Rabies shots...and other goings on

We woke up this morning to a bat in the trashcan next to our bed. EWE EWE EWE!!! I asked Martin what it was and he was like you don't wanna know. I immediately thought it was a snake and was ready to pack my bags and put the house on the market (recall THIS post). But no, it was not a snake that was in our trashcan flapping all around, it was a bat. As a friend pointed out, at least it was already in the trash can. Martin folded down the bag very calmly and took it out to the front porch, where he tried to crush it with a case of Diet Dr. Pepper (first thing he could find). Had it been me that found the bat, I would have just run around screaming like a crazy person.

I called a bat exterminator just before 6am. He said its bat season, and from May 15 - August 15 all bats are protected and many of them are having babies so if they did come and find a hole or something they couldn't patch it because you can't keep the mother from its babies. I'm all about compassion, especially when it comes to a mother and her kids, but we're talking about a potentially rabid bat here. Come on... So I asked what purpose an inspection would serve. They said that if they had to come out right now and catch it it would be considered an emergency visit and would cost WAY to much money. I caught it, I just don't know what to do with it. And apparently killing it is out of the question. At this point we aren't sure if the bat is dead or alive. Its on the front porch in a trash can in a bag under a case of Diet Dr. Pepper.

So the exterminator tells me I need to call the health department, and I need to freeze the bat. Yeah, I had the same reaction. Martin wrapped the thing up and stuck it in the freezer, and I get on the horn with the Health Department. Here is how the conversation goes: Me: Hi, I found a bat in our... HD: IS THE BAT ALIVE? Me: Um, I'm not sure about that, I called an exterminator and he... HD: DID THE EXTERMINATOR KILL THE BAT Me: Um, no sir, I just talked to him on the phone. I have the bat and I don't believe that it came into contact with anyone but I wanted to know how I can get the bat tested for rabies. HD: WE NEED THE BAT ALIVE Me: Hang on 1 second while I go take it out of my FREEZER. HD: Why is the bat in the freezer? Me: Thats where the exterminator told me to put it until i figured out where it needed to go to get tested. HD: TAKE THE BAT OUT OF THE FREEZER! Me: Okay. What do you want me to do with the bat? HD: Um, hang on, I need to talk to my supervisor. Me: ? A few minutes later HD: You need to call the SPCA and have them euthanize the bat and then send it to Columbus to get tested. Me: Okay. HD: Is the bat out of the freezer? Me: Yep. HD: Okay, give them a call. Good luck.

Wow. So I called the SPCA and they said they will come and pick up live animals that require rabies testing. At this point, the poor [potentially rabid] bat has been bagged, beat with Diet Dr. Pepper, frozen and thawed. My belief that it is still alive is fading. I put it on our front porch and wrote on the bag "The Bat Is In Here". Hopefully they will just swing by and grab it, no questions asked, and then call me in a week and let me know that everything is fine. More hopefully, we can wait to get that call before going through the process of rabies testing! More to come on this as it unfolds....

In other news, it looks like the pseudomonas is gone (knock on wood)! The culture that the clinic did on Tuesday came back clean so far, though its not final yet. Of course I had to call them today and make sure that it was safe for Drew to get rabies vaccines if need be, but as far as bacteria goes, there currently isn't any living in his airways.

I'm getting ready for the walk not this weekend but next. I've finally raised over $10,000 and as a team we've gotten more than $15,000. I'm hoping when all is said and done that we're over $20K. I guess time will tell. Hopefully at the end of the month our lives will settle down a little. It seems like this spring was just one adventure after another and I'm ready for a break. At least its Friday!