a very tight entrance into a very small room with only one arm free. There was no way to retreat and fend off the bats advances at the same time. It was literally in my face. I would brush it aside but it would continue its attack before I could resume my retreat. Was my reaction right or wrong? I dont know but thats how it happened.


I don't think you need to justify anything. Dispatching the bat was an act of mercy and collecting it may have exposed you and your family to a very nasty virus. I envy you your experience in Sullivan Cave. I have had several encounters with bats in small passages, mostly pips. There were a couple of times when Northern Long-eared bats seemed to be attracted to or even attacking my headlamp. That was in a small room with plenty of space for the bats to go around me. I simply turned off my light for awhile and they went away. It never happened when I used carbide in the same room, same cave. Could be the bats were absent or maybe the type of light from carbide didn't attract them.
I wonder about the health effects though, is that a touch of WNS I see in your avatar? :big grin:
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby Ralph E. Powers » Apr 1, 2008 8:38 am

Grandpa Caver wrote:
Grandpa Caver wrote:I've also had a couple experiences with obviously very sick bats. One I suspect was rabid and was actually attacking me allthough it seemed unable to fly. I dispachted it as humanely as possible and buried it in a nearby mud bank. I was just a "newbie" caver at the time. Had I known then what I know now I would have collected it (alive) and turned it in for testing.


After rereading my post I feel I should justify my action. I had wedged myself into a very tight entrance into a very small room with only one arm free. There was no way to retreat and fend off the bats advances at the same time. It was literally in my face. I would brush it aside but it would continue its attack before I could resume my retreat. Was my reaction right or wrong? I dont know but thats how it happened.

I agree with Ar, no need to justify it. You just don't take chances when something that normally doesn't attack people starts attacking you.
We all know that bats would just as soon fly away from us than towards us. I've had them swarm around me at the entrance of nickajack cave out on the lake and have had townsends flitter directly in my face before heading off in the opposite direction (must've been females... because the human ones do that too :laughing: )
Had the wonderful experience of bats flittering around me while on rope.
Yet to have any land on me per-se in the wild. They're so light that you dont' know they're there sometimes.
Which is probably why the vampire (bat) is so successful.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby Grandpa Caver » Apr 1, 2008 5:33 pm

I have one more bat encounter worth sharing. This one comical. While trudging, head down, through a tight hands & knees crawl I felt a sharp thump on my hard hat. I stopped and looked up just in time to see a pip almost prone on the floor in front of me. It slowly raised itself, shook its head in a very cartoon like manner and gave me a long "what the hell?" look before flying off in the opposite direction. I learned something from that encounter...it's really hard to do a crawlway and belly laugh at the same time!

Ok...back on topic...What is the proper way to handle a bat? I'll add the question; should an obviously sick bat be collected if rabies is suspected? It seems to me the proper authorities would want to know of it.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby ArCaver » Apr 1, 2008 8:37 pm

That's a good question. I dispatched a "sickly" little brown bat once. It had a very ripped wing and looked as though it was on the edge of death. I Think it may have had an encounter with some sort of predator. I also attempted to rehab a red bat, with permission from the proper authorities of course. Poor thing had a broken wing. The vet we use for our pets does a lot of wildlife work for the local re-habbers, none of whom wanted to deal with a bat. He set the bone and used a surgical pin intended for insertion in a kitten femur. He glued the pin to the outside of the wing. After several weeks the glue loosened and I was able to carefully pull the pin off. The bone at first seemed to knit but soon re-broke. After years of preaching that wild animals make poor pets I was about to prove myself wrong. After several months, my wife thinks nearly a year, I found an interpreter at a state park who needed a bat for school programs and delivered him a healthy female red. It was a very interesting learning experience.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby tangled_slinky » Apr 1, 2008 10:59 pm

Grandpa Caver wrote:Ok...back on topic...What is the proper way to handle a bat? I'll add the question; should an obviously sick bat be collected if rabies is suspected? It seems to me the proper authorities would want to know of it.


Is there a proper way? When removing bats from the greek houses around here, I sneak up behind the bat and grab, like getting a handful of flour or sand. Firmly enough they they can't fly away, but not so hard as to squish. I don't do much more than that.
Since the CDC thinks all the bats out there are rabid (unless tests are negative- overkill, anyone?), and with rabies as serious as it is, sick/oddly behaving bats should be turned in to the local health department. I'd have a hard time killing a poor little bat myself, though. One died on me after I removed it, and it was the saddest thing. :( If you must turn one in, and it dies, make sure you don't freeze the body, since thawing destroys the tissue that they need to sample.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby ArCaver » Apr 2, 2008 5:48 am

I've seen a couple of our local biologists pick up bats by the scruff of the neck, much as people used to pick up kittens. At one program the biologist was wearing a batting glove.
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby wyandottecaver » Apr 3, 2008 6:16 pm

scruff of the neck is generally the best way to avoid damage to you or the bat, though you can sometimes immobilize the wings by wrapping your hand around and hold the head and shoulders between two fingers. Of course any handling should be a last resort.
I'm not scared of the dark, it's the things IN the dark that make me nervous. :)
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby JMARKS » Apr 3, 2008 8:20 pm

My son would scream like a little girl. :rofl:
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Re: What do you do when a bat lands on you?

Postby George Dasher » Apr 4, 2008 9:29 am

I tried panicking one time when a flying bat smacked me in the forehead in a tight crawl.

Looking back on it, that reaction didn't get me very far, and it was probably hard on both my and the bat's nerves.

D**n pip. Nothing else would have been up that s**t hole crawl.
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