Around 3am last Sunday, Bryan and I were woken up by a bat flying around our room. We jumped out of bed (quite literally for me - as Bryan attests that I got out of the room without putting my feet on the ground) and quickly figured a way to kill the bat.
The next day, we had our housing people pick up the bat. Then on Monday, there were calls from Preventative Medicine and Animal Control. Animal Control came out and said that yes we do have bat guana in our attic, but most likely the bat crawled through the screen of an open window. This has actually been happening a lot in our neighborhood. In fact, in one building they offered to move everyone out into new units.
Preventative Medicine declared that we needed the series of Rabies vaccines since bites can be invisible and bats can salivate into your mouth. Also, our bat was beaten a little too brutally for rabies testing. Unfortunately, they only do the first shots in the emergency room. On our third trip there, we finally found a slow period and were able to be seen in two and a half hours. The vaccine is a small shot, but the immune globulin is and thick and depends on your weight. Bryan and I both had two shots in the hip.
Now we are on to our series of 4 additional vaccine shots. So far, they have been pretty painless. And thankfully, we go straight to the immunization clinic and we are in and out in less than 20 minutes. Brooke has been doing really well with her shots. A little chocolate when it's over and she forgets all about it.
