What a way to wake up!

[disneyismyname]

This is about the scariest thing thats happened to me in awhile but now that I think about the situation...it's quite comical.

I live in a old two story home with my parents. The story...I didn't go to bed till around midnight last night (romance novels keep me up.. ). Usually I will have an uneventful sleep..not the case! I was dreaming about Mary Tyler Moore, I have no idea why , when I wake up at 4:00am to screaming! First thing I thought was my sister went into labor and came to the house or that something really bad happened. My stomach dropped as I turned the hallway light on, still half asleep, when a BAT flew right to my face! I swung at it and screamed my head off as I fell, tripped by the stairs, back onto the hallway..where the bat still flew! The hallway light was still on and I knew I wasn't getting back up! Heck NO! So I did a kinda army crawl (but it looked more like what the girls do in the horror movies when they get stabbed and are still trying to get away). Went into my room and reached to turn off the light and closed my door leaving my cat to suffer in the hallway; sorry kitty, this is every girl for herself! Finally my dad caught it in a pillow case and took it back outside. Dad said it came from the fireplace. So right now I'm running on 4 hrs of sleep. My mom told me of her experience with the bat, she ran outside screaming in her night gown with a bath mat

Sorry so long..it may be boring but this is the most excitement I've had in awhile!

 

[dumboiu]

Actually, if there was a bat in your house while you were sleeping, you need to contact your family physician or the emergency department. If I understand correctly, the current medical guidelines require possible treatment if you are sleeping in the same room as a bat or have come in contact with a bat directly. A physician or county health department will make that determination. Good luck and please follow through with the professionals!

 

[DVCLiz]

Actually, if there was a bat in your house while you were sleeping, you need to contact your family physician or the emergency department. If I understand correctly, the current medical guidelines require possible treatment if you are sleeping in the same room as a bat or have come in contact with a bat directly. A physician or county health department will make that determination. Good luck and please follow through with the professionals!

I second this - a bat got into the room my former husband and his wife were sleeping in. They both required a series of rabies shots.

 

[disneyismyname]

Actually, if there was a bat in your house while you were sleeping, you need to contact your family physician or the emergency department. If I understand correctly, the current medical guidelines require possible treatment if you are sleeping in the same room as a bat or have come in contact with a bat directly. A physician or county health department will make that determination. Good luck and please follow through with the professionals!

Thanks for the tip. I never knew you had to do that. But the bat came into the house while my dad was up getting ready for work at 3:45am (when the cat went nuts). He didn't think anything of it till he saw the bat when he took the dogs out. With the dogs out he yelled at my mom, who totally freaked out, to go outside. Thats when I woke up and saw the bat come to my face. I swung my arm around my face (i didn't touch the bat at all) and fell backwards on the floor. Thank goodness i did fall or the bat would of came in contact with me! It wasn't in the house for more than 10 minutes. Sorry .. I should of said that it was only in house for a short time. The last time we had a bat come in the house, via door, was 10 years ago.

 

[C.Ann]

Always best to trap the bat while it's still alive (if possible) or kill it without damaging the head.. This way the bat can be tested for rabies - possibly saving you from having to receive the rabies shots..

A number of years ago, a young girl (around 12 or so) was on a Girl Scout trip up here in the mountains and a bat got into their tent.. The bat flew by and the flutter of the wings went across the little girl's hand - and then flew out of the tent.. No one thought anything of it - until the girl became seriously ill.. She was diagnosed with rabies and if I remember correctly, she died.. Evidently bat saliva got on her hand and I don't remember if she had a small cut on her hand or if she later put her hand near her mouth or eyes..

Anyhow - the moral of the story is that you don't actually have to be bitten by a bat to get rabies.. I would at least call your doctor and find out.. Obviously your dad too - because he may have come in contact with the bat while trying to trap it in the pillowcase..

Hopefully it will turn out just fine..