ATTENTION, INSOMNIACS

Don't read this story.

(Note: According to the video, this was the top story on the news.)

(Thanks to Brian Giovannini)

Comments

[Brian B]

Growing up, we would get 1 to 2 bats a month get into the house from our eaves. They would fly around the first floor level until we could get a fishing net and bat and "euthanize" them.

[Boo Augustus]

Dude, a rat bit her butt.

[Brian B]

I guess I should clarify. We had to get a fishing net and a BASEBALL bat, not another flying rat style bat to use as bait or something.

[Lily]

Boy, I hope it wasn't rabid. Bats do not bite humans unless they are sick or attacked. And vampire bats don't live in the US.

[leigh7911]

"Alcorn will also have her daughter stay with her for a few weeks while she recovers from the incident."

AFTER she has the house checked and certified bat-free, one presumes.

[BMX3]

"Alcorn said she plans on sealing up her chimney and having crews check her attic for any more of the creatures."

But what about her belfry?

[jamester]

"They're ugly, ooh they're ugly, little rats."
An articulate description based upon her experience, I'd say. And yes, I'd also bet with Lily that there's anti-rabies treatments in her immediate future. Still, I appreciate the optimism thaty she'll be over it in a few wks. Some people I know would make a career of emotional disability out of this...

[kibby F5]

My sister was bit by a moose once.

Actually, when my son was being born a bat had gotten into the hospital wing and was flying around..... suppose it was an omen?

[queensbee]

we had a bat flying around one sunday during mass. it was a religious bat. turned out to not be catholic, so we made it leave before communion.

[jamester]

I'm a big fan of almost all of Nature's citizens...OUTDOORS, though, if you please.

[waxwing]

The bat is likely rabid or otherwise ailing, else why would it mistake a human butt for a mosquito?

[LMC]

I think bats are extremely nifty, not to mention cute. I'm with Punky on this -- I don't want one biting me on my backside (or anywhere else), but they're fascinating little things. We get them swooping around our backyard at night, eating the misbegotten EVIL mosquitoes from H*ll. Go Bats!

I'm not surprised they had to euthanize the poor thing, though -- gotta check it for rabies. Otherwise I'd've said let the poor thing live.

Now, if I wake up one night to find I've been bitten by one, all of my "cute" comments above will go out the window (along with the carcass of said creature, no doubt).

[Leetie]

lol, bmx!

Or, Punky, we could just call Brian the Butt Biting Bat Batter.

[kj]

We, too, have bats in our belfry--er, house --occasionally. We (meaning I, as my big brave husband's only phobia is bats) take a tennis racket and a towel after the bat. I eventually hit the bat with the tennis racket after about 49 tries and the bat is exhausted from laughing at me, then wrap it in a towel and carry it outside. I'm not interested in killing it--bats are the most efficient mosquito destroyers on the planet, and West Nile Virus is running rampant in this area. Then I parade triumphantly in and tell my husband it's safe to come out of the closet.

[Leetie]

I run around outside swatting carpenter bees with my tennis racket. Looks really funny from a distance.

[Layla]

Bats really ought to be outlawed.

*Cue "When bats are outlawed, only outlaws..." comment*

[Lily]

I love bats and wish I could get a chance to see one up close. Not get bitten though, as I say, when a bat bites you it is very bad. Like being bitten by a skunk. Almost a sure sign the animal has rabies or some other disease. Those are two animals that just never attack humans unless they are sick.

My sister-in-law lives in KC and gets bats in her house from time to time. She is very afraid of them and always has them killed. I have explained that they would never hurt her, however, now I suppose she will be calling to say, I Told You So.

Do you think it would help for me to tell her it was probably rabid or it wouldn't have bitten that woman?

[BMX3]

Maybe this poor woman should have been taken to the "Battered Womens" shelter.

[Boo Augustus]

Mind you, moose bites can be quite serious.

[lenny]

Bats in my parents' house were always dealt with the same way that spiders were: catch them under a peanut butter jar, slide a piece of cardboard under it, and transport it outside. I imagine the bats are happy to get away from the cats. The same technique has also worked for mice, and once, a chipmunk.

Ah, nature..

[Brad]

What an ass-bite.

[John]

I once had a bad fly right at me, turning when it was about 5 feet away to circle me two or three times, then flew away.

I think he needs to get his sonar checked if he thinks a 6-ft-tall guy is a bug.

[shibani]

I wonder if the bite really hurt and caused her days of rest on her stomach or if it was just a simple sting?

[buffy]

I'm here to tell you guys that getting bit by a bat REALLY DOES HURT!

the last time I got bit, about a week or so ago, I started hallucinating and stuff, and I started thinking that I was a movie star or something.

weird.

[DiCrom]

"A Bitter Bat Bit her Bottocks"

Try that 5 times fast

[Bangi_G]

Didnt realize euthanize means kill..til LMC pointed it out.

now i feel bad.
sniff

[Bangi_Bat_Gurl]

*walks in wearing bat woman costume*
*surveys all male behinds*
*evil evil evil thoughts*

[Lurker2]

punky.........Rock Band. Then the lead singer could bite their heads off. Look out Ozzie.

[Little Elvis]

Bats are the only mammals that can fly. I found a momma bat on my porch a couple of months ago. One baby born, the other coming out.
I put them in a box and turned them out in the wild. The babies are huge. In size ratio, they would have each amounted to a 40 pound human baby. Pity the momma bats!

[D'Artagnan]

Bangi, bat a bim, bat a bum...

[Leetie]

But, Little Elvis, what about Rocky the Flying Squirrel?
And Underdog?
And Mighty Mouse?

[Edelweiss]

Alcorn said, at first, she thought she'd been bitten by a bug while lying asleep in her bed.

And later in the article:

"They're ugly, ooh they're ugly, little rats."

Well, which is it then - a bug or a rat?

[Jeff Meyerson]

Leetie, I know carpenter ants, but have never heard of carpenter bees. I picture little workers with saw and hammers.

This headline writer could use some lessons from the NY Post. I mean "Bat Bites Missouri Woman Sleeping in Bed"? Is that as opposed to a woman sleeping in the bathtub? Dumb.

I still like: "They're ugly, ooh they're ugly, little rats."

It has a real Rodney Dangerfield quality.

[Leetie]

Carpenter bees look like large bumblebees, but they're more aggressive. They hover and taunt you.

[madscientist]

2 weeks ago in a little Bed and breakfast with all us ladies in full formal wear a bat came creeping across the carpet into the bridal suite. I caught the little fellow in a water glass and towel. I studied him for a little while and released him outside. Then I pealed the other ladies off the ceiling. That is the best wedding story I have so far. This bat was tiny and not fury and not at all rat like, but very cool. Maybe I can get a few for the lab....

[Bangi_Bat_Gurl]

A baby bat once got into my room, poor thing flew around frantically and kept hitting the walls.

Bat:screeech.Thup
me: screeeeeech
bat: screech thup. scree...thup...thup.
me: screeeeeech

I dont remember how we got it out, becoz i was hiding behind my sister.

[Lily]

Mad, I have always envisioned your lab as having an assortment of bats in it already. You know, flying around the lightning collectors, carrying messages strapped to their cute little legs, and perching on the specimen jars full of creepy parts and parts of parts.

[Lairbo]

Show us on the candy dish where the bat bit you. . .

[katykat]

I would just like to say that when I took the ACT many many moons ago, there was a question on moose bites in the Science section. It was disturbing.
That is all.

[punky brewster]

Lairbo ... water out my nose LOL funny to your comment.

Is that bad???

[bbescuela]

Wasn't this the subject of Sweet Sweetback's Baatasssss Song?

[Christobol]

Kept getting bats in the house a couple years ago. Catch it, let it go outside. Two days later, bat again.

Finally killed it. Then no bat.

So - either they send out a secret sonic death cry (gnfrb?) or the same damned bat always comes back.

[punky brewster]

Ssame goes for mice, 'tobol ...

I know 'cause I painted a mouse's tail with nail polish ... and what do ya know? A few days later ... pink tailed mouse back in house.

I didn't kill it. I put it in a brown paper bag ... put it in my car ... drove 5 miles away and let it out there ... I figured if he found his way back from there alive (pink tail and all) I'd make him my pet.

I leave the light on for him, just in case.

[Christobol]

Somewhere in mouseville...

"Where the HELL have you been?"

"Looking for food!"

"Yeah right! And that involves painting your tail pink? You BASTARD!"

[Barbi (with an "i") Guinness]

Wow, look at all these comments. This blog sure is interested in bats.
I like bats, but I would probably feel different if I was this woman. She probably has already started a series of rabies shots. The video said she was "sore from some shots." They don't give them in the stomach anymore, but around the site where the person was bitten. Probably not any less painful.
I'm suprised so many people have had bats in their home. My city has a huge number of bats (Mexican free-tails), and I've never heard anyone say one got in their house. But I guess it's probably happened, just not to anyone I know.
This town is totally bat-crazy. It's cool to see them swarming out from under Congress bridge where they live. I have to say, they aren't doing much for the mosquito population this year, though.

[Christobol]

Bats do eat mosquitos, but their prowess has been greatly exagerrated.

For one thing, some mosquitos like being eaten.

[Brian B]

It's a shame I had to leave work this afternoon. Is it too late to claim my new name as given by Leetie, maybe shorten it up a little like B^5 or something like that. I guess we could stay with Brian the Butt Biting Bat Batter.

[Barbi (with an "i") Guinness]

"They don't give them in the stomach anymore, but around the site where the person was bitten."

Okay, I don't know where I heard this, but I seem to be mistaken. They give post-exposure shots in the muscle of the arm or leg.
I know no one probably cares, but I hate spreading misinformation. :-)

[iz]

Guys, she wasn't serious, you didn't have to stay awake. My, I'm gonna need something hot in the morning.

[iz]

Posted by: Brian B

"guess I should clarify. We had to get a fishing net and a BASEBALL bat, not another flying rat style bat to use as bait or something."

Thinking of Jurassic Park (the book).

"He ATE it!!" After they get the bright idea to toss the baby velociraptor the the adult. Stupid kids.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Punky, on the last post MOTW suggested we need a "Swallow Alert" so you know not to view something with your mouth full. That could help.

Barbi said: "My city has a huge number of bats (Mexican free-tails)..." and "This town is totally bat-crazy. It's cool to see them swarming out from under Congress bridge where they live."

First comment: I was going to say tell me where you live so I can NOT come there. But the second clued me in: Austin, right? Or is it San Antonio? Friends have been to conventions there (can't remember which it was, sorry) and told tales of going out at night to watch thousands of bats swarm out from under the bridge.

[punky brewster]

I've received a "swallow alert" before, Jeff ... but never in that context.

But even in this context, it would have been helpful ;)

[Jeff Meyerson]

LOL

[Lily]

*Moodily lit Black and white telecast. Man in suit sitting on stool in front of a painting highlighted by spotlight.*

*- The voice of Rod Serling-*

"Exhibit A. Here we have a young woman in Connecticut painting the tail of a mouse. She believes she is merely tracking him to see if the same mouse is repeatedly visiting her home, or, if it is a group infestation. Little does she know the chain of events she has just unleashed all over the world."

*Switch spot to second painting*

"Exhibit B. Man at computer. He wittily describes the tale of domestic woe that befalls the hapless tail-painted rodent. He also is unaware of the consequences that are about to be unleashed."

*Swith spot to third painting*

"Exhibit C. Woman in South Dakota sprays her morning tea all over her keyboard upon reading the of the unfortunate rodential saga. Is this an isolated incident? Of course not, it is occuring, as we speak, all over the world. For YOU have just entered the. . .

"Bloglight Zone"

[Graz]

*gasp....cough....choke*

LOL...Okay, I just swallowed..........but I wasn't ready......almost choked........

(damn, where have I heard that before?)

[Barbi (with an "i") Guinness]

Jeff wrote:
"I was going to say tell me where you live so I can NOT come there. But the second clued me in: Austin, right?"
That's correct, I'm in Austin. I'm glad your friends got to see the bats when there were a lot of them. Sometimes people go to see them very early or late in "bat season" and then wonder what the big deal is. If you don't like bats, it 's probably pretty creepy!

[Jeff P]

You realize, of course, that if the woman had been sleeping with an asshat, this would never have happened.