Two-Year Old Boy Sucks On Dead Bat

A Sugarhouse mother had a "bat scare." Amy Rigby was taking her 2-year old boy for a ride in a bike trailer. "And I could just hear him back there saying.., ragh... ragh... ragh." So she stopped. "I got off my bike and went back to the trailer to look and see what it was and he had a little bat -- a dead bat -- in is hand and he had it in his mouth."

Amy took away the bat, but had the good sense to keep it for Salt Lake County Animal Control Officers. The bat was taken to the state lab where it will be tested for rabies. Amy is hopeful the bat had been dead long enough that it no longer poses a rabies threat. Amy said, "Just by looking at the bat it looks like its been dead a long time."

But Clint Thacker of Salt Lake Animal Control said, "We can't say yes or no on the rabies just by looking at it. It has to be tested and the only way for any animal to be tested for rabies is by brain sample." He said the results should be back in a couple days and then it will be up to the family and their doctor to decide what to do.

This is bat season in Utah. Experts tells us over the next couple months several species of bats will migrate through here on their way to warmer country.

Those same experts recommend staying away from bats -- especially those that might be on the ground. Thacker said, "The number one rule is you never, ever touch a bat."

"And don't ever put them in your mouth," added Amy Rigby.

Credits - By Brent Hunsaker - ABC4.com

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