If you find a bat in your home, letting it out of a window or door is not the best course of action. With an increase in rabid bats in Illinois, Veterinarian Dr. Connie Austin with the Illinois Department of Public Health says they get many calls where people woke up to a bat in the room.  The big brown bat is the most prevalent in Illinois, and Austin says it’s important to keep your home well-maintained and make sure there are not openings allowing the bat the enter the home.

Austin says they get into homes, especially during warmer weather, they may come down from the attic if it’s too hot.  Although your first inclination may be to shoo the bat out a window or door, she says the best course of action is to get heavy gloves and a container and capture the bat.  If captured, the bat can then be tested for rabies to determine if any treatment is needed.

According to Austin, bat’s teeth are so small, you may not be able to see the location of a bite mark and may have been bitten while asleep.  She also says infants and people with dementia who were alone in the room with a bat, may not realize or be able to communicate that they have been bitten.

In Illinois, dog and cat owners are required by law to have their animals vaccinated for rabies.  Austin says it’s not uncommon for cats, especially, to interact with a bat.  Rabies treatment is available for people, but Austin says it requires multiple injections often in an emergency room setting and it is very expensive.