And now what did you do TODAY?

[jpelg]

What's so wrong with bats?

 

Crazy story Nate!

[acidbasement]

Time to invest in a badminton racket, Nate. Also, note that bats may have rabies. Hope it gets resolved soon.

[skullguise]

Yeesh, bummer to hear, but glad no major incidents so far.  Maybe the bat-proofers will do you and neighbor - or perhaps several neighbors? - for a discounted rate....

[raffy]

Jeez Nate, I hope that's the last of the bats in your home! If I ever woke up in the middle of the night to a non-domesticated animal in my apartment, my 9mm is coming out of my nightstand.

[n_maher]

The neighbors were supposed to get some work done yesterday but I think the KTR was a no-show.  Thankfully I didn't use the same guy so I'm hopeful my luck will be better.  A few notes about combat with a bat:

 

1. A tennis racket is sufficient.  Bat #1, which got into the first floor last summer did not provide me with a non-lethal option and thus was taken out by force.

2. Bats are rarely rabid, at least from what my research has shown.  They are definitely freaked out when they get inside your house and want nothing other than to GTFO.  Sadly, it isn't always an option.  I'm a big fan of having them around. OUTSIDE.

3. The gun would be damn near useless, Raf.  They are small, fast as hell and you'd just make more holes they could get in through.

[justin]

went and looked at a new powder coater today.  they're Mennonites.  the building is 12,000sqft with 3 ovens of different sizes -- in a room with filtered air -- a row of tanks for cleaning/etching, and was EMPTY except for about 50 finished pieces of a bus window frame.  Apparently for the past several years, that's been their only customer, and they haven't done any advertising. This could be my dream powder coater. 

[blessingx]

Mennonites kick ass.

[en480c4]

A few cool updates...

 

The bridge connecting Kittery, ME (where I live) to Portsmouth, NH (where anything of interest is) is finally open, after closing to vehicular traffic in July of 2011 and pedestrian traffic in November of 2011.  There are other ways to get there, but this was the only one with pedestrian and bike access, and is a 15 minute walk to downtown Portsmouth.  I was walking the pup at lunch Thursday when they had the ribbon cutting ceremony and opened it to pedestrians for 2 hours before opening it up to vehicles, which allowed me to stand in the middle of the road and snap this picture looking straight up the lift span tower...

 

 

The other news is while preparing for Baby Bodwell to arrive, we realized we couldn't put off replacing the exterior stairs to our condo any longer.  They were falling apart, and that's not something you want as your wife approaches her due date!  But taking down the only access to your second floor unit is also something I wouldn't recommend as your wife approaches her due date.  But we were able to stage and phase it so we could maintain access.  Three days of hard work with my father got us this far, with nailing off the framing and deck, adding railings and cleanup still required.

 

 

I'm exhausted, and the baby isn't even here yet!

[raffy]

3. The gun would be damn near useless, Raf.  They are small, fast as hell and you'd just make more holes they could get in through.

 

I agree. I don't know what I was thinking - was referring more to something like a catcoon, coyote or any other dangerous animal like that. Of course, what are the chances of any of those animals breaking into a 3rd floor apartment?

[agile_one]

Nate ... those bats be creepy little buggars at night.  Don't envy your plight.  Trust you have under control by now.

 

Great work, Ian.  Stairs look nice and sturdy, and should last your lifetime.

 

Glad the Kittery - Portsmouth bridge is reopened.  Saw opening day on TV here in Portland.  I'm sure all that ME income tax the NH people working in the shipyard pay that got the job done, eh?  

[acidbasement]

 

2. Bats are rarely rabid, at least from what my research has shown.  They are definitely freaked out when they get inside your house and want nothing other than to GTFO.  Sadly, it isn't always an option.  I'm a big fan of having them around. OUTSIDE.

 

In our neck of the woods, bats are known to carry rabies, but it's probably different in your area.  We once had one dive-bombing us outside in the daytime - I would have given it pretty good odds of having rabies.  

[n_maher]

Recent studies (there hadn't really been much prior) show that about 1% of the general bat population carries the disease.  Previous estimates were in the 10% range which would be a really uncomfortable # in my book.  That said, I have certainly approached any contact with extreme caution and I'm not taking the possibility lightly, especially with two little ones in the house.  But I'm not going to go get vaccinated just because there was one flying around the house, ya know?

[Voltron]

Bats are thought to carry rabies in much larger numbers than in reality.  Still, rabid bats are responsible for a disproportionate amount of the human rabies cases in the US.  Many of the humans were really, really stupid, but still.  Info from the CDC:

 

 

Learning about bats and rabies

Most bats don t have rabies. For example, even among bats submitted for rabies testing because they could be captured, were obviously weak or sick, or had been captured by a cat, only about 6% had rabies.

Just looking at a bat, you can t tell if it has rabies. Rabies can only be confirmed in a laboratory. But any bat that is active by day or is found in a place where bats are not usually seen like in your home or on your lawn just might be rabid. A bat that is unable to fly and is easily approached could very well be sick.

 

Bats and human rabies in the United States

Rabies in humans is rare in the United States. There are usually only one or two human cases per year. But the most common source of human rabies in the United States is from bats. For example, among the 19 naturally acquired cases of rabies in humans in the United States from 1997-2006, 17 were associated with bats. Among these, 14 patients had known encounters with bats. Four people awoke because a bat landed on them and one person awoke because a bat bit him. In these cases, the bat was inside the home.

One person was reportedly bitten by a bat from outdoors while he was exiting from his residence. Six people had a history of handling a bat while removing it from their home. One person was bitten by a bat while releasing it outdoors after finding it on the floor inside a building. One person picked up and tried to care for a sick bat found on the ground outdoors. Three men ages 20, 29 and 64 had no reported encounters with bats but died of bat-associated rabies viruses.

Why didn’t these people get the rabies vaccine?

In some cases, persons who died of rabies knew they were bitten by a bat. They didn t go to a doctor, maybe because they didn t know that bats can have rabies and transmit it through a bite.

In other cases, it s possible that young children may not fully awaken due to the presence of a bat (or its bite) or may not report a bite to their parents. For example, one 4-year-old patient, who died of rabies, was still sleeping when her caregivers checked on her because they heard strange noises. They found a bat on the floor of her bedroom. She was most likely bitten and did not fully awaken. This patient developed tingling and itching on her neck at what was probably the site of a bat bite as she became sick with rabies a few weeks later.

In another case, a 10-year-old child removed a bat from his bedroom without adult supervision and several months later developed tingling and itching on his arm and one side of his head as he became sick with rabies.

[acidbasement]

Recent studies (there hadn't really been much prior) show that about 1% of the general bat population carries the disease.  Previous estimates were in the 10% range which would be a really uncomfortable # in my book.  That said, I have certainly approached any contact with extreme caution and I'm not taking the possibility lightly, especially with two little ones in the house.  But I'm not going to go get vaccinated just because there was one flying around the house, ya know?

 

Absolutely agree.

[Bigguy]

^{Rabbid Bats were an internet meme 80 years ago, weren't they?  We did have the internet then didn't we?}

Edited August 14, 2013 by Bigguy

[blessingx]

^{Rabbid Bats were an internet meme 80 years ago, weren't they?  We did have the internet then didn't we?}

 

[The Monkey]

Bats.

[CarlSeibert]

Used heat shrink to fix a shoelace.

Spent four hours this afternoon clay barring an outrageous amount of high-rise overspray off my Smart.

Getting ready to go to dinner with Brent.

[Dusty Chalk]

Eye appointment.  Doctor had a wonderful bedside manner.  But now my pupils are dilated, and everything looks glossy, like 1970's psychedelia and/or porn.  If you thought blue LED's were bad before, it's now piercing.

 

On the bright side, she recommended I go home before nightfall and stay there, so I'm a-drinkin'.

[Nebby]

On the bright side

 

I chuckled

[Dusty Chalk]

Thank you, thank you, I'll be here the veal, try your waitress, tip all week.

[Voltron]

Your optometrist should get modern equipment so you don't need to be dilated. It's been years since I last had to deal with barbaric method.

[grawk]

orly?

[shellylh]

Your optometrist should get modern equipment so you don't need to be dilated. It's been years since I last had to deal with barbaric method.

This

[Dusty Chalk]

Glad I said something, I did not know that.